27 Aug, 2010 @ 09:00
1 min read

On yer bike

By Wendy Williams

SEVILLA is set to host the first stage of this year’s Vuelta a España bike race.

And to mark the 75th anniversary of the race, organisers have included a special twist as the first stage will be a team time trail held at night.

The event, held on Saturday 28 August, will begin near the La Maestranza bullring at 10pm with organisers expecting the 14 km stage to finish just before midnight.

Then on Sunday, for the second stage of the three-week race, the peloton will travel across Sevilla, Cadiz and Malaga as they make the 173km journey from Alcalá de Guadaíra through Ronda downhill to Marbella.

Due to the late start on Saturday, and to give the riders a bit of time to recuperate, stage two will begin at 1.30pm.

Although Spanish rider Alberto Contador will not be racing following his victory in the Tour de France, the Vuelta has attracted some big names from the cycling world including Carlos Sastre, the Schleck brothers, and British rider Mark Cavendish.

And this year’s favourite to win the race when it comes to an end on 19 September in Madrid, is Russian cyclist Denis Menchov, who recently came third in the Tour de France and has won the Vuelta a España twice before.

Jon Clarke (Publisher & Editor)

Jon Clarke is a Londoner who worked at the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday as an investigative journalist before moving to Spain in 2003 where he helped set up the Olive Press.

After studying Geography at Manchester University he fell in love with Spain during a two-year stint teaching English in Madrid.

On returning to London, he studied journalism and landed his first job at the weekly Informer newspaper in Teddington, covering hundreds of stories in areas including Hounslow, Richmond and Harrow.

This led on to work at the Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Mirror, Standard and even the Sun, before he landed his first full time job at the Daily Mail.

After a year on the Newsdesk he worked as a Showbiz correspondent covering mostly music, including the rise of the Spice Girls, the rivalry between Oasis and Blur and interviewed many famous musicians such as Joe Strummer and Ray Manzarak, as well as Peter Gabriel and Bjorn from Abba on his own private island.

After a year as the News Editor at the UK’s largest-selling magazine Now, he returned to work as an investigative journalist in Features at the Mail on Sunday.

As well as tracking down Jimi Hendrix’ sole living heir in Sweden, while there he also helped lead the initial investigation into Prince Andrew’s seedy links to Jeffrey Epstein during three trips to America.

He had dozens of exclusive stories, while his travel writing took him to Jamaica, Brazil and Belarus.

He is the author of three books; Costa Killer, Dining Secrets of Andalucia and My Search for Madeleine.

Contact jon@theolivepress.es

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