Hello dear Eurosport Live Text fans, I must apologise once again that it is not Felix Lowe in the hotseat today, but rather I, Tom Owen. Felix will be back on Tuesday, I promise.
Vuelta a España
Stage 9 | Mountain | Men | 27.08.2017
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Live Updates
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Updated 27/08/2017 at 16:03 GMT
What does this mean for the race? Well, I'd be very, very surprised if there wasn't some activity from the men in green today, expect them in the break and expect Woods to double down and attack on the final climb, the Cumbre del Sol, again today too. They are all ostensibly on the hunt for a new contract as of today.
While Woods’ team mate, Joe Dombrowski, took a more proactive approach to fundraising.
Cannondale’s best-placed rider on GC, Michael Woods, put his early attack yesterday down to a desire to get a result for the team. He was speaking to CyclingNews.
It’s a total bummer, but it’s not over yet, JV and the Slipstream Sports management are still working on getting sponsors. I found out the news on Friday and it resulted in a bit of a sleepless night and even me making some pretty bad tactical decisions yesterday. I got excited and wanted a result so bad for the team that I got anxious on the climb and attacked a bit too early with Contador and then blew up.
The big news story overnight was the future of WorldTour team, Cannondale-Drapac, which appears to be on rather shaky footing. The team needs to find $7million in order to continue next year, after a major financial partner pulled the plug in recent days. That means the future of Rigoberto Uran, who podiumed at the Tour de France, as well as the whole Argyle roster is in doubt. Here’s their press statement.
If you missed it yesterday, here’s what went down in Stage 8. An impressive win for Julian Alaphillippe and some minor general classification skirmishes, rather than all-out warfare.