Vuelta stage shortened due to protests; Ineos ‘confident’ of signing Onley; “The blue bike is mine, the black lock isn’t”: Innocent mistake or a sign your bike’s in danger?; Bike use surges as TfL strike continues + more on the live blog

> Cyclists slam “secret” move to scrap all cycling safety features from plan to improve “horrendously dangerous” junction, as campaigners call council’s excuse about lack of funding “nonsense”

The Vuelta’s back after its final rest day, six days to decide who wins this year’s race. Two-time Tour de France winner Joans Vingegaard and João Almeida look most likely, the pair having slugged it out up the Angliru on Friday and sitting comfortably clear of the rest at the head of the GC standings.

Almeida spoke to Spanish newspaper Marca, assessing his form and that of his rival for red ahead of the final week. Admitting he was a bit surprised to win atop the famous climb, Almeida says it gives him confidence going into this week.

“It’s a very tough climb where you need legs, and in the end I was surprised to win because I didn’t expect it, but it gave me the confidence that I can win,” the UAE Team Emirates leader said. “Of course, you have to have legs, and hopefully we won’t have any bad days.”

Interestingly, Almeida also questioned if Vingegaard is in top form, but was quick to suggest he’s not quite at his very best either. We wish we could win Angliru summit finishes not at our best… or at any time for that matter…

“If he were in top form, I think he would have attacked me that day on the Angliru,” Almeida continued. “I’m not in my best shape of the year either, so we’re both in a bit of an equal situation. But Jonas is still a better rider than me so far. He’s won two Tours de France, many races, and he’s always been ahead. We keep our feet on the ground and try to do our best.”

It’s all set up rather nicely for the week ahead.

Speaking of which, the Vuelta resumes after the final rest day with a punchy stage in Galicia featuring four categorised climbs, though the riders will summit the hardest with 60km remaining. Whether Almeida’s UAE domestiques will head up the road in search of another victory is unclear, but that 50% win rate at this year’s race won’t sustain itself.

Today’s stage is also arguably the most Pidock-friendly terrain of the final week, with the Q36.5 rider looking to hold off Jai Hindley in the battle for the final podium spot. Whether the Yorkshireman is able to hold or extend his lead over the Aussie remains to be seen, but Pidcock will likely want a decent-sized buffer ahead of Thursday’s individual time trial.

Jonas Vingegaard would probably want the break to stay away to defend his race lead. But he will have to make do without Victor Campenaerts who’s withdrawn from the race with illness. The Belgian rouleur was not only a key domestique but also a fan-favourite with his daily vlogs with Matteo Jorgenson that we’ll now have to go without. Get well soon Campy!

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by GRAVELINGReview (@gravelingreview)

We’ve dropped Q36.5 a line to ask that exact question because… well, we’re absolutely baffled. Bib jersey to go with your bib shorts? For anyone ordering soup at the cafe? It’s not on their website so until we get some info direct from them we’ll continue to be a bit stumped.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Angus Young-Endurance Athlete (@angusyoung139)

After 39 days, Angus Young looks like he’s been shaken up all night long but he’s finally completed the near 6000-mile long Eastern Divide Trail. Running from Cape Spear, Canada (the most easterly point in North America) to Florida Keys, the most southerly.

Averaging an epic 154 miles (247km) a day, chemistry teacher Young’s arrival was marked not by hell’s bells but by Baba O’Reilly, an apt if disa-pun-ting choice.

It’s day three of a five-day strike by Transport for London workers that has caused severe disruption on the London Underground, and entirely shut down the DLR both today and Thursday. 

The Embankment cycleway (CS3) in London was purposefully built to be wider than was usual in order to future proof it. Some said it would hardly be used. Now there’s a decent case for widening it further. Induced demand is real.

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— Adam Tranter (@adamtranter.bsky.social) 8 September 2025 at 22:11

But one of the unintended consequences of the strikes has been the apparent surge in use of the humble bicycle as a mode of public transport, with social media (for this admin at least) awash with footage of bike lanes in constant use.

It’s also being seen in stats with the BBC reporting both Lime and Santander hire bike usage has increased by more than half while Forest bike hire more than doubled compared to last week.

Remember the World Record breaking cyclist Matt Richardson? No, not that one.

Having broken the World Hour Record on a Raleigh chopper and also climbed Mont Ventoux, 59-year-old Matt Richardson from Henley-on-Thames has a new goal, this time on a penny farthing.

Along with his friend Bill Pollard, the pair plan on cycling the length of Great Britain on bicycles designed in 1869 with one gear and no brakes or freewheel, all while dressed as Victorian gentlemen.

When they set off in April it will be to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support. It’s a cause close to Richardson’s heart after he was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2022, and the pair previously raised £24,000 when cycling from London to Paris.

Perhaps Bill puts it best: “We lighted upon the idea of a very British journey from one end of our great island to the other: from Land’s End to John o’ Groats. 

“Although it is a well-known bicycling challenge, neither of us have done it before.  And very few people have done it on a penny farthing.  For good reason.  It is utterly insane.”

Insane indeed, best of luck to Matt and Bill on their training through the vicious winter, and with their fundraising.

At the Vuelta a España, 2019 called and they want their warm fuzzy feeling back.

The front of the race have just crested the highest point of the day and it’s Egan Bernal and Mikel Landa busy ripping up the race, Landa leading to take the KOM points. Their margin over the rest of the break is small though, and Marc Soler is smelling another precious UAE stage win along with other big hitters Bob Jungels, Nico Denz and Sean Quinn.

There are two Brits in the break as well, Solihull CC alumnus Jake Stewart and Yorkshire’s Finlay Pickering who was in the break on Saturday’s stage to La Farraponna, and was only caught by the favourites inside the final kilometre. With 50km to go, and the break’s lead over six minutes, it’s probably so far according to plan for Jonas Vingegaard and Visma-Lease a bike.

Little bit of a British transfer tidbit for you now as EF Education-Oatly have announced the signing of Alice Towers for 2026. 

Towers, winner of the British national championships in 2022, stepped up to the World Tour the following year and has ridden for CANYON//SRAM ever since.

In the statement announcing her signing, Towers said she “wants to be a rider who competes in the final for a win.”

“I like the more challenging, the more gruelling terrain like the Ardennes classics or the one-day races where it’s 160 or 165 kilometres up and down all day.”

Towers, who turns 23 next month and has already ridden two Tours de France and the Giro d’Italia, also has her eyes on bigger goals in the future.

“Looking beyond 2026, I’d love to win a stage at a grand tour, like the Giro or the Tour or the Vuelta. If not one of those, then an Ardennes classic is the absolute dream.”

The blue bike is mine, the black lock isnt.
byu/carolina_favor98 inlondoncycling

 Ever had this happen to you? After a long day at work this is the last thing you’d want to find at the bike rack… well, except no bike at all, of course. One London cyclist clocked off their shift and was about to make their way home when they found their bike had rather bizarrely been locked by someone else, apparently by the person who’d parked theirs next door.

We’d like to think this is an honest mistake, although some in the comments have suggested it could be the work of a thief hoping to come back for it later. Either way, it puts our unlucky commuter in a bit of a pickle. Wait for the other person or catch a bus?

The ever helpful people of Reddit had some ideas, most amusingly: “Assert your dominance. Add more locks.”

Another user said something similar had happened to them three times. “One time it was one of those stretchy coiled cable locks, so I unlocked my bike, pulled it over to the next stand and locked it up again,” they explained. “Meaning that the cable lock was now fully stretched and spanning across two stands. My intention was that they would be able to see their mistake, rather than just coming along and unlocking without realising.”

As we mentioned earlier, we’d like to think this was an honest mistake, although some aren’t so sure… “This can be a common trick by thieves. They will lock your bike, hope you leave it overnight or so, and then come back later to steal it/parts from it.

“Of course it could also be a genuine mistake, but with these kinds of scenarios it’s unfortunately more often the former than the latter. You need to source an angle grinder and cut it off asap, otherwise you risk your bike/large parts of it being stolen imminently.”

Thoughts?

While events at the Vuelta have overtaken the otherwise steady news stream, Ciro Scognamiglio has tweeted that Oscar Onley could transfer from Picnic-Post NL to Ineos Grenadiers for 2026.

Info @Gazzetta_it – @INEOSGrenadiers still confident – according to our sources – to sign @OscarOnley (now with @picnicpostnl) this year 4th at @LeTour for 2026. A source told us that the deal is ‘possible’ at this stage @cycling_podcast

— Ciro Scognamiglio (@cirogazzetta) September 9, 2025

Alongside Daniel Benson, Scognamiglio is one of the best cycling journalists when it comes to reporting transfers so his words shouldn’t be taken lightly.

22-year-old Onley is contracted until 2027 but his contract would be voided if his team were to be relegated from the UCI World Tour. But the Scot’s fourth place finish was vital to the team’s points scoring and means that Ineos will have to agree compensation with the Dutch team in order to facilitate the move. It has also been reported that Ineos are interested in Israel-Premier Tech’s Derek Gee who has attempted to exit his long-term contract but seems set for a prolonged legal battle.

Ineos have been slow to confirm their transfers for next season, with only Dorian Godon’s move from Decathlon-AG2R announced. The delay has been attributed to the return of Dave Brailsford to the team’s management structure but has also seen targets such as Jayco-AlUla’s Filippo Zana withdraw their interest.

The finale of the 16th stage has been cut short due to ‘out of hand’ protests on the final climb to Castro de Herville. The stage was instead contested 8km from the finish line. 

Situation out of hand at 3.4km from finish. Race to finish 8km out. pic.twitter.com/ucnItVX4Ka

— Daniel Friebe (@friebos) September 9, 2025

In what resembled a ‘town sign sprint’, Egan Bernal beat Mikel Landa in a sprint from the breakaway, the Colombian not unfamiliar with shortened stage victories having clinched the Tour de France in similar fashion on stage 19 back in 2019. He also won a shortened stage of the Giro d’Italia in 2021.

Pro-Palestinian protestors have become a regular site at Grand Tours in 2025, picketing the inclusion of Israel-Premier Tech for their close connections to the Israeli state in light of the war in Gaza.

The Vuelta has already been disrupted by protestors, with last week’s stage in Bilbao neutralised 3km from the finish. That day, no stage winner was awarded. 

Following the disruption, race leader Jonas Vingegaard said the protestors “are just desperate to be heard”. Both Simone Petilli and Javier Romo have crashed due to protestors, with Romo abandoning the race earlier today due to his injuries.

Before the Bilbao stage began, a frantic meeting was held amongst teams’ rider representatives where it was reported that several riders had asked Israel-Premier Tech to withdraw from the race. The team refused, but have since removed the word ‘Israel’ from their team kit, in line with their vehicles and casual clothing. Team owner Sylvan Adams sat in the team car during the stage and later said they “did not surrender to the terrorists“.

The Vuelta’s technical director, Kiko García has previously said the team’s withdrawal would be the only way to safeguard the riders, but added that the Vuelta organisers did not have the power to remove the team and that a decision needed to be made by the UCI. After last week’s Bilbao stage, the UCI released a statement reaffirming its political neutrality and condemning the actions of the protestors, making Israel-Premier Tech’s withdrawal unlikely.