La Vuelta 2026 ***Spoilers***

[MadMalx]

^Indeed, I assume some of the claims above were tongue-in-cheek

 

[rich p]

To be fair to Brennan, he's not only very young still but he doesn't regard himself as an out and out sprinter.
He may or may not beat the likes of Merlier, Magnier, Milan, Phillipson etc on a regular basis but he'll hopefully win some more 'interesting' races.

 

[wakemalcolm]

I can see him winning an M-SR, a favourable WC and possibly a green jersey, depending on who they're skewing the points for but I can't see him becoming a flat track bully in the style of Milan, Merlier or Magnier.

 

[TomDW]

I think the lack of big movement in the GC was more or less down to the riders being in the right positions already, not lack of effort. There were some decent battles, but Gall couldn't drop Mas, but did drop Roglic, Roglic decided to wait it out, hang on in there and get his time on GC. Kuss dropped out and dropped back in again, Onley had a bad day, Skjelmose had a bad fortnight, Carapaz did his best and the rest was more or less the sort of mix you'd expect. If anything the biggest surprise was Mas's form (though Mas in the Vuelta has always been a different beast) and that nobody from Movistar tried to attack him (they rode very well, and with hindsight the decision to drop Nairo looks well justified)

I think this stage sums it up quite well. Onley sank back afterwards but it made the pecking order clear. I was thinking about what was the decisive stage.

 

[TakeTheHighRoad]

I can see him winning an M-SR, a favourable WC and possibly a green jersey, depending on who they're skewing the points for but I can't see him becoming a flat track bully in the style of Milan, Merlier or Magnier.

So he's the New Sagan then?

 

[Dogtrousers]

So what do we think of Onley's white jersey?

Sometimes the white jersey is interesting, when there's a bit of a battle as there was in the Giro (Eulalio - remember him?). Sometimes it's a formality as it was when Pog was eligible.

Onley's slip down the GC was disappointing but the white jersey isn't a nothing achievement.

 

[mididoctors]

So what do we think of Onley's white jersey?

Sometimes the white jersey is interesting, when there's a bit of a battle as there was in the Giro (Eulalio - remember him?). Sometimes it's a formality as it was when Pog was eligible.

Onley's slip down the GC was disappointing but the white jersey isn't a nothing achievement.

I expected the podium ., his crash set him.back a place on GC but he basically faded a tad in the third

 

[T4tomo]

So what do we think of Onley's white jersey?

Sometimes the white jersey is interesting, when there's a bit of a battle as there was in the Giro (Eulalio - remember him?). Sometimes it's a formality as it was when Pog was eligible.

Onley's slip down the GC was disappointing but the white jersey isn't a nothing achievement.

He'd better keep a eye out for Jacob Ormzel in future races... know that wasnt the question, but is Ormzel the next Slovenian sensation off the rank?

Onley probably a bit short of race fitness given he missed a chunk (of the season and knee flesh) after his crash

 

[wakemalcolm]

So what do we think of Onley's white jersey?

I think it looks very smart.

Am worried that NCI have bought themselves an expensive problem child. From what I've seen, he might have a shot at a Tour de Suisse or something similar if none of the big cheeses are gap filling their palmares, but I don't see anything to suggest that he's going to progress to the next level.

Hope I'm wrong as he comes over as a nice chap (& is a local to me).

 

[CarbonClem]

So what do we think of Onley's white jersey?

Sometimes the white jersey is interesting, when there's a bit of a battle as there was in the Giro (Eulalio - remember him?). Sometimes it's a formality as it was when Pog was eligible.

Onley's slip down the GC was disappointing but the white jersey isn't a nothing achievement.

Pleased to see it, and it saved Netcompanies Vuelta I guess. Even if they really wanted more from him they can't really grumble.

I hope he sails more smoothly into next season, but agree with comments above, with El Toro and Sexias coming up, I don't think he's looking like a nailed on GT winner.

 

[phreak]

So what do we think of Onley's white jersey?

Sometimes the white jersey is interesting, when there's a bit of a battle as there was in the Giro (Eulalio - remember him?). Sometimes it's a formality as it was when Pog was eligible.

Onley's slip down the GC was disappointing but the white jersey isn't a nothing achievement.

Given that his last GT saw him get 4th at the Tour, it's probably reasonable to have expected a podium at the very least. The entire team has been poor all year though so maybe we should discount expectations because of that.

 

[phreak]

I think it looks very smart.

Am worried that NCI have bought themselves an expensive problem child. From what I've seen, he might have a shot at a Tour de Suisse or something similar if none of the big cheeses are gap filling their palmares, but I don't see anything to suggest that he's going to progress to the next level.

Hope I'm wrong as he comes over as a nice chap (& is a local to me).

He comfortably finished ahead of Gall and Roglic at the 2025 Tour. Had he recreated that form, it wouldn't have been unreasonable to put him as the best of the rest after Pogacar. He's been pretty mediocre since that Tour though so it's by no means guaranteed that that wasn't a flash in the pan.

 

[phreak]

Pleased to see it, and it saved Netcompanies Vuelta I guess. Even if they really wanted more from him they can't really grumble.

I hope he sails more smoothly into next season, but agree with comments above, with El Toro and Sexias coming up, I don't think he's looking like a nailed on GT winner.

It's hard to imagine he'd get a better chance than this Vuelta. Pogacar crashed. No Vingegaard, Lipowitz, Seixas, Del Toro, Remco, or Ayuso. You'd probably bet on all of those guys beating him. You might even put Skjelmose there as well, and he was obviously heavily compromised by riding the Tour.

 

[T4tomo]

It's hard to imagine he'd get a better chance than this Vuelta. Pogacar crashed. No Vingegaard, Lipowitz, Seixas, Del Toro, Remco, or Ayuso. You'd probably bet on all of those guys beating him. You might even put Skjelmose there as well, and he was obviously heavily compromised by riding the Tour.

you seem to be forgetting he fell down a ravine in June and was only back racing at start of august - did you expect him to be on top form??

 

[wakemalcolm]

you seem to be forgetting he fell down a ravine in June and was only back racing at start of august - did you expect him to be on top form??

You could argue that he wasn't exactly setting the heather alight before his unauthorised canyoning expedition, although given the summer we've had that's no bad thing.

His best result by far this year was post accident.