"It was an incredibly fast day" - American revelation enters Vuelta top-10 as other favourites crumble
Cycling
Matthew Riccitello continues to excell in the mountains of Vuelta a Espana and after stage 10 enters the top-10 of general classification, crossing the finish line as a seventh best rider from the peloton on the day. So far, the 23-year-old American made no mistakes and is now only 27 seconds shy off Giulio Pellizzari, the current holder of the white jersey for best young rider.
Following the first rest day, the tenth stage of Vuelta a Espana from Parque de la Naturaleza Sendaviva to El Ferial Larra Belagua brought about a first relentless breakaway battle, and a group of attackers was only let go by the peloton at a halfway point of the day. It was a tremendously hard start after a day off that promised to test everyone's readiness for the second block of racing.
"It was an incredibly fast day, the entire stage," Riccitello recounted the day in an interview for Eurosport. "It took forever for the leading group to break away, which isn't ideal for guys who are on the wheel and don't want to go along. Such a tough day also made the final climb more selective."
"All I could do today was follow. I'm happy not to have been dropped by Vingegaard and the others, and with how the race has gone so far. I'm really taking it day by day; there are still so many tough stages to come," he said cautiously.
UAE Team Emirates - XRG set a hard pace at the foot of the last ascent that saw many GC contenders lose touch with the front group as well as important time towards the overall standings - but not Matthew Riccitello. The Israel - Premier Tech leader hung on with the likes of Joao Almeida and Jonas Vingegaard to arrive 12th on the day, while Felix Gall or Egan Bernal lost precious time.
"Ayuso set a very high pace from the bottom, for about one or two kilometers. João (Almeida, ed.) tried to break away, leaving a small group. Jorgenson set the pace from there, also because it flattened out towards the top and riders stopped trying."
Therefore, we see Riccitello's GC position improve from 13th to 10th, 2:43 behind the new leader Jonas Vingegaard, but only 40 seconds away from what would be a sensational top-5 result. That rank is currently occupied by Austrian Felix Gall, but with six world-class climbers (including Riccitello) within a minute of Gall, anything could happen in the next two weeks.
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.
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- I get the point totally. We live in the snowflake society where some riders forget they are getting paid to ride and get results. When they have a few issues they try to look outside of the real issue instead of themselves. It odd so many of the team are making no complaints and getting on with their job. If you do not like what you do find another job simples. Tough love as my mum would say.paultryan200207-11-2026
- many people advise him to grow slowly and rather do giro and/or vuelta instead of tdf. but i can totally understand that he is not satisfied with taking over once pogi declines, but instead beat him in his prime. so if he goes for tdf again, i‘m all for it. let‘s hope that pogi recovers soon!Ketterechts07-11-2026
- So gracious to offer something no-one would be prepared to pay for. The Giro is not the Tour and doesn’t command the same interest or attract the same “elite” (those willing to pay to be a part of something they consider has ego boosting potential). Roadside viewing will always largely remain free for everyone outside circuits. Introduction of a symbolic entrance to mountain climbs is worthy of exploration. Asking 1-2€ isn’t going to repulse real fans (most will spend 50-100€ on their outing that day all things included) but will prevent a portion of the total knobhead thrillseekers who will join in any large gathering as long as it’s free, just because they’re attracted to crowds, without which it it difficult for them to work up their anti-social behaviour.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- How is radio going to help when someone went over a cliff or bridge or off the roadside into a forest unnoticed and is laying there unconscious?Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Yep, next we’ll be accusing F1 drivers of avoiding Le Mans.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- any rider less than 25 whether they are really ready for the position of leadership of GT is probably not the case. I think Pogi himself suffered when he was defeated by Jonas in the TDF twice. But that would be the team's job to ensure support so that they can bounce back. It requires a team and time to get back up and win after getting knocked down.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I'm very glad he got the big late Quickstep Vuelta win and I hope he has a few left for Euskaltel-Euskadi.flyer07-11-2026
- My memories of Ivan Basso aren't good but I liked his sister Elisa ok.flyer07-11-2026
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