La Vuelta 2020: Is Hugh Carthy a Grand Tour winner of the future?

Updated 07/11/2020 at 20:09 GMT

Sean Kelly believes that Hugh Carthy has taken a huge stride towards being a major Grand Tour contender with his ride in the 2020 Vuelta a Espana.

Hugh Carthy of The United Kingdom and Team EF Pro Cycling / during the 75th Tour of Spain 2020, Stage 12 a 109,4km stage from Pola de Laviana to Alto de l'Angliru 1560m / @lavuelta / #LaVuelta20 / La Vuelta

Image credit: Getty Images

Hugh Carthy of EF Pro Cycling will finish on the podium on Sunday after securing a third-place finish behind Primoz Roglic and Richard Carapaz at La Vuelta.

And Eurosport pundit Sean Kelly says the Brit will be hugely pleased with his performance.

“He will be majorly happy because he’s made huge inroads into his three-week Tour overall performance here,” Kelly told Dan Lloyd in the latest episode of The Breakaway.

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“That’s going to give him huge confidence going forward. The time trial that he put up, that will give him huge confidence too.

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“He knows that he can ride a three-week race, that he can perform in the final week, that he can perform in the time trial.

“We saw today, he was the one out of the big favourites to put in the big attack to open up the race. He’s not afraid at all to have a go and open up the race.”

Speaking after the stage, Carthy told Eurosport that he tried his best to leapfrog Carapaz and Roglic in the general classification, but couldn’t quite find enough.

Hugh Carthy 'proud of himself' after securing Grand Tour podium finish

"I was trying to test Roglic and Carapaz, but in the end it wasn’t enough. We gave our best, the whole team, for three weeks so no complaints. I’m happy with my effort and my progression.”

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La Vuelta 2020: Is Hugh Carthy a Grand Tour winner of the future?

Sean Kelly believes that Hugh Carthy has taken a huge stride towards being a major Grand Tour contender with his ride in the 2020 Vuelta a Espana.

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