"To beat Wout van Aert... he's one of the best long sprinters in the world, it's just crazy" - Pavel Bittner in disbelief after sprint win on stage 5 of 2024 Vuelta a Espana
Cycling
Everything seemed to be set up for a third showdown between Kaden Groves and Wout van Aert on stage 5 of the 2024 Vuelta a Espana in Seville. In the end though, neither took the plaudits as Pavel Bittner stunned both to take the biggest win of his budding career.
"It's unbelievable. Only a few days ago I got my first pro win," reflected the 21-year-old Czech, who entered his Grand Tour debut off the back of two stage wins at the Vuelta a Burgos earlier in the month. "To get the win in my first Vuelta, I still don't believe it."
With Van Aert launching early and Groves a little boxed in, Bittner took advantage to fire to the win in an incredibly tight finale that went to the photo finish. "If we look at the last few years, I think with DSM, we've done a big portion of work. A lot of work went into this, a lot of people, and especially in the final kilometres, the whole team was working really, really good," he assesses afterwards.
"To beat Wout in a long sprint, he's one of the best long sprinters in the world, it's just crazy," Bittner concludes in disbelief. "I told the guys, 'Today we can really do it. Guys, I really believe in myself.' When the opportunity opened, I just opened my sprint and went full gas to the line."
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Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- Somehow it has got into his mind that he is a GC rider. He is primarily a classics and stage rider who can perform on GC given his day. As a result he is wasting his time on TDF GC and once committed to GC you are too tired to do anything else.abstractengineer10-11-2026
- 🐐❤️Lozza09-11-2026
- This is such a black eye to women's professional cyclocross if this result remains. Marie Schreiber won this race fairly. This finish is not unlike others in cyclocross. Lots of moving around to get to the finish not to cut anyone off , but to generate a sprint on soft wide tires caked with mud and sand. This is not nearly the same as a road race between two riders sprinting to the finish on faster bikes and thinner firmer tires. The powers in charge need to use some common sense, reverse this result and remember this is Cyclocross not Road racing. Unbelievable. . .Zencycle09-11-2026
- Tis beyond your comprehension fine sir so best not to look on with blind eyes to THE GOATS greatness.
Brucegel09-11-2026 - McNulty winning was beneficial in ensuring the rainbow jersey would not remain winless
Front24209-11-2026 - Eccelente! That's 7 riders in total in Red Bull who come from the devo team, 8 if you include Lipo
Rafionain-Glas09-11-2026 - again, nothing is going to be resolved. it is a discussion board. I simply said I didn't see how MS impeded LBs sprint. the UCI doesn't care about my thoughts, and I am really not that emotionally invested in it.mij09-11-2026
- provoke change, lol. this is a discussion board. nothing is going to change by what I say here. just commenting that it didn't look like MS impeded Brand. beyond that not trying to go too deep.mij09-11-2026
- as excellent as maga rednecks chloe dygert (and quinn simmons)?Ketterechts09-11-2026
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The 21-year old Pavel Bittner takes his first ever victory in a Grand Tour, winning stage 5 of @lavuelta in Sevilla. 👏 Beating WVA and Groves in a bunch sprint fair and square, that was VERY impressive for a GT debutant. Loved it! #LaVuelta24
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