Belgian holds off Molenaar and Bagioli in late race attack The Belgian attacked 2km from the end of the 204km race and blasted past a small group of earlier attackers on the final climb of the Alto Ibarra before going solo into the final kilometre to secure the victory Nys beat Alex Molenaar (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) to the line by three seconds while Andrea Bagioli (Lidl-Trek) rounded out the podium "I dreamed about this last night," Nys said after the race, according to Het Nieuwsblad "I knew that my form was good and that the course was made for me but it is always a question mark how that will translate during the first race of the season We were in the right places at the right times I knew that I could win if I reached the top with 5 seconds "This is actually all towards the Ardennes classics To be able to taste a victory at least once The battle for the win unfolded after the final survivors from the break of the day were caught 14km from the finish line. and Jesus Herrada (Cofidis) were the last men standing and it wasn't long before the attacking began again on the hilly run towards the finish line in Estella-Lizarra Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe and UAE Team Emirates-XRG raised the pace leading to an attack from UAE's Marc Soler and Cofidis rider Alex Aranburu but a counter-attack did have more success Felix Großschartner (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Matteo Vercher (TotalEnergies) got away with 6.5km to go pulling out a slim lead over the Movistar-led peloton in the process The quartet built a lead of 15 seconds on the run to the line but attacks – and work by various teams – from behind would eventually lead to the move disintegrating on the closing hills of the race Vercher and Molenaar launched a move just outside the 2km mark it was Nys who was jumping from the peloton it was Nys who sped past on the way to victory the Belgian holding a slim lead over the race's final kilometres to finish three seconds up on eventual second-placed man Molenaar Results powered by FirstCycling Dani has reported from the world's top races She has interviewed many of the sport's biggest stars and her favourite races are the Giro d'Italia you will then be prompted to enter your display name Thibau Nys (Lidl-Trek) scored his first win of 2025 on his opening race day of the road season at the GP Miguel Indurain "I dreamed about this last night," Nys said after the race, according to Het Nieuwsblad The battle for the win unfolded after the final survivors from the break of the day were caught 14km from the finish line Felix Großschartner (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) but attacks – and work by various teams – from behind would eventually lead to the move disintegrating on the closing hills of the race Results powered by FirstCycling https://www.facebook.com/artusrestauracion.patrimonio/photos/a.744905825544438.1073741830.717320661636288/1713897175311960/ Usua suggested that a proper re-restoration could be impossible because the wood was sanded incorrectly and the plaster work was subpar https://www.facebook.com/artusrestauracion.patrimonio/photos/pcb.1713905375311140/1713905335311144/ To be fair, it’s hard to be too mad at someone who made a good faith effort to restore priceless cultural artifacts. It could be worse, you know? Imagine if they broke it ' + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.webview_notification_text + ' " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_title + " " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_text + " we have come face to face with the History of the Piarists of Navarre in Venezuela. We read a few months ago that a new bishop was arriving to Carora in the state of Lara students at the Christ the King school had gifted him “a Basque dance performance.” This was in Carora Basque dance in Carora….And so we wrote to our Venezuelan friends to find out more. At EuskalKultura.eus we like to research came to us from Caracas from Pedro Javier Arriaga Aguirre coordinator of the monthly magazine “Jazoera” by the Venezuelan Basque community. He told us what he had found we have learned that from 1950-51 to present there is a unique link between Euskal Herria and Carora when a request came to Pamplona from Boconó requesting that priests be sent from the Piarist Province of “Vasconia,” who are also known as the Order of Poor Clerics Regular of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools or Escolapios To establish it, four more Piarists left the port of Bilbao in August 1951: the veteran Constantino Garisoain, and three young people: Fathers Ignacio Morrás and Jesús Vides, and brother Alfonso Olazabal who was later ordained. Father Nagore welcomed them at La Guaira and in Carora they were welcomed enthusiastically. In just a few weeks the first Piarist School in Venezuela would start up with 109 students (today it has more than 800). More Piarists will arrive including Father Jesus Zuazua on October 1 Jesus Zuazua Garcia was born on August 16 and celebrated his first mass in his hometown at the Sanctuary of the Virgin of Puy. After spending time in Pamplona and Bilbao except for three brief periods in Caracas (1959-1960) in Estella (1968-69) and in Pamplona (1998-1999) that he taught for 40 years to the school’s students until these dances became part of the ceremonies Another Piarist from Navarre, Father Jose Fidel Unanue Pagola from Eraul-Deierri writes about Jesus Zuazua. He notes in his words that “Father Zuazua is a legend in Carora with projection in the Lara State and with sympathies in Venezuela,” because of the charity of his teaching profession for the delicacy and detail in each of his classes for the effort to incarnate in his own person the figure of Jesus the Master; but in a special way for the so-called “Basque Dances.” A whole culture of commitment to history to the values of the peoples where the children live.” at the same time that he felt well focused on his new homeland. His greatest joys were motivated by his family of which he was very proud Aita Jesus Zuazua died on September 1, 2016, at the age of 91 They said farewell with the main Ikurriña that flew in the dances on top of his casket. He was very beloved man by the community the architect of the establishment of something that today is the feeling and pride of several generations of those living in Carora his Basque Dances. Shortly before his death they entertained him with a tribute in which Ikurriñas and all the Basque paraphernalia that accompany each end-of-year celebration were not lacking that this is the case for Aita Zuazua. His harvest of Basque Dances continues and survives in many people and in new generations that add to his legacy every year. As Monsignor Enrique Curiel Herrera surgeon and also a Piarist for more reasons witnessed this being entertained by local Basque dancers on his arrival to Carora as the new Bishop a story that began in Estella-Lizarra and has not ended that continues to be very much alive and evolving in Carora Be one of the first to try our new activity feed Arizonan rider caught on final climb but stays calm American rider Brandon McNulty continued his superb 2024 season on Saturday blasting home to his fourth victory of 2024 The Arizonan hit out on a descent with just over eight kilometers to go in the 1.Pro-ranked GP Miguel Indurain and carried a lead of several seconds onto the final climb All looked lost when he was caught and dropped by Maxim Van Giles (Lotto Dstny) who had a lead of several seconds starting the descent However McNulty put in a huge effort there twisting curves and caught the Belgian inside the final 500 meters He then blasted past him to launch the sprint and held on to the line Taking victory number four of the season puts him in an ambitious frame of mind The 198.1km race was a real test for the riders scaling multiple categorized and uncategorized climbs between the start and finish in Estella located in Tour de France great Miguel Indurain’s home region of Navarre The day’s long distance break was brought back inside the final hour of racing with rain and two category two climbs making things increasingly difficult Eight riders moved clear but all bar Paul Double (Team Polti Kometa) were brought back with 14km remaining McNulty’s teammate Pavel Sivakov played his card soon afterwards but a select group came back together after the top of the seconds category Alto de Eraul McNulty then struck out on the descent with about 9km remaining holding a lead of 11 seconds over the chasers with 6km left He led onto the steep final ramp but Van Gils blasted clear of the group behind caught him with 1.7 remaining and dropped him took the wet descent perfectly to rejoin and then hammered Van Gils in the sprint Oscar Onley (Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL) outsprinted Ion Izagirre (Cofidis) for third while first year pro Archie Ryan (EF Education EasyPost) took fifth Brandon McNulty won the GP Miguel Indurain in a brilliant battle with Maxime Van Gils (and then got to break the news to his team)#GPMiguelIndurain | @TeamEmiratesUAE | @BrandonMcNult pic.twitter.com/1bLxYx2nEd — Eurosport (@eurosport) March 30, 2024 McNulty and many from the GP Miguel Indurain lineup will begin the six day Itzulia Basque Country race on Monday “This is a good way to go in with confidence.” including three out of the so-called big four Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) and Primož Roglič (Bora-hansgrohe) will go head to head for the first time this season with Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) the only one of the top Tour de France contenders absent from the start sheet Other ‘names’ include Simon Yates (Team Jayco AlUla) Juan Ayuso and Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates) and Carlos Rodríguez and Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) The WorldTour race starts with a 10km time trial in Irun These conclude with a seven-climb slog to Eibar next Saturday a tough day ending a difficult week where the top Tour names will show exactly where they are at What’s it like to be an American cyclist living in France Watch to get professional road cyclist Joe Dombrowski’s view A street name sign honoring a Spanish Jew was damaged in the southern Spanish city of Torremolinos amid a debate over the municipality’s decision to celebrate Hanukkah the online edition of the local newspaper Diario el Sur reported The vandalism occurred as local politicians were debating the placing this month of a neon sign reading “Happy Hanukkah,” which critics said was in violation of the separation between religion and government The criticism comes from delegates of the center-right Popular Party to the municipal government of Torremolinos where one of the ruling parties is the left-leaning Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party The local politicians are unhappy over the absence of a municipal nativity scene to celebrate Christmas the northern municipality of Estella-Lizarra celebrated Hanukkah for the first time last week Estella-Lizarra is one of the 24 municipalities that form Spain’s Rede de Juderias — a network of locales that was formed in 1995 and whose members have undertaken to restore their Jewish heritage and celebrate it Spain was home to hundreds of thousands of Jews before it expelled them or forced those who stayed to convert during the Spanish Inquisition Approximately 45,000 Jews live there today The municipally-organized Hanukkah celebration at Estella-Lizarra was the initiative of a local Jewish couple Yosef Rajmiel Fernández and Rivka Herrera Gonzalez the local Diario den Avarra daily reported Sunday One of the most colorful Hanukkah events this year took place in Toledo near Madrid The municipality hung up neon Hanukkah decorations over streets in its old Jewish Quarter and projected them onto the roads The celebration began with the lighting of the first candle of Hanukkah on a large menorah on Dec 6 at what used to be the Synagogue of El Transito which was converted into a church and currently serves as a museum I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward American Jews need independent news they can trust At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S rising antisemitism and polarized discourse This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up Copyright © 2025 The Forward Association Like professional football, cycling now uses a promotion and relegation system to decide who receives licences for the top division of pro cycling The relegation and promotion system is calculated over a three-year period The current cycle has been running from the beginning of 2023 and will conclude at the end of 2025 every team’s UCI points are added together into a rolling leaderboard which will eventually dictate the future makeup of the UCI WorldTour All races in the UCI calendar receive a points classification Paris-Nice and the San Marinese national championships The points are then dished out based on stage results general classification and secondary prizes such as the points jersey the top 18 teams in the UCI rankings will receive a licence for the UCI WorldTour The teams placed 19th and below will compete as UCI ProTeams in the second division of pro cycling Lotto and Israel-Premier Tech were relegated after having accumulated fewer points than UCI ProTeams Alpecin-Deceuninck and Arkéa-Samsic With only a few months left in the current three-year cycle some teams have already emerged as contenders for relegation while a couple have surfaced as candidates to receive a pass into the world’s biggest races Related questions you can explore with Ask Cyclist, our AI search engine.If you would like to ask your own question you just need to , Register or subscribe Before we delve into our relegation candidates let’s take a moment to explain how it all works The UCI’s promotion/relegation system is focussed on a three-year period the top 20-ranking riders from each team in the UCI’s individual rider rankings are added to the relegation-promotion standings The teams that score the 18 best combined scores at the end of the 2023-2025 period will then receive UCI WorldTour licences for the three following seasons (in this instance Although the final scores will be tallied up at the end of 2025 we can still get a glimpse into how each team is faring based on the two previous seasons’ results and how each squad’s current top 20-ranked riders are getting on The chart above compiles these figures to show the current rolling totals UAE Team Emirates and Visma-Lease a Bike are in the lead look to be well inside the mid-table standings These are the two former top-division teams: Israel-Premier Tech and Lotto The dotted line around Picnic-PostNL and XDS-Astana is the drop zone – the boundary between 18th and 19th place in the combined standings Any team below this ranking would be given ProTeam status while the 18 teams above the line would receive a WorldTour license until 2028 Based on the current standings and our previous relegation autopsy last year we can identify five teams that are in the fight for WorldTour places: Cofidis four are existing members of the UCI WorldTour with Uno X the only one hoping for an ambitious promotion in 2026 will be aiming to avoid a crushing relegation This chart highlights how each of the five squads have performed over the past three seasons – those that count towards their WorldTour future Not far behind are Picnic-PostNL with a combined score of 20,662 points that the Dutch team has had a poor start to 2025 indicated by their small slither of red at the top of their bar courtesy of their swashbuckling start to 2025 the colour that represents the four months of the 2025 calendar equates to over 5,700 points – not far from their end-of-season totals from 2023 and 2024 Behind them sits the hopeful Uno X and Arkéa-B&B Hotels who trail behind the other contenders on 17,628 points over the three-year cycle we can spot some trends from the first four months of the 2025 season with XDS looking to surpass Picnic-PostNL in due course Picnic and Arkéa have struggled to get out of the blocks in 2025 let’s dig into our promotion optimists and our WorldTour squads in fierce defence Currently sitting within the relegation zone Arkéa-B&B Hotels may have one of the shortest stints in the WorldTour after their promotion at the start of 2023 Arkéa were among the poorest performers in the 2023 rankings The squad may have finally bagged a Tour de France stage in 2024 finishing in 19th once again at the end of the year they sat firmly in the relegation zone at the beginning of 2025 The Breton squad are positioned in 24th place in the UCI rankings based on 2025 alone Arkéa-B&B Hotels are in the worst position out of any WorldTour team on this list they have fallen to 21st place in the combined three-year standings with a gulf now opening up between them and rivals XDS-Astana and Uno X Arkéa have been efficient at taking points in smaller races The French team field competitive line-ups for French one-day races and smaller stage races that yield a large amount of UCI points In 2025 they've already claimed two stage races in France with several stage victories along the way the squad have benefitted from their big hitters Luca Mozzato's impressive Classics campaign last year yielded a host of points while Arnaud Démare has continued to be a reliable force in the sprints on the WorldTour and Coupe de France levels Arkéa have plenty of riders capable of mid-table finishes in one-day races The team have a long-term focus on nurturing talent The squad have a development team that has been fertile ground for transfers but they need short-term answers to stay away from relegation This wasn't helped by a tumbleweed transfer window which saw the team sign few riders to help with damage limitation some of the squad's most reliable points scorers left during the winter including the team's third-ranked rider from last year Vincenzo Albanese A big problem seems to be a lack of momentum and it's hard to see where this can be altered in the following months Their performance at WorldTour races has been lacklustre and a poor Classics campaign has left them 2,000 points behind their competitors It'll take a big win from Kévin Vauquelin or Arnaud Démare to fight against the tide particularly with Vauquelin eyeing up contracts elsewhere for 2026 The squad have been underhwleming on the WorldTour stage and it's not even certain how long the project will be around after reports of financial troubles arose last year Picnic-PostNL overperformed in the previous UCI rankings cycle managing to climb into the top five after the Covid-struck season in 2020 the team have struggled to keep up this form they have fallen into the bottom five of the UCI rankings each year The Dutch team might harbour a mixed approach involving a blend of young and old talents but they currently sit in 18th place in the rolling standings they would stay in the WorldTour by the skin of their teeth they've conceded bags of points to the likes of XDS-Astana and Cofidis and are now just 1,000 points away from relegation Pincic-PostNL have a strong contingent of young riders Casper van Uden and Pavel Bittner have succeeded at the top level in 2024 the team have managed to gain momentum and return to winning ways they have a wide array of talents across different terrains A lot of their key riders are also locked in on long-term contracts This gives the team some security in the seasons to come DSM have historically succeeded at Grand Tours winning stages and finishing in the top 15 overall especially if they stay ahead of the French teams Picnic-PostNL are chained to a reduced programme in 2025. They've avoided the high points-scoring events on the second or third tier of racing, and they've fielded weak teams to high-priority WorldTour events, including the Spring Classics Maybe the Grand Tour cycle will benefit the Dutch squad but it'll be tough to fight against the tide this summer The squad's big names are fading away in 2025 as well. Romain Bardet will leave the squad after the Dauphiné and Fabio Jakobsen has not been delivering since arriving at the team only taking only a couple of wins at the Tour of Turkey last year He was a big-budget signing and seems to have been a disappointing investment He's now out of action for the rest of the season with injury so won't be earning the team any more points the squad are relatively inexperienced in parts They are often outmuscled by the super-teams and lack the vast race schedule like the French teams The results from the development team don't get funnelled into the UCI rankings for the WorldTour squad they need a real kick up the backside going into the next phase of the 2025 calendar XDS-Astana have won Grand Tours and Monuments in the past decade but now they find themselves in the fight for WorldTour status Apart from Mark Cavendish's Tour de France hurrah They moved deep inside the relegation zone at the end of 2024 overtaken by their sprightly ProTeam rivals After nursing the Manx Missile to a 35th stage victory last summer, they have had a new lease of life – perhaps due to XDS's financial injection A cunning shopping spree during the off-season saw them wrangle in some experienced names The result of these signings has been staggering with XDS-Astana now carrying enough momentum to take them across the line for WorldTour survival The team had a barnstorming start to 2025 and now they are now ranked within the top five in the 2025 UCI rankings Their breakout star Christian Scaroni even topped the UCI rankings for a month earlier this year around 86% of what they achieved throughout the whole of the 2024 calendar with riders filled to the brim with experience and racing know-how The team also have a strong pedigree behind them and staff who know how to win big races Former WorldTour riders have been brought into the staff room for 2025 and the results have been incredibly positive A reshuffled focus on scoring points has also proved fruitful as XDS-Astana have become mainstays of the top ten rankings in sprints They're also not afraid to back two or more riders in any given race with the goal of scoring even more points Davide Ballerini and Mike Teunissen have looked rejuvenated in the Classics while Max Kanter has returned to a good level of sprinting in second-tier races Lorenzo Fortunato looked sprightly in early-season stage races and the team have mastered the Marc Hirschi school of points scoring in smaller one-day races it's hard to identify any weaknesses in XDS's current trajectory Having started the season almost 5,000 behind their rivals they have catapulted up the standings and bridged the gap to a very achievable 1,000-point push we suggested that XDS should be more bullish in smaller races offering big UCI point weightings having won a host of smaller one-day races in the early part of the season meaning that they can score points in a wider breadth of races than before One potential roadblock could be the Grand Tour cycle With their focus now on nifty points scoring they could get swamped by their rivals at the Grand Tours with points harder to score in the GC standings and sprint finishes in those three big races Cofidis and Arkéa suffered a similar fate in 2022 during the last promotion cycle but they both picked up enough points to keep them on the right side of the danger zone Cofidis have been kicking about for a while the team were a tried-and-tested fixture of cycling's second division the French squad received a UCI WorldTour licence in 2020 and duly moved up to the top flight Since their promotion – which was decided before the current points system – Cofidis have floated around the bottom quartile of the UCI rankings and currently sit in 17th place after the first two phases of the cycle and it looks as though they might manage to avoid yet another drop zone fight Cofidis will keep their WorldTour license for 2026 They've overtaken Picnic-PostNL in the cumulated 2023-2025 standings and some early-season results have pushed them clear of the Dutch team and their compatriots at Arkéa B&B Hotels Cofidis brought in some important point-scorers for 2025 following a savvy approach to last winter's transfer window Alex Aranburu was a fantastic asset for Cofidis's WorldTour status He's been able to scoop up some key points as well as a rare WorldTour win for the French squad New signing Dylan Teuns may come into his element in the Ardennes Classics and Emu Buchmann still has to show his hand in the Grand Tours as the Lille-based team are invited to a plethora of French races this circuit offers a huge haul of points to be scored they could keep their WorldTour aspirations alive Winter sprinting results from Milan Fretin pumped some early-season optimism into the team and they now sit in a better position than they started the season having moved further from the drop zone since the start of 2025 but they just need to keep one foot ahead of Picnic-PostNL to stay safe Like their northern French colleagues at Arkéa The squad has decent talent but their race results have been a mixed bag over the past two years relying on Guillaume Martin to secure a top 15 finish and sprint top tens from Bryan Coquard Buchmann may enjoy some solid results in the Grand Tours and stage races to come later in the calendar but Cofidis may lose some momentum through the points-heavy period between May and September As long as they stay consistent at the Coupe de France they should have enough to get over the finish line come October It shouldn't come as a shock that the two teams that faced relegation in 2022 have learnt from their mistakes Lotto and Israel-Premier Tech became complacent during the last cycle and now they have bounced back to former glory to sit in a very comfortable position Lotto are currently tenth in the standings while Israel-Premier Tech aren't far behind in 14th It'll take quite the blunder for either team to go down They laid the groundwork during 2023 and 2024 and now a couple of existing WorldTour teams – Jayco-AlUla and Intermarché – sit as a buffer between them and the fierce relegation battle Both teams have put on the brakes this year They've snubbed some WorldTour invites with confidence and they expect to be in contention for Grand Tour stage victories and stage race podiums They're both WorldTour teams in practice rather than name receiving invites to all WorldTour races as the two top ProTeams so it makes perfect sense for them to jump back onto the WorldTour level in 2026 The optimists will be backing Uno-X Mobility to make it into the UCI WorldTour The Norwegian team is relatively fresh-faced They emerged after the pandemic as a competitive squad and have made it to the Tour startline in the two recent editions Their mission statement was initially to make it up onto the WorldTour by 2025 but the team are only a handful of points away from making it to the top division More Scandinavian talents have joined the project Magnus Cort has added a heap of points to their tally in his debut season last year while the squad's Classics engine reaped great rewards this spring with an Omloop Het Nieuwsblad victory from Søren Wærenskjold Uno-X could see the door open to promotion They currently sit in 20th place and are within touching distance of the WorldTour stragglers They've had a great start to 2025 and a Tour de France invite could see them make progress on the likes of Cofidis and Picnic-PostNL You must be logged in to post a comment To manage an existing Cyclist magazine subscription, please visit Manage your account or visit our subscription FAQ page. To subscribe, or for other enquiries, please contact us Sign up to the Cyclist newsletter to receive curated emails direct to your inbox Sign up to our newsletter Log in to access Cyclist Rides using your email pertaining to your subscription Don't forget a subscription to Cyclist includes: Log in to post comments and use Ask Cyclist our AI platform that answers your questions based on our articles Register to comment on our latest articles Occasional emails from selected third-party sponsors and advertisers Please enter your username or email address to reset your password McNulty wins from two-up sprint against Van Gils The American ignited a late-race solo breakaway with 10km to go but was then joined by bridger Maxim Van Gils (Lotto Dstny) over the final ascent Van Gils distanced McNulty over the top of the short climb but the UAE Team Emirates rider used his superior time trial strength to reconnect with his rival in the final few hundred metres of the race and then won a two-up sprint to the finish line – Oscar Onley (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) took third but then I came back on the downhill and won the sprint Gran Premio Miguel Indurain's nearly 200km hilly challenge across multiple circuits in and around Estella Alto de Muru and finally Alto de Ibarra before a short and tricky descent into the finish line An early breakaway of seven included Louis Leidert (Lidl-Trek Future Racing) Xabier Mikel Azparren (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) Jetse Bol (Burgos-BH) and Javier Serrano (Polti Kometa) Israel-Premier Tech led the field and held the gap at about two minutes the move was reeled back in with 30km remaining pulled the group back into the fold on the entrance to the last circuit and ahead of the Alto de Eraul Pavel Sivakov (UAE Team Emirates) was the first to attack on the Alto de Eraul which acted as a launch pad for McNulty to break off the front inside 10km to go ahead of the the Alto de Muru McNulty pushed his lead to 15 seconds on the descent where he was joined by Maxim Van Gils (Lotto Dstny) and raced through the flamme rouge with a slim five seconds on McNulty McNulty reconnected with Van Gils with 500 metres to go and then surged to take the two-up sprint victory and his first one-day race win of the season at Gran Premio Miguel Indurain Results powered by FirstCycling Kirsten has a background in Kinesiology and Health Science. She has been involved in cycling from the community and grassroots level to professional cycling's biggest races, reporting on the WorldTour, Spring Classics, Tours de France, World Championships and Olympic Games. She began her sports journalism career with Cyclingnews as a North American Correspondent in 2006. In 2018, Kirsten became Women's Editor – overseeing the content strategy, race coverage and growth of women's professional cycling – before becoming Deputy Editor in 2023. 2018 at 4:20 PMIf you're a firm believer in the old adage that when you want something done right you should do it yourself you may want to reconsider your position when it comes to freshening up old artwork Or at least you probably should once you take a look at this 500-year-old wooden statue in Spain that was recently "restored" by a local handicrafts teacher without the guidance or help from any experts. which has resulted in what can only be described as a life-sized manifestation of a secondary Shrek character happened in the Spanish city of Estrella-Lizarra The victim is the 500-year-old wooden effigy of San Jorge de Estella which sits in the Chapel of San Jorge inside the Church of San Miguel and depicts San Jorge in a suit of armor slaying a dragon the whole thing was reportedly done without consulting any art restoration pros or any cultural institutions the work's new look has caused quite the brouhaha “It’s not been the kind of restoration that it should have been for this 16th-century statue," he told The Guardian "They’ve used plaster and the wrong kind of paint and it’s possible that the original layers of paint have been lost.” It seems Spain still hasn't learned its lesson when it comes to well-intentioned amateur art restorers, as just a couple years ago in Borja a would-be do-gooder attempted to freshen up the deteriorating 18th Century Ecce Homo fresco, but in the process transformed the beloved visage of Jesus into a monkey It's unclear just how much damage was done to this latest priceless piece of art, or how this sort of thing was allowed to happen, but the Association of Conservators and Restaradores of Spain is reportedly planning to take things to the Prosecutor's Office of Navarra to get to the bottom of things, according to Gizmodo. Further proof that there are plenty of DIY projects you definitely shouldn't DY h/tGuardian, Gizmodo Sign up here for our daily Thrillist email and subscribe here for our YouTube channel to get your fix of the best in food/drink/fun down unmarked dirt trails and through a creaking iron fence lies a unique art installation: all over a small field and the rolling hills lie a dozen enormous skulls Created by the artist Luis García Vidal beginning in 1971 returning to the site numerous times to add more pieces consisted of numerous sculptures of skulls some suspended like scarecrows on long poles interwoven with the branches of a local plant and then painted white and black to make them look like skulls and less obviously morbid but nevertheless filled with a subtext to make any viewer question their mortality Attached to them are plaques with messages such as "Death likes cars” and “when I’m an adult I want to be a football player destiny permitting.” The sum effect of the various works scattered throughout the park is to offer up a certain wistful meditation on the inevitability Many of the older art pieces have since fallen into decay Some of the photos of the artist working in the park show him building pieces that are no longer there The artist complained in an interview in 2006 that visitors to the park would sometimes jump on top of them and damage or harm them Vidal dedicated the project to his brother Miguel it does not appear that anyone is continuing to add any work or repairing the pieces that are already there adding a gloomy air of decay to an already eerie area From street level in Estella (Calle los Cordeleros) with only a worn-down black metal fence protecting it It’s possible to drive up the hills past rustic Navarrese cottages The signs on the trail leading up to the fence are either no longer standing or few and far between so it requires some tenacity and luck to get there When you get to a fork in the dirt path that indicates a 12th-century ruined church to the left and the park to the right This larger-than-life lime green gummy bear sits in the middle of a roundabout in Spain This enormous aluminum figure in Denmark lying in a plunged position echoes the global debate on canceled historical statues Iconic figures in concrete and steel in the High Plains of Texas This sculpture presents commentary on a life in pursuit of profits the remains of Stretford's industrial past have been occupied by a collection of gnomes This unique sculpture of a steelworker is hidden amid the trees of Sheffield An allegorical statue of a giant pregnant woman representing justice and truth With new programming beginning this week on ETB1, today the new daily magazine “Biba Zuek!” will visit Basques that live in different places around the world via the internet once a week ETB2 also begins the new season of “'Vascos por el Mundo,” (Basque around the world) that is aired on Thursdays at 10:30pm; Euskadi time and replayed on ETBSat/Cana Vasco at 2am on Fridays about this clothing initiatives linked to Euskera that has enjoyed success in its first year Here is the video of Tuesday’s program of “Biba Zuek!” The interview with Eneko Axpe begins at 0H 38 '50' followed by the interview with Nora Vivanco and Arantxa Gonzalez from Bihotz Paris ETB2, will begin the new season of Vascos por el Mundo today and does so traveling to Toscana where reporter Pedro Mardones will meet with some Basques living there. Today’s guests include Nagore Larrea (Gorliz) Noemi Fernández (Urretxu) and Andrea Llombart (Estella-Lizarra) Kaden Hopkins admitted his maiden outing as an Equipo Essax rider competing in the Cirilo Memorial Zunzarren proved a steep learning curve The 20-year-old was handed a baptism of fire in his first taste of riding in Europe as he and his new team-mates took on the gruelling 141.6-kilometre course through the town of Estella-Lizarra in a mountainous region of Spain Having pushed the limit in an attempt to close the gap to the leading pack one particular excruciating climb ended Hopkins’s pursuit and ultimately his race in which Britain’s Tobias Perry claimed victory, the Bermudian rider remained upbeat about his performance and reflected on the invaluable experience gained it was still a great experience,” said Hopkins who signed a one-year deal with the elite under-23 team of the illustrious Spanish Sax Cycling Club at the end of last year not only as my first race with the team but also competing in Europe “It was a really good experience and definitely showed me where I need to be and what I have to do to improve I knew it was going to be harder than anything I’ve ever done before physically as well as holding my position “It was one climb in particular that I lost about 60 metres and normally that wouldn’t be an issue but riding into the wind it became impossible for me to close the gap “I know it will take time to get up to speed and get used to the distance of some of the big climbs but overall I’m happy with my first outing.” Hopkins conceded he faced an uphill struggle from the outset with the overwhelming strength in depth of rival teams Lizarte and Laboral Kuxta-Fundacion Euskrad proving decisive Eight of the top ten finishers represented either of those two teams “The two bigger teams who were so deep in strength just controlled the peloton all day,” he added “They just upped the pace when they needed to and controlled things throughout It proved a constant fight just to be able to stay with the riders at the front even though I expected it could be that way I thought I’d struggle with the physical side of the race but it was actually harder being able to get where I needed to be within the race my team director was happy with how I performed and my team-mates told me my positioning was good throughout “It has given me a clear gauge of where I need to be going forward and it’s a case of learning and progressing; that’s the key thing.” Progression will remain the focus for Hopkins in the coming weeks as he and his team-mates continue their preparations for the Spanish Cup the most prestigious amateur race in Spain “Going into the next race I’m aware of where I’m at and what needs to be done,” he said ”I’ve certainly learnt a lot from my first race “That race and the next couple coming up are all stand-alone races which will be a really challenging race as all of the best riders will be competing in that “The next couple of races will be about trying to get up to speed for that and making sure I’m as ready as possible.” You must be Registered or to post comment or to vote Which of the Throne Speech promises is the Government best equipped to deliver on View Results with several key climbs removed from the route due to overnight snow and cold conditions in the Basque Country it remained a race for the climbers with the late steep climb above the finish in Estella sparking late attacks Alexis Vuillermoz (TotalEnergies) got away with Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates) but other riders joined them on the twisting descent to the finish with riders spread across the road as they sprint to the line Barguil came off the wheels and timed his final kick to perfection to beat Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Simon Clarke (Israel-Premier Tech) "It was a very close sprint but I had the speed to win it I'm always ready for a final sprint and I'm really happy I was able to pull it off," Barguil said "I wasn't confident about the race going ahead but in the end Riders and teams awoke to a thick covering of snow 24 hours after seeing their colleagues experience the same wintry conditions in Belgium before the Tour of Flanders this was a race day and the show must go on the race organisers agreed to cut the three major climbs of the race: the Guirguillano Lezáun and Eraúl but that still left 2400m to climb around Estella in the autonomous community of Navarre in northern Spain The race started under heavy rain and the peloton remained together for the opening 40km the USA's Stephen Bassett (Human Powered Health) Xabier Mikel Azparren (Euskaltel – Euskadi) Mikel Bizkarra (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Ivan Cobo (Equipo Kern Pharma) then formed the break of he day and opened a gap of three minutes with local team Movistar and UAE Team Emirates leading the peloton Bahrain Victorious and then Arkea-Samsic also joined the chase with 60km to go with the break's lead falling to 1:30 as a consequence Bassett tried a solo attack but was soon brought back before the peloton arrived to race aggressively on the hilly finishing circuits Enric Mas (Movistar) sparked an attack on the first climb above Estella with Gorka Izagirre (Cofidis) also aggressive They were joined by Luis León Sánchez the peloton chased them down at the start of the last lap Latour attacked first and was joined by an impressive-looking Hirschi the technical descent and the television motorbike slowing the move meant their lead was reduced and a small select group formed for the downhill sprint Clarke and Vlasov hit out first but Barguil came from behind with speed to hit the line first and give Arkea-Samsic their eighth victory of 2022 Stephen FarrandSocial Links NavigationHead of NewsStephen is one of the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team having reported on professional cycling since 1994 He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022 before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters Archie Ryan (EF Education-EasyPost) has put in a very strong ride at GP Miguel Indurain in Spain suggesting he is back on track after a difficult start to the season The Irish rider recently told stickybottle he had picked up several viruses from the time he began his season in Mallorca before a crash at Strade Bianche and a further bout of illness further hampered his efforts having finished 5th at GP Miguel Indurain 12 months ago Ryan went back today in the knowledge he could make an impact And he proved one of the very strongest on the final climb of the day He pulled clear with eventual winner Thibau Nys (Lidl-Trek) on the final kicker in the last 2km of the 204km race into Estella-Lizarra They were pursuing a strong late breakaway just seconds ahead While Ryan was unable to hold the flying Belgian Nys caught and passed the breakaway men on the climb with Ryan among a small number of riders who dropped the remains of the bunch to catch most of the breakaway and fight it out for the minor places Ryan’s 11th place won’t jump out from his palmares but it is proof he was very strong – at the hardest part of the final after five hours of racing And that represents a big change compared to the problems he has had so far this year late breakaway man Alex Molenaar (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) claimed 2nd place from Andrea Bagioli (Lidl-Trek) There was then a gap of four seconds to the next three home before Ryan’s small group finished another two seconds back; the Irish rider towards the back in 11th Thibau Nys homenajea a Valverde, quien más veces ha ganado en tiempos modernos el @GPIndurainSN con un estacazo imparable en el Muro de Ibarra 🚴🏼‍♂️ Lo viste en #LaCasaDelCiclismo: #E1 y @StreamMaxES pic.twitter.com/b8OW5V3hmj — Eurosport.es (@Eurosport_ES) April 5, 2025 We’re determined to make stickybottle.com much better for your enjoyment So become a ‘Stickybottle Supporter’ now from just €5 per month We’ve grown our audience significantly in recent years but the advertising market has become harder and harder each year In order to survive and grow – and create much better content – we need to develop an income from our readers By signing up to become a ‘Stickybottle Supporter’ you’ll be helping to secure independent coverage of Irish cycling for years to come Every cent collected from readers will be used to directly fund content Sign Up Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open You are visiting us because we have something you value Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more. A SPANISH CHURCH is under fire over the “frightening” restoration of a 16th century wooden sculpture of St George The statue of St George charging a horse in the San Miguel church in the town of Estella in the northern region of Navarra had turned a dark brown with age but images shared online after its restoration showed the warrior now has a pink face and sports flashy red armour Some Twitters users likened the restored statue to Belgian comic character Tintin or Woody from Toy Story and compared it to the botched restoration by an elderly parishioner of the Ecce Homo fresco of Jesus Christ in 2012 in the town of Borja which resembled a pale-faced ape with cartoon-style eyes The restoration was carried out “without control or professionalism” by a local crafts business the director of the regional heritage service “They covered the paint from the 16th century with new paint it also seems that scraping and sanding was done which are not techniques used in restoration nowadays,” he said adding his team was trying to figure out how to “undo” the restoration Spain’s art conservation association (ACRE) threated to take legal action against the unauthorised restoration of the statue “We cannot tolerate more attacks on our cultural heritage,” it said in a statement “It shows a frightening lack of training of the kind required for this sort of job.” Media from across the country flocked to Estella but the statue is now covered by a sheet and the chapel where it is displayed is closed to the public “We don’t want (the church) to become a place of pilgrimage like Borja,” said Estella mayor Koldo Loez Thousands of Spanish and foreign tourists have travelled to Borja to view the botched restoration of the “Ecce Homo” fresco which inspired a comic opera that was staged in the 16th-century Sanctuary of Our Lady of Mercy where the painting is encased on a wall has even had her own art exhibited and signed a licensing agreement for the commercial use of the image of her “Ecce Homo” restoration on mugs - © AFP, 2018 Access to the comments facility has been disabled for this user Create an email alert based on the current article Javi Martínez is a Spanish professional footballer (soccer player) who has a net worth of $25 million Javier "Javi" Martínez Aginaga (best known as Javi Martínez) was born September 2 He currently plays for FC Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga both as a defensive midfielder and a central defender Martínez arrived at Athletic Bilbao in 2006 before his 18th birthday quickly becoming a starter and going on to appear in 251 official games over the course of six La Liga seasons Martínez was a member of the squads that won the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012 and played at the 2014 World Cup as well Martínez was named in Spain's 30-man provisional squad for the 2014 World Cup as well as the final 23-man squad for the tournament. He made his tournament debut in the second group game, starting against Chile in the Maracanã in place of Gerard Piqué; Spain lost 2–0 and was eliminated His club honors include Athletic Bilbao (UEFA Europa League Runner-up: 2011–12; Copa del Rey Runner-up: 2008–09 2011–12; Supercopa de España Runner-up: 2009) as well as Bayern Munich (Bundesliga: 2012–13 2013–14; UEFA Champions League: 2012–13; UEFA Super Cup: 2013; FIFA Club World Cup: 2013 His country honors in Spain include FIFA World Cup: 2010; UEFA European Championship: 2012; FIFA Confederations Cup: Runner-up 2013; Spain U21 UEFA European Under-21 Championship: 2011; Spain U19 UEFA European Under-19 Championship: 2007 His individual honors include La Liga Breakthrough Player of the Year: 2010; 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship Team of the Tournament © 2025 Celebrity Net Worth / All Rights Reserved