Just a day after snagging the dub on Thursday in the TT at La Vuelta a España, Swiss ace Stefan Küng is out of the Spanish Grand Tour.
Küng ended his Vuelta a España after 18 stages, choosing to save his legs for the rest of his season.
Stage 19 of La Vuelta
The Tudor rider delivered a big result on Thursday, winning the individual time trial, but was absent from the start line for Friday’s Stage 19. It’s probs a good choice to skip Stage 19, because just like Saturday, it’s a leg-breaker.
Today’s race goes from Vélez-Málaga to Peñas Blancas above Estepona, with 205.1 km of climbing before the summit finish. Enric Mas starts with a decent lead over Primož Roglič, but the Slovenian will be looking to chip away. The final climb averages 6.7 per cent, with brutal early gradients.
Stage 20 is also brutal, with a particularly nasty summit finish — 8.4 km which averages almost 10 per cent.
Küng’s next major target is the world championships in Montreal, where the Swiss rider will try and finally get his rainbow jersey in the ITT. He’s won before in the relay, but that’s a jersey you can only wear to the coffeeshop. The 32-year-old has been agonizingly close — in 2022, he was just three seconds behind.
Speaking of Montreal, the pros that aren’t at the Vuelta are racing here in Canada on Friday and Sunday.
Today, the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec goes down, and Sunday, the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal. Canadian Cycling Magazine is on the scene and churning out all sorts of content for you! Check out our site and our Instagram. Plus, a week later everybody is coming for the worlds in Montreal. Juniors men and women, under-23 men and women, and elite men and women. It’s going to be an awesome week of racing.