Cort comes close to second Vuelta a España stage win on Spanish 'Mur de Huy'

Vuelta Espana 2021 76th Edition 11th stage Antequera Valdepenas de Jaen 1336 km 25082021 Magnus Cort Nielsen DEN EF Education Nippo photo Dario BelingheriBettiniPhoto2021
Magnus Cort (EF Education-Nippo) rode the first half of the Valdepeñas de Jaén climb in the lead (Image credit: Bettini Photo)

The Belgian Ardennes Classics feel a long way from the blazing heat of eastern Andalusia and the Vuelta a España but as Magnus Cort (EF Education-Nippo) found to his cost on Wednesday the ultra-steep climb to Valdepeñas de Jaén, dubbed the 'Mur de Huy of the south' by local media, has a lot in common with its Walloon relative.

The last rider to succeed in winning on the Mur de Huy ahead of the pack now dates as far back as Igor Astarloa in 2003, regrettably for Cort, it was entirely in keeping with that Ardennes Classics formula that his gutsy stage 11 lone move was also swallowed up by the favourites within sight of the line.

Alasdair Fotheringham

Alasdair Fotheringham has been reporting on cycling since 1991. He has covered every Tour de France since 1992 bar one, as well as numerous other bike races of all shapes and sizes, ranging from the Olympic Games in 2008 to the now sadly defunct Subida a Urkiola hill climb in Spain. As well as working for Cyclingnews, he has also written for The IndependentThe GuardianProCycling, The Express and Reuters.