Young British rider surprises himself by almost winning Vuelta time trial - Red Bull Grand Tour debutant came just two seconds short of stage win
Cycling
Stefan Kung winning stage 18 of the Vuelta a Espana wasn't a major surprise, but his close runner-up just two seconds shy certainly raised a few eyebrows. Red Bull's Callum Thornley finished second on the day and almost pulled off a shock first Grand Tour win.
The 32-kilometer time trial saw the likes of Kung, Joao Almeida, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Bruno Armirail, and Ethan Hayter crowd a talented top ten. However, Thornley's performance was made more impressive considering he finished ahead of all but one.
A time trial specialist, Thornley has made his breakthrough this season as the 23-year-old picked up fourth place on the opening stage time trial, adding to a third-place finish on the final stage of the Tour de Pologne last month as he prepared for his Vuelta debut.
Speaking after his second place, Thornley admitted that he went faster than he had expected and that he was very happy with his performance.
“From the simulations I was around 35'35", so I went faster. I'm very happy with the time I did, especially to have been beaten by such a small gap."
Thornley delighted with first Grand Tour results
In his first year with the Red Bull WorldTour setup after his promotion from their development team, Thornley didn't arrive at the Vuelta with a time trial goal but admitted his delight at picking up a podium spot in his first three-week race.
“I think I did some good time trials in this Vuelta. At the beginning of the race the time trials were not my objective, but the most important thing is that I managed to achieve these results in my first Grand Tour.”
Meanwhile, he finished ahead of his general classification leader, Roglic, who, despite a good time, did not make up huge swathes of time he had expected to before the stage.
Roglic is happy with his time trial
Roglic managed to pull back 33 seconds on leader Enric Mas, but fell short of what he needed to take the lead as he now sits 1:37 behind him in second overall.
“From the start, good, and then more and more to the finish, more and more tired,” Roglič told Eurosport.
“But looking at how I ran into this Vuelta, like I said, with zero hours or minutes on the TT bike at all, I delivered for myself a nice time trial today. So definitely super happy about it.”
Gavin QuinnCycling Journalist
Gavin Quinn is a cycling journalist and ultra-distance cyclist with a BA in Journalism from Dublin City University. Formerly the Press & Communications Officer for Cycling Ireland, Gavin has worked inside the national team at the World Championships and has reported for the Irish Mirror, Mirror UK, and The42.
His expertise is backed by elite-level access, having interviewed stars like Sam Bennett and Ben Healy, as well as immense personal endurance. In 2025, he completed a 12,000km solo cycle from Ireland to Vietnam, following a 4,600km tour across Europe. From the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix to the gradients of the Tourmalet, Gavin’s writing focuses on the "romance and brutality" of the sport. Having visited 50+ countries, he brings a global, cultural perspective to his coverage of the pro peloton for CyclingUpToDate.
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- It doesnt take a genius to understand that Pogi is 1 level above and Pogi is younger that Jonas, so Jonas will not win under ordinary circumstances. Pogi has to crack hard for Jonas to win. It doesn't matter whether you defend Jonas or not , facts remain facts. Jonas himself says his numbers are better than 2022/2023, so Jonas is more or less optimized and we are just see the stochastic variation due to other factors. I think he will retire along with Pedersen in WC denmarkabstractengineer13-11-2026
- They only raced each other during the 2026 Tour, but here's a few metrics to look at. Stage 3 (Granollers to Les Angles): Pogačar won the stage, finishing 2 seconds ahead of Vingegaard (2nd). Del Toro finished 24 seconds behind Stage 6 (Pau to Gavarnie-Gedre / Col du Tourmalet): Pogačar won solo, Vingegaard finished 2nd (losing 2:38), and Del Toro finished 3rd (at +2:57, finishing 19 seconds behind Vingegaard). Here, Jonas Vingegaard outclimbed Isaac del Toro by 19 seconds on the mountain stageawp13-11-2026
- your clinging to the past. Jonas was dropped by del toro many times last year and jonas never managed a climbing numers del toro did in dauphine last year -entire year. Trend is also evident theres no discussion your living in the past, its beent he same with jonas for many years now and only developing, meanwhile del toro is rising and developing greatly. This is all obvious stuff and im not even a del toro fan. No point discussing numbers or this i suspect you dont watch much now but rather think its 2022 still cause this aint hard.miguel13-11-2026
- We can go through metrics if you like, Del Toro, who I do admire and support, is not on the same level as Jonas just yet. You will see that in early 2027 if they have any crossover races. I do hope they both race the Giro. You are correct though, Jonas is getting older and will not be able to hand on much longer. I see 2027 as a good year for him. Obviously behind Tadej though.awp13-11-2026
- What wins? Are you LA operating under a pseudonym?mij13-11-2026
- My point is this - Tadej, Remco, Seixas are all the outliers. Many riders don’t hit their peak until 28. It’s way too early to write him off. And the pogi slo guy that hates him - he’s also immature. Ayuso needs time.mij13-11-2026
- Then you need to use ur eyes or head if you have cause del toro already dropped jonas two times and beat him in tdf stages already this year.. Del toro climbed(dauphine) better numbers than jonas did all year too. So ur feelings and wishful thinking doesnt amtter del toro himself has already surpassed jonas infact just facts. Its also very evident for anyone objective that Jonas is declining alot, its just the truth and super obvious.miguel13-11-2026
- None of those victories stand, so there's that,wrsty13-11-2026
- No surprise there; it is British Sycling, yes, with an S
Rafionain-Glas12-11-2026 - I like Del Toro but he's not on the level of Jonas, by a large margin.awp12-11-2026
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