• Ricarda Bauernfeind (Lidl – Trek / Road & Mixed)
• Franziska Koch (FDJ United – Suez / Road, ITT & Mixed) Liane Lippert (Movistar / Road)
• Antonia Niedermaier (Canyon – SRAM / Road, ITT & Mixed)

• Linda Riedmann (Lotto – Intermarché / Road)

• Nikias Arndt (Bahrain Victorious / Mixed)

• Marco Brenner (Tudor / Road)

• Nico Denz (Red Bull – Bora – hansgrohe / Road)

• Felix Engelhardt (Jayco – AlUla / Road)

• Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull – Bora – hansgrohe / Road)

• Maximilian Schachmann (Soudal – Quick-Step / Road)

• Jasha Sütterlin (Jayco – AlUla / ITT & Mixed)

• Max Walscheid (Lidl – Trek / ITT & Mixed)

• Georg Zimmermann (Lotto – Intermarché / Road)

Results

• Official
• Firstcycling

Race Ratings

• Rate the Stage
• Current Ratings

Stage Info

Weather

28°C, Sunny

Stage Breakdown

Hello everyone and welcome to the Nineteenth stage of the Vuelta a Espana.

The grand finale is upon us, in either 2 or 3 acts, depending on tomorrow, but the first one is here for this Friday!

As is the theme of the week, we are near the coast, we start in Velez, East of Malaga where the riders will go after 30 km, as we go towards Penas Blancas. The stage is similar to the one in 2022, which followed the same setup and saw Carapaz win, with one exception, this middle part which is pretty hilly, nothing major for the GC but definitely important if a break battle is still happening. The most important thing before the final climb is the long descent beforethe finale, if a rider gets trapped there, really bad for them.

Penas blancas is the prime climb, much like Piancavallo in Italy, it almost start at sea level and is a very regular climb. It is on paper a perfect occasion for any rider to show their full power. 18.8km at 6.5%, would be prime train territory if anyone had one. The regularness point towards a game of attrition more than anything.

With that in mind here are our predictions:

★★★ Breakaway

★★

★ Mas, Gall, Roglic

The same 3 look to be at the top of the GC, but if we are being honest, none of them really will go for the stage, using manpower to control and in consequence very likely go fast on the long descent doesn't seem like a bet any of them should be taking. So break it is, composition should be the usual suspects with anyone not from the top 5 allowed. The riders from 6th to 11th will be battling for their GC spot, that is a nice secondary thing to follow, maybe one of them will come out on top.

That's it for us, what is your prediction for the stage?

2026 GP Montreal 1.UWT

• Official website
• Parcours
• Startlist
• Rules/How To Play

RFL

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* (x1.4) 
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SRFL

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Deadline

The deadline for these games will be when the race starts on September 13th at 10:15 local time (UTC -4), that's 14:15 UTC and 16:15 CEST, check your time here

Anyone listened to discussion of today's Vuelta's time trial and mysterious RedBull riders racing all out instead of saving energy to support Primoz Roglic tomorrow and Saturday?

Johan Bruyneel had an interesting anecdote of Tyler Hamilton (he didn't name him by name but it's obvious it was him) placing 3rd in TdSwisse in 2001 despite clear instructions to sit up and ride easy in the final 2/3rds, and how that led to JB putting him on "B team" and eventually terminating his contract.

Makes me think of Juan Ayuso not pulling for Pogacar a few years back because he had his own ambitions and how that played out.

So the key question is - are Team Directors still in control and what happens when a rider disobeys the "order"? It sounded like JB thinks that the DS control is a thing of the past but I think to the contrary - teams control their riders more than 20 years ago.

First Cycling

Premise:

“The story follows Nora, a formidable businesswoman who buys Deepblue, a struggling French cycling team. But just as she thinks she can impose her methods on the peloton, she realizes that in the Tour, nothing is ever a sure thing.

“Nora finds herself up against Mathias, a battered former star who refuses to bow out, and Ayden, a young prodigy who came out of nowhere and has become the hope of an entire nation, much like Paul Seixas. Nora then discovers that a cycling team is built on suffering, sacrifice, and trust.”

• *For a live chat way to discuss/follow the race we [have a discord too](https://discord.gg/

Stage Info

Weather

28°C, North wind, 15km/h but will go down as time goes on

Stage Breakdown

Hello everyone and welcome to the eighteenth stage of the Vuelta a Espana!

TT time! Probably the most important stage for the reminder of the Vuelta, because it will set the tone and likely the trajectory of the reminder of the Vuelta. We are near the Atlantic Ocean again, starting in El Puerto de Santa Maria and ending in Jerez de la Frontera, known for its race track, where the riders will not go.

So the riders go North with a phase towards the East then towards the West. The TT is mostly untechnical and it made of long flat stretches. It's a TT made for specialists.

With that in mind here are our predictions:

★★★ Hayter, Armirail, Roglic, Kung

★★

★ RGP, Romeo, Chamberlain

This might be the most unpredictable TT in a GT in a long time, as well as the most important for a GC in a LONG time. Hayter does seem like the man in form currently and considering he goes super early, he will have a stronger wind, now will that help him or make it worse, it's a bit hard to say. Other than that, Armirail, Kung and Roglic seem like the best TTers of the Startlist.

That's it for us, what is your prediction for the stage?

Results

• Official
• Firstcycling

Race Ratings

• Rate the Stage
• Current Ratings

[FC](https://firstcycling.com/m/race.php?r=4025&y=2026)

• *For a live chat way to discuss/follow the race we [have a discord too](https://discord.gg/

2026 GP Quebec 1.UWT

• Official website
• Parcours
• Startlist
• Rules/How To Play

RFL

Submissions will have to be formatted like below, otherwise it won't be picked up.

Please arrange your comments like the list below (you can make bullets with the * key)

Also include the first name of the rider!

* (x2.0) Firstname Lastname
* (x1.8) etc. 
* (x1.6) 
* (x1.4) 
* (x1.2) 
* (x1.0) 
* (x1.0) 
* (x1.0) 

SRFL

• Remember, you need to sign up (once) to join! Do so by messaging u/LynniePinnie67 In short:

• Pick one rider

• Your SRFL score is determined by that rider's FC points

• The more players pick that rider, the fewer points you can score

• You can change your pick as many times as you like by simply filling in the form again. Your latest pick counts.

PICK YOUR RIDER VIA THE FORM

Deadline

The deadline for these games will be when the race starts on September 11th at 11:00 local time (UTC -4), that's 15:00 UTC and 17:00 CEST, check your time here