"It's a wonderful day for me" - Spanish GC hope Markel Beloki celebrates first professional overall victory
CyclingFriday, 31 July 2026 at 09:00
In the end Markel Beloki could not win the final stage of 2026 Tour de l'Ain. But it's not going to be a reason to mourn for the young Spaniard since he just won his first GC at professional level. Perhaps first of many.
Beloki already ensured his success in the overall ranking the previous day. In a stage where Col de Portes (14.6 km at 5.6%) was contested twice, the Spaniard has been able to ride away solo and gain close to a minute on his rivals. Thanks to this lead, the young climber could afford to adopt a more conservative approach to the final stage.
The final day featured close to 3,000 altitude meters and several ascents of which most prominent was the Col de Menthières (9.2 km at 6.2%). There, Soudal - Quick-Step's youngster Henrique Bravo tested the overall leader, but eventually the race lead to a reduced group sprint for victory where Beloki lost to Axel Mariault. But his overall victory was never threatened.
"It's a wonderful day for me. It was a very good race, but we had to control it right to the end," Beloki commented afterwards.
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"We knew it would be a very tough day for the team: yesterday (Wednesday, July 19th), we lost a rider and we were down to just five to carry the weight of the race. We knew this stage was going to be complicated, but we managed to control everything."
"I tried to be in control for most of the time to defend my first place in the general classification. I work hard every day to be at the front and go for victories. We'll see what the future holds, but for now, my goals are coming up very quickly: in four days, I'll be at the start of the Vuelta a Burgos," he said.
Beloki, son of legendary Spanish climber from early 2000s Joseba Beloki, promoted to WorldTour with EF Education-EasyPost in 2024. Last year, he won a stage and GC at the 2.2 Tour Alsace and debuted at Vuelta a Espana. And his progress continues this season. Successfully recovered from Giro debut, Beloki seems set to finish off the 2026 season on a high.
His contract at the American team runs out at the end of this season. As for his future, Netcompany INEOS have been linked to Beloki with their growing Spanish contingent which will feature young prospect Benjamín Noval from 2027 onwards.
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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- ouch! Let's hope he recovers in time for a successful Vuelta, but I'm going to assume that he's not going to be at the level he wishes or needs to compete with, say, Pogačar (by now I assume he's going).RidesHills31-07-2026
- go wout!Crashjames31-07-2026
- Alec Segaert is present, so on stage 1 there is always a chance of a disruption of the sprint
Rafionain-Glas31-07-2026 - I'm a fan and hurts me to have to say - this is just plain stupid of both him and the team! “We may have misunderstood the Tour a bit this year,” Vingegaard said following his withdrawal. “We made me better on the longer climbs. But it could well be that we should have realised I needed to be a bit more explosive and look more closely at the route.''Cyclingsbestfan31-07-2026
- LOL passing men is no significant achievement for elite female cyclists unless they are actually prosRafionain-Glas31-07-2026
- Visma's Vuelta gifting was certainly complicated, with JV having almost wiped out Kuss's lead before a public outcry led to Visma's decision to hold back. But Jonas seemed fine with letting almost victory go.Hills3331-07-2026
- I can read, and am responding to another comment or, dumbdevilCrashjames31-07-2026
- imo the pogs gifting is way obvious... Visma riders obeyed team orders even though Kuss deserved his victory with Roglic having a sook.
Davide31-07-2026 - yup.OCexile31-07-2026
- I'm one of those who really hopes Pog is clean, as he has real (and entertaining) skills like attacking at just the right moment to beat Carapaz and Martinez on Alpe d'Huez, taking just the right line to pull away on the descent on Stage 6, crashing in such a way that he can carry on and win, or avoiding crashing over a bidon. For me, the real moment of temptation to boost performance in some way would surely be when a rider is feeling desperate (whether to win again or simply not crack); and we might not be aware of such an inner struggle.Hills3331-07-2026
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