Pidcock wins uphill sprint ahead of ex-Ineos teammate Brandon Rivera and new GC leader Pavel Sivakov as he stormed to a fourth victory of the season for his new team After an aggressive day of racing which saw the GC battle kick off with around 80km remaining on the stage the final was contested between a group of five riders coming down to a sprint which Pidcock led out holding the rest at bay with a strong turn of pace at the finish Brandon Rivera, of Pidcock’s former team, INEOS Grenadiers, came through in second place, while Pavel Sivakov (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) rounded out the podium finishing in third place for the second consecutive day The Frenchman’s consistency was rewarded as he moved into the race lead, supplanting yesterday’s winner Maxim Van Gils (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) The Belgian was caught out on the final descent from the day’s main climb and could not bridge back to the head of the race with Clément Berthet (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) in second overall and Pidcock moving into third Pidcock said: “Today I stayed calm Yesterday I was not disappointed but I rode stupid and perhaps being a little bit too confident So it was a nice reality check yesterday and today coming from altitude and things it was not really a good day for me So it's really nice today to get my hands in the air and be up there on GC - still 40 seconds down You learn more from losing than from winning It's better to happen yesterday than in a Monument “I didn't look so much at the other three stages because I knew the first two were the most important for GC we had five guys in the front with a two-minute gap at one point It's crazy how easily the race can explode Stage 2 of the Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol was the longest of this year’s race at 133.2km and the peloton headed north to Torredelcampo via a number of climbs including three ascents of the category 2 Puerto de los Villares.  It was another warm and sunny day in southern Spain and the action began from the flag drop with a battle for the early break that eventually settled into a group of seven riders though their advantage over the bunch was short-lived as the climbing began in earnest.  The GC favourites began to exert their authority over proceedings with around 50km remaining The bunch split and was spread along the road with a strong group of riders at the head of the race including Sivakov - in third overall at the start of the day - who had once again been part of the early break overall leader Van Gils found himself with work to do With the race favourites all over the road Pidcock took matters into his own hands, attacking with 49km remaining, though he was initially unable to drop Van Gils. Van Gils was the next to accelerate in the chasing group, and he and Pidcock vied for position, with Enric Mas (Movistar) just about managing to stick with them the trio rapidly began to close the gap to the front of the race and as they passed the summit and headed onto the descent Pidcock used the long descent to his advantage The Brit made the catch and joined the lead group along with Mas The virtual leader on the road was Sivakov with Van Gils labouring alone with no teammates 30 seconds behind With 26km remaining a chasing group of ten riders caught the yellow jersey Luckily for Van Gils it included a teammate in the shape of Giovanni Aleotti who powered past his leader and immediately began to set a ferocious tempo with the rest of the chasers coming together in a group behind him Despite Red Bull rallying for their leader the gap to the head of the race remained at around 1:45 Van Gils looked set to lose his lead as the five in front stayed clear -despite some apparent conflict over the division of labour within the group with Pidcock remonstrating with his former teammate Brandon Rivera (Ineos Grenadiers) for sitting on Heading into the final the gap to Van Gils had crept out to two minutes Mas was first to strike out from the lead group though his acceleration was immediately neutralised by Pidcock The tension was high as the group entered the narrow streets of Torredelcampo and the pace dropped as the quintet began to look at one another with the chase group behind rapidly closing the gap.  Though both Sivakov and Berthet tried to attack and it would come down to a sprint for the line Van Gils finished 1:10 down on the leaders and dropped out of the race lead heading into stage 3 Results powered by FirstCycling The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox! Katy is a freelance writer and journalist Cyclist Magazine and the British Continental She also writes opinion pieces on her own website writebikerepeat.com and is a frequent contributor to the Quicklink podcast.  She is obsessed with the narrative element of bike racing from the bigger picture to the individual stories She is a cyclocross nut who is 5% Belgian and wonders if this entitles her to citizenship Her favourite races are Ronde van Vlaanderen and La Vuelta In her spare time Katy is a published short fiction and non-fiction author Pavel Sivakov wins the overall title at Vuelta a Andalucia(Image credit: Getty Images) Jon Barrenetxea wins final stage(Image credit: Getty Images)Diego Uriarte wins stage 4(Image credit: Getty Images)Alexander Kristoff of Uno-X Mobility celebrates at finish line as stage 3 winner ahead of Ben Turner of Ineos Grenadiers(Image credit: Szymon Gruchalski/Getty Images)Tom Pidcock wins stage 2 of the Vuelta a Andalucia(Image credit: Getty Images)Maxim Van Gils wins stage 1(Image credit: Getty Images) Stage 5: Pavel Sivakov secures overall victory as breakaway rider Jon Barrenetxea wins finale Stage 4: Late-race attack nets breakaway rider Diego Uriarte stage 4 win Stage 3: Alexander Kristoff kicks past Ben Turner in final metres for sprint victory Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X Mobility) exploded past Ineos Grenadiers’ Ben Turner in the final 10 metres to snatch the stage 3 victory Maxim Van Gils (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) then took third just ahead of Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) Stage 2: Tom Pidcock wins stage 2 as Maxim van Gils loses overall lead Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) scored the victory ahead of his former teammate at Ineos Grenadiers Brandon Rivera. Pavel Sivakov (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) rounded out the podium Stage 1: Maxim Van Gils wins opener at Cueva de Nerja Maxim van Gils took his first victory in the colours of his new team on a challenging opening day at the Vuelta a Andalucía (Ruta del Sol) stage 1 set the tone for the remaining four days of racing with Van Gils assuming control of the yellow leader’s jersey With a name frequently shortened to 'Ruta del Sol' or even just 'Ruta' the five-day race combines one or two flat stages with numerous hilly stages and short it includes a short individual time trial or heads into the mountains of Sierra Nevada for a summit finish Running concurrently with the Volta ao Algarve in Portugal in recent years Andalucia's increasing preference for a tougher route has tended to attract more allrounders and out-and-out climbers than Classics specialists to its field of favourites its history of winners includes historic one-day stars like Freddy Maertens as well as stage racers of the calibre of Chris Froome and Miguel Indurain Alejandro Valverde holds the current record for overall victories in Andalucia – five – whilst in 2023 Pogačar succeeded in winning three stages of a possible five en route to a crushing outright triumph Join Cyclingnews' coverage of the 2025 Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista del Sol with race reports Data powered by FirstCycling Spain – In the extremely specialized life of a 21st-century professional athlete the training pitch and the gym seem to be everything weeks and years living in an almost airtight environment Not for Celia Jiménez, defender for the National Women’s Soccer League’s Reign FC and Spain’s national team After taking part in a thrilling record-breaking Women’s World Cup the 24-year-old is now happily relaxed as she talks to The Equalizer in the quiet atmosphere of her home town’s public library She’s certainly at home right here – not just because she was enjoying a week off in the little Andalusian spot where she was born but also because she has probably spent just as much time in libraries is a professional soccer player – and she’s also an aerospace engineer “I really liked science and maths because they’re exact I’m someone who tries to be guided by facts and reality So when I have to take an important choice Studying an engineer degree let me develop a scientific approach and that makes me think about soccer from this unique perspective.” The entire article is accessible only to members of The Equalizer Extra Sign in to your account. CLICK TO SIGN UP but questions remain on both sides of the.. The rookies have been stealing some of the show Gotham FC's midfield danced around the Washington Spirit in the team's 3-0 thrashing of.. play iconSome expats had issues with pensions Spain is one of the most popular spots for expats to move to with the promise of warmer weather and beautiful beaches The cheapest places for an expat to buy in Spain have been shared Alcaudete de la Jara in Toledo was found to have the most affordable housing Britons can bag a property for the average cost of £244 per square metre Expats looking to buy in the regions could save a significant amount compared to the UK The average cost per square metre of houses in England and Wales was £2,954.26 in 2020 Those who are willing to take on renovations can buy a three-bed property for as little as 12,500 euros (£10,771) in Alcaudete de la Jara Toledo is a museum city with lots of culture and it is home to some of the cheapest properties The cheapest places to buy in Spain have been shared and its beauty was depicted in the paintings of El Greco," Spain.info explained "Visitors to the city should be sure to see its views or see a sunset from theAlcántara or San Martín bridges it’s worth spending more than a day to see the city lit up at night and explore it in more depth." If looking to move closer to home, research found Ireland could be one of the most affordable places for expats with the PGI granted to ​‘Aceite de Jaén’ for oil pro­duced from spe­cific olive vari­eties This PGI des­ig­na­tion will help pro­tect Jaén’s pro­duc­ers from mis­use and imi­ta­tion and con­tribute to the region’s econ­omy and cul­ture as well as being part of the larger trend of growth in PDO and PGI extra vir­gin olive oils in the EU The EU Commission has approved the addi­tion of a new Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) for olive oil pro­duced in the Southern Spain region of Jaén Protected sta­tus was requested for the prod­uct which was described as ​“an extra vir­gin olive oil obtained directly from the fruit of the olive tree (Olea europaea L.) and exclu­sively by mechan­i­cal means from olive tree plan­ta­tions located across the entire province of Jaén.” Ninety per­cent of the olive trees grown in the region are Picual the main vari­ety in ​‘Aceite de Jaén.’ Other vari­eties per­mit­ted in the appli­ca­tion are the indige­nous Manzanilla de Jaén Royal de Cazorla and Carrasqueño de Alcaudete; and the non-indige­nous Hojiblanca ‘Aceite de Jaén’ is the extra-vir­gin olive oil obtained from olives of the above-men­tioned vari­eties har­vested before December 31 as long as at least 85 per­cent of the oil is from the indige­nous vari­eties Chemical and organolep­tic cri­te­ria are also defined for the PGI such as a max­i­mum acid­ity of 0.5 per­cent a median score for fruiti­ness of greater than 3 and a per­mit­ted median score of bit­ter­ness between 3 and 6.5 The approved ​‘Aceite de Jaén’ PGI will cover all pro­duc­ers in the area who meet the cri­te­ria and will help pro­tect Jaén’s pro­duc­ers from mis­use and imi­ta­tion reas­sure con­sumers as to the true ori­gin of the olive oil and ulti­mately pro­tect local value at the global level European Union prod­ucts labeled with a geo­graph­i­cal indi­ca­tion are worth €74.76 bil­lion ($80.74 bil­lion) accord­ing to a recent study from the European Commission The dri­ving force for growth in the oil and fats cat­e­gory has been both PDO and PGI extra vir­gin olive oils Extra vir­gin olive oils with geo­graph­i­cal indi­ca­tors in Spain rep­re­sented 25 per­cent of the sales value and one-third of the growth Jaén is sit­u­ated in the north­east of Andalusia where olive groves dom­i­nate around 90 per­cent of cul­ti­vated land The region pro­duces around half of Spain’s olive oil which is vital to the region’s econ­omy and cul­ture ‘Aceite de Jaén’ joins more than 1,470 prod­ucts already pro­tected by a PGI More articles on:  , , Monte do Camelo Wins Big with Sustainably Grown Native Varieties The small-scale Portuguese producers earned a Silver Award at the 2024 NYIOOC for a Galega monovarietal The company focuses on growing native olives sustainably 2025 World Olive Oil Competition Results Begin to Roll Out Northern Hemisphere olive oil producers are tracking the ongoing rollout of the 2025 NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition results South African Brands Shine Again at World Competition Despite the erratic weather and frequent power outages during harvest producers from South Africa combined to win twelve of the industry's most prestigious quality awards Table Olive Production in Spain Rebounds, but Falls Short of Initial Expectations Farmers warn that a hot and dry August impacted the size and marketability of table olives Drought and Ill-Timed Rain Lead to Poor Harvest in Uruguay Officials estimate production will be 72 percent below the five-year average after an historic drought and a rainy harvest IUCN Studies the Tradeoffs Between Intensive and Traditional Olive Groves The organization found that traditional groves are better for biodiversity but less profitable Intensive groves are more cost-efficient but create massive monocultures Women Share Their Challenges in Producing and Selling Award-Winning Olive Oils While the number of women-led companies earning international quality awards continues to rise some say they face additional challenges beyond climate and macroeconomics After Devastating Year, Brazilian Producers Defy Odds Torrential rainfall during the spring followed by unprecedented autumnal flooding caused more than $3 billion in damage in Rio Grande do Sul This year’s Vuelta a Andalucía cycling race has had to be considerably shortened after widespread farmers’ protests in the region meant there was insufficient policing to ensure the safety of riders during the first two stages These stages were due to take place yesterday (Wednesday 14 February) and today from Almuñécar and Vélez-Málaga to Cádiar (Granada) and Alcaudete (Jaén) which must be concluded this year to avoid sanctions had to be significantly modified at short notice organisers called a press conference to announce that the race will finally get under way tomorrow with a six-kilometre time trial through Alcaudete with the culmination of the fourth stage at the ascent to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Araceli details of Sunday’s final stage are still pending negotiations between the government and protesters but Benahavís and Línea de la Concepción have been touted as possible locations Comentar es una ventaja exclusiva para registrados Lack of police due to farmer demonstrations slashes ProSeries race After the opening stage of the Vuelta Andalucía 'Ruta del Sol' was called off on Wednesday organisers announced that Thursday's stage 2 will also be cancelled due to continued protests drawing away the police who were supposed to provide security for the race Stage 2 was due to run from Málaga to Alcaudete over 192.2km as one of the key stages of the event Now Ruta del Sol organisers are scrambling to salvage the race alongside the UCI officials and teams will now start on Friday with a 5km time trial in the town of Alcaudete rather than the planned 161km stage Saturday's stage has been shifted to a circuit in the town of Lucena - the planned finish of the original 166.7km stage from Córdoba - of 100km finishing on the Alto de Nuestra Señora de Araceli "This spectacular final witnessed the victory of Alejandro Valverde in 2012 in 2003 of Javier Pascual Llorente and in 1998 by Marcelino García The urban circuit in Lucena will be in the opposite direction to the one that was originally planned on the initial tour but with that hard arrival at the Sanctuary," the race's press release stated planned between the localities of Benahavís (Málaga) and La Linea de la Concepción (Cadiz) is expected to be able to travel as it was in the road book although there is an option B for the case in which you cannot have the maximum security measures required for a race of this category." The Ruta del Sol is the first major test of the season for riders like Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) Seven WorldTour teams are set to compete in the race Alpecin-Deceuninck and Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale she coordinates coverage for North American events and global news As former elite-level road racer who dabbled in cyclo-cross and track Laura has a passion for all three disciplines When not working she likes to go camping and explore lesser traveled roads UCI governance and performing data analysis SUR's editorial staff was dealt a huge blow yesterday died yesterday (Saturday) in a road accident in Jaén province in Andaluciá The accident occurred shortly before three o'clock in the afternoon at kilometre 78 of the A-316 which also left three people seriously injured The injured are all admitted to hospital in Jaén with roots in the municipality of Cuevas de San Marcos had been with the newspaper group for 21 years and was one of the architects of the recent design and modernisation changes - including those at SUR in English and SUR deutsche Ausgabe The news has sent shockwaves through his family and the SUR editorial team and was heavily involved recent major changes at SUR as well as in the redesigns of the regional media of Vocento and ABC as he was considered one of the best art directors in the country he was head of design at the sports daily newspaper Marca he had been the architect of SUR winning numerous design awards from the SND considered the 'Oscars' of journalistic design Fran leaves a huge void in the SUR newsroom who studied at the University of Malaga (second year of Journalism) was one of the great leaders of SUR's editorial team both for his professional talent and his disposition as he was always ready to collaborate with others with a smile that hardly ever fell from his face He managed to create a great art team around him to give SUR a more modern and creative look The team at the daily newspaper SUR and the staff at SUR in English extend our deepest condolences to Fran's parents and his two sisters as well as to the large network of friends he treasured because our colleague was above all a great person ALCAUDETE – Italy’s Alessandro de Marchi sprinted home alone to win the seventh stage of the Tour of Spain on Friday as Spaniard Alejandro Valverde held the race lead shook off his three breakaway rivals with 15km to go holding off all their attempts to catch him after the mountainous 169km ride from Alhendin to Alcaudete De Marchi was elated having tried several times in vain to win a stage during last month’s Tour de France “I’ve been waiting for this moment,” the Italian told Spanish television station TVE On what was supposed to be a transitional stage ahead of Sunday’s first big mountain challenge most notably when last year’s Tour winner Chris Froome went down early on Although the British Team Sky leader seemed to hurt his leg the peloton sat up for him and he easily rejoined the pack And he even took back a couple of seconds on Valverde in the sprint finish as he came home seventh He remains fourth although now just 20sec behind the Spanish Movistar rider Colombian Giro d’Italia champion Nairo Quintana Valverde’s teammate and overall favourite is second at 15sec with two-time former Vuelta winner Alberto Contador third at 18sec thought by many as a potential future Tour champion as the 22-year-old Giant-Shimano leader’s crash came in the final few kilometres he was not penalised by any time loss and stays ninth at just over a minute Saturday’s 207km flat stage from Baeza to Albacete is one for the sprinters copyright in the content of this website vest in The Free Press of Namibia (Proprietary) Limited (Registration No 85/058) The unauthorized making of copies or use of this material constitutes a copyright infringment under the Namibian Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Protection Act Powered by PageSuite © 2025 The Namibian This site asks for consent to use your data We use cookies to enhance your browsing experience We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze how you use this website and provide the content and advertisements that are relevant to you These cookies will only be stored in your browser with your prior consent You can choose to enable or disable some or all of these cookies but disabling some of them may affect your browsing experience Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns and an old man is muttering as he drizzles peppery "Olive oil cures all ills" is an old Spanish saying which has special significance in Jaén the country's largest olive-oil producing region In Spain olive oil is more than simply a fashionable and in Jaén it has been integral to survival and the local way of life for centuries Olives dominate the landscape with uninterrupted mar de olivas or sea of olives – some 60 million groves – flowing over the horizon in every direction We had travelled on the early morning bus from Jaén, the capital of the eponymous province, to pick up the Vía Verde del Aceite, or Olive Oil Green Route part of a network of walking and cycle trails set up by the Spanish Railways Foundation along miles of disused railway tracks criss-crossing beautiful countryside The route covers 55km between Jaén and the small town of Alcaudete to the west along part of the old Jaen-Puente Genil rural railway line originally used for transporting olive oil to the coastal towns of Málaga and Algeciras Joggers in wraparound shades chugged past the bricked-up and on the start of the path we encountered a few posses of cyclists and the odd dog-walker – but these were the last signs of human life we'd see for the next five hours Within half an hour there was complete silence miles of silvery green olive trees with gnarled each one surrounded by the distinctive soleras – raked circles around their roots only to open up again into epic valleys with the haze of the blue-grey peaks of the Sierras Subbéticas in the distance while grasshoppers and brown speckled butterflies flitted across the way After a pitstop for the bocadillos de tortilla we'd brought from Martos the scenery changed into an almost Tuscan-looking landscape with tall cypresses amid the olive groves Soon we were crossing one of a series of spectacular viaducts built in the late 19th-century by French colleagues of Eiffel the ground was baked dry; by the time we passed an eerie disused ballast quarry I was starting to fixate on the short green kilometre markers Plunging into the pool on arriving at our small apartment just along from the old railway station of Alcaudete a traditional bodega with a terrace and panoramic views across the countryside slightly bitter but fruity local olive oil and a delicious garlicky bean stew came with our drinks Then it was on to red peppers stuffed with béchamel and puréed cod and tender pigs' ears sautéed in red wine and sweet paprika The next morning, we tucked into toast with garlic, freshly squidged tomato and liberal servings of oil. As at many places nearby, the oil was for sale in bottles and large decorative cans. If you want to buy in bulk, you can also visit an almazara (olive mill) like Pydasa (pydasa.com) in Martos – a small traditional family-run mill where you can watch the natural chemical-free process that is unchanged for 60 years We rejoined the Vía Verde where it crosses into the province of Córdoba and becomes the Vía Verde de la Subbética The landscape here is more or the less as the Romans and the Phoenicians would have found it and the path soon opened up into yet another valley white and pink rock stretching into the distance Our pace quickened when we were caught in a storm until we finally reached the landmark we'd been waiting for – the railway station of Luque a perfectly preserved 19th-century station straight out of Once Upon a Time in the West telegraph and station master's office and two original railway carriages parked alongside But instead of Claudia Cardinale stepping off the next train sedately we got a coachload of British and German tourists stopping off to buy the olive oil soaps terracotta dishes and gift sets the station cafe now sells we managed the final few kilometres to Los Castillarejos – another small newly opened guesthouse perched on a hill above the Vía Verde this ultra-contemporary casa rural wouldn't look out of place in Elle Decoration But its energy supply couldn't be more in tune with the environment: it is solar-powered and a large generator runs on local olive pulp and hulls our feet and legs were more than a little weary but our genial hosts at the Castillarejos had a parting gift which What else but a bottle of the local olive oil