"How fast can you be at the airport?" The bizarre story of 2 riders who had to go to the Vuelta last minute

Let’s start with Turner, who had just come off the Tour of Poland, where he won a stage and the points classification. Riding high on form, he was competing in the Renewi Tour and even finished sixth on the opening day, clearly with more to come, until he suddenly got the call. “The last 24 hours were bizarre. I was racing full gas in the Renewi Tour, and then Thursday evening, on the way back to the hotel after stage 2, I got the message that they needed me in the Vuelta.”

With INEOS Grenadiers by his side and Belgian airports nearby, it all came together quickly. “It wasn’t a problem for me, so I flew out Friday at 6:00 a.m., and now I’m here,” Turner laughed on Saturday morning. It’s a quick switch, of course, but the tall British rouleur wasn’t making a fuss. “It’s tough, but this is cycling, the sport where you show up when you’re needed. So you reset your focus and give everything for the new goal.”

“I had the Tour of Britain and some Belgian races on my schedule, but now I’m riding my second grand tour of the year,” said Turner, referring to the Giro d’Italia, which he completed earlier this season. He had already ridden the Vuelta a España in 2022, and took part in the Tour de France in both 2023 and 2024. Turner is looking forward to what lies ahead. “I’ve got a good feeling, hopefully that pays off in the Vuelta. We’ve got a lot of options in the team, so I’m going to do my best.”

Pickering’s story was even a little crazier. While Turner got his call on Thursday evening, the 22-year-old from Bahrain Victorious didn’t hear anything until Friday. “I was at home in Andorra and training like normal. I was first reserve on the list, so I was still following a training schedule, always with the thought in the back of my mind that something might happen,” he recalled. Pickering had just raced the Tour of Burgos in August, so he was still in race rhythm.

But anyone familiar with Andorra knows it’s not exactly easy to get to the Vuelta’s starting city, Turin, in a single day on a Friday. “Actually, I was lucky. I was having problems with my wheels, so I hadn’t started training yet that day. I was on my way to the bike shop to pick them up when I got a call: ‘How fast can you get to the airport?’ Because I hadn’t started training yet, it all went pretty quickly.”

“With that, I was also lucky to find a taxi driver on Friday afternoon who could get me to the airport quickly,” Pickering smiled, though the chaos didn’t stop there for the young talent. “My suitcase is still somewhere, because my flight was delayed. But luckily I had two pairs of shoes, some underwear, and socks in my hand luggage, so I can at least start. It all worked out, thanks to the team’s organization.”

When he arrived late Friday night at the Bahrain Victorious team hotel, he learned that he was replacing Caruso. “I was in such a rush that I don’t even know the full story. I just know that Damiano has an injury to his hand, but I’m not exactly sure what happened. I mostly just feel for him, because he was in the form of his life and sacrificed a lot to get here. Damiano is such an important rider for the team.” (Caruso broke his hand after slipping in the hotel, ed.)

So now we’ll see Pickering riding alongside team leaders Antonio Tiberi and Santiago Buitrago for three weeks. “I actually feel ready, at the end of the day, a bike race is still a bike race. There’s a lot of experience in the team, so I’m assuming I’ll get a few tips… and maybe some extra underwear from them. I’m going to do my best to support Antonio and Santiago, because I really believe they can do big things in this Vuelta.”

Bram van der Ploeg ( Twitter: @BvdPloegg | email : [email protected])