The Sport Vlaanderen - Baloise rider has gathered the biggest win of his career today at the Vuelta Andalucia, getting the race lead alongside it. Rune Herregodts has fulfilled and surpassed his goals at the the race, he was emotional after the finish line upon such success.
"It was a difficult day to go away because it was two hundred kilometers. That was quite a long stage, we went away with eigth guys so it's a large group it's ideal. I didn't went too hard at the start, the peloton gave good margin," he said in a post-race interview.
"I told the guys to take it easy. With 100 kilometers to go go all-out, we're eigth guys if they want to chase us down they have to put a lot of riders in the front of the peloton. Cooperation was great, no-one skipped turns."
Herregodts was part of the first breakaway of the race and was the most agressive rider in the penultimate climb. Despite a flurry of unsuccessful moves, the young Belgian managed to climb the final hilltop faster than his breakaway companions to take a very big win.
He added, "on the last climb everbody tried to go alone, we were quite equal so we couldn't distance each other. When I felt it was possible I just gathered all my sprint because I know after a hard day I can ride quite well. My teammate Lindsay de Vylder did a fantastic job, he kept everything together on the flat parts, it as great to be with two teammates in the break we tried to keep the pace high when sometimes when it went down, it really was a team effort.
"It's a very important victory, it's a pro race with quite a strong field. Everybody will be very happy." Asked about his GC ambitions, he replied, "I won't think about it now, I want to enjoy. I didn't come here with the ambition for the GC. We'll try to hold the jersey as long as possible, but our stage-race is already a great success, and everything that comes is bonus."
Tomorrow will already be a very complicated challenge for Herregodts to keep the race lead, but he has 31 seconds of lead over what should be his most direct rival Alessandro Covi.
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
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Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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