American Sepp Kuss rolled into Madrid as winner of the Vuelta a Espana as the three-week race concluded with a thrilling bunch sprint won by Australian Kaden Groves on Sunday.
Kuss began the race very much in the shadow of his more illustrious Jumbo-Visma team mates Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic but ended it with the red jersey on his shoulders.
He became the first American to win a Grand Tour in 10 years, a stretch dating back to Chris Horner’s Vuelta success in 2013.
Kuss said: “It’s incredible. I think today was the stage I suffered the most in the whole race, so now I’m just glad it’s over.
“I’ll still be me. It’s life-changing for sure but I think I’ll just look back on this experience with a lot of fond memories. It’s still sinking in, I think that’s going to take quite some time.”
The 29-year-old ended 17 seconds ahead of Denmark's Tour de France winner Vingegaard with Slovenia's Giro d'Italia winner Roglic one minute and eight seconds behind in third place.
It is the first time that a single team has won all three Grand Tours in a season.
Kuss's first Grand Tour overall victory was effectively wrapped up on Saturday and there was a celebratory mood amongst the Dutch team on the 101km 21st stage that concluded on a street circuit around the iconic landmarks of Madrid.
But the battle for the stage victory was a thriller as a small lead group featuring Groves and Remco Evenepoel was gradually reeled in by the peloton in the final 500m.
Belgium's Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) eventually went off in search of his fourth stage win of the race but he could sustain his effort and was overtaken by Groves with 200m left.
Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) then poured on the power to take the win ahead of Ineos Grenadiers rider Filippo Ganna and Germany's Nico Denz (Bora Hansgrohe).
While Kuss celebrated the overall victory, Groves secured the green jersey for the points category - the first Australian to achieve that in the Vuelta.
Evenepoel, whose hopes of retaining his overall title evaporated on stage 13, ended with the consolation of the climber's jersey after a brilliant tour.
MWTC
Tickets start from Dh100 for adults and are now on sale at www.ticketmaster.ae and Virgin Megastores across the UAE. Three-day and travel packages are also available at 20 per cent discount.
Evacuations to France hit by controversy
Over 500 Gazans have been evacuated to France since November 2023
Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
Artists and researchers fall under a programme called Pause that began in 2017
It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
Since the start of the Gaza war, it has also included 45 Gazan beneficiaries
Unlike students, they are allowed to bring their families to France
Moscow claimed it hit the largest military fuel storage facility in Ukraine, triggering a huge fireball at the site.
A plume of black smoke rose from a fuel storage facility in the village of Kalynivka outside Kyiv on Friday after Russia said it had destroyed the military site with Kalibr cruise missiles.
"On the evening of March 24, Kalibr high-precision sea-based cruise missiles attacked a fuel base in the village of Kalynivka near Kyiv," the Russian defence ministry said in a statement.
Ukraine confirmed the strike, saying the village some 40 kilometres south-west of Kyiv was targeted.
Frankenstein in Baghdad
Ahmed Saadawi
Penguin Press
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Power: 650hp at 6,750rpm
Torque: 800Nm from 2,500-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Fuel consumption: 11.12L/100km
Price: From Dh796,600
On sale: now
MATCH INFO
Juventus 1 (Dybala 45')
Lazio 3 (Alberto 16', Lulic 73', Cataldi 90 4')
Red card: Rodrigo Bentancur (Juventus)
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah 5.10pm: Continous 5.45pm: Raging Torrent 6.20pm: West Acre 7pm: Flood Zone 7.40pm: Straight No Chaser 8.15pm: Romantic Warrior 8.50pm: Calandogan 9.30pm: Forever Young
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
