Poels polishing Vuelta a Espana form at Tour de Pologne

Six years ago on the famed Vuelta a España ascent of the Alto de l'Angliru, a young, tall Dutch climber named Wout Poels finished second in the stage, just ahead of Denis Menchov and Chris Froome. It was a fine performance, but with the GC focus elsewhere, the Dutchman's excellent result didn't have that much media impact.

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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.