"I'm still excited to try and win" - Einer Rubio carries the flag of Movistar in Alpine queen stage
Cycling
On the day Movistar Team lost Enric Mas who abandoned early into the stage due to knee problems, Einer Rubio carried the flag of the Spanish team. The Colombian was along with the eventual stage winner Ben O'Connor among the strongest man of the stage.
Alongside his Australian companion, they entered the decisive part of the Col de la Loze with more than 3 minutes on the favorites, but Rubio could not hold the pace of O'Connor. Despite a commendable effort, he was overtaken right at the end by Pogacar, Vingegaard and Onley.
Regardless of the outcome, he was proud of his performance and hopes to try again tomorrow, Friday, in what will be the last high mountain stage of the Grande Boucle 2025:
"For me it was a great stage, we've been looking for it since the beginning of the Tour, today we tried very hard, we fought very hard, super hard stage, I was there with the favorites fighting it, I'm very happy, with good feelings, the last super long pass, in the end I was caught in the last meters by the men in the general classification, I'll take a fifth place, proud of what I did, we'll try again tomorrow."
Read also
On the abandonment of his teammate Enric Mas, he lamented that the team car did not tell him anything: "I did not know, sadness too, Enric was not very well in recent days, cycling is a very hard sport, hopefully he recovers soon and can be at the Vuelta at one hundred percent."
Einer Rubio has been Movistar Team's most consistent rider at Grand Tours this year. He was eighth at the recent Giro d'Italia and the pocket climber certainly didn't disappoint with his performances also at the Tour de France.
Next to the 5th place today, Rubio also arrived 11th in another big mountain stage to Hautacam and 15th to Superbagneres. In both instances as one of the best men from daily breakaway. It brings up the question whether he could've competed for the general classification with so many pre-race favourites collapsing.
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- Are you MrMauMau 2.0? Nothing you are saying is really relevant. Vaguely connected, but irrelevant. The conversation is whether Schreiber impeded Brand or not.
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - He is boring
leedorney08-11-2026 - To Twoje przemyślenia te bla, bla :)
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Uwielbiam patrzeć, jak wyjeżdża na czoło peletonu i zaczyna się rzeź...Dariusz08-11-2026
- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- What a race! I didn't expect Vanthourenhout to collapse like that, and Wyseure did take the fight to Nys, but there was no doubt at the end. I also wonder what Aubin Sparfel would be capable of were he to race in the elites now. In the U23 ranks he is making good work of Giel Lejeune, who himself is among the better riders in the elites, and a top 10 contender in the big races (3rd at Kleebergcross, 8th at Berencross and 5th at Heerderstrand). In the French Cup, Sparfel is significantly better than Romain Debord (8th at Koppenbergcross and 10th at the Euros) and Rémi Lelandais (12th at Koppenbergcross and 19th at the Euros).Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
Loading
Write a comment