During this festive battle during Xinzo de Limia’s carnival in Spain participants throw flour and bran at each other in a kind of purification ritual Photograph: Felipe Carnotto/NurPhoto/Corbis Photograph: Felipe Carnotto//NurPhoto/Corbis we’d like to thank you for joining the debate - we’re glad you’ve chosen to participate and we value your opinions and experiences Please choose your username under which you would like all your comments to show up Please keep your posts respectful and abide by the community guidelines - and if you spot a comment you think doesn’t adhere to the guidelines please use the ‘Report’ link next to it to let us know Please preview your comment below and click ‘post’ when you’re happy with it Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Dane claims second straight solo victory in Galicia to extend overall lead soloing to an emphatic victory in Castelo de Ribadavia to extend his overall lead The Dane attacked on the final climb of the Alto de Couso bridging up to earlier escapee Pablo Castrillo (Kern Pharma) and then dropping the Spaniard on the descent to claim his second win in as many days Carlos Canal (Movistar) won the sprint for second place ahead of Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ) and a sizeable group that included Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) Actually we didn’t expect to win this stage today but we sensed the moment and then I took the chance," said Vingegaard he has been in a league of his own in this race "I wasn’t sure it was possible to keep the gap until the finish but when I was out there with Jefferson Cepeda (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) a further two seconds back in third The race concludes on Sunday with a summit finish at Tui in a mirror of last year’s display in these parts Vingegaard will look to complete a hat-trick of stage wins as well as overall victory we have to be focused and do everything we can," he said "For sure there will be a lot of attacks." It's hard to imagine that Vingegaard won't be among the attackers On a cold day with temperatures of around 6 degrees and snow visible in the hills surrounding Xinzo de Limia – home to Movistar pro Carlos Canal who was greeted with huge cheers at the sign-on podium – the peloton took their time to unfreeze a little The warm-up ramped up in intensity just 14km into the race near the summit of the opening category 3 climb,  the Alto de Estivadas claiming the maximum points ahead of teammate Wilco Kelderman Ineos Grenadiers leader Egan Bernal and Josh Tarling Neilson Powless and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) Pablo Castrillo (Kern Pharma) and Joan Bou (Euskatel-Euskadi) a full-scale chase by Movistar – the only WorldTour team not represented – and a first hour of racing run off at average speed of nearly 50kph meant that the extremely dangerous break was pulled back in sparked by former Vuelta a España leader David de la Cruz (Q36.5) and with another six non-GC threats quickly bridging across Pablo Castrillo (Kern-Pharma) was 2:02 down on race leader Vingegaard so the pace slowed notably on the long descent towards the regional capital allowing their advantage to yawn to nearly seven minutes with 100 kilometres to go but as soon as Visma-Lease A Bike began the chase in earnest the seven’s collaboration began to crumble De la Cruz and Andrea Piccolo (EF EducationFirst-EasyPost) proved to be the two strongest on the next ascent the Alto O Castro de Beiro and the duo sped through Ourense with a four-minute advantage on the main pack But their joint effort did not fully succeed Asier Etxebarria (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Joaquim Silva (Efapel) bridged across with around 40km to go When Visma-Lease A Bike garnered support from Movistar in their pursuit through the vineyards that lined the River Minho The break was down to four on the rolling approach to the day’s final climb with Silva shaking his head as he lost contact returned to the break then fell behind again when the road steepened more definitively but behind another attack by Vingegaard set the cat among the pigeons once again EF tried their best to respond as the Dane swept past the stragglers and Castrillo was able to reach the summit alone at the head of the race blasting down the sweeping descent at full speed and the Dane reached the Spaniard with 17km to go Castrillo visibly stretched himself to the limit to keep in contact with Vingegaard and as the race leader pounded on ahead of him not even asking for a turn and seemingly oblivious to whoever was on his wheel EF managed to limit the damage to around 20 seconds while Vingegaard definitively dropped the Kern Pharm racer on a series of broad downhill curves Results powered by FirstCycling Alasdair FotheringhamSocial Links NavigationAlasdair 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 he has also written for The Independent,  The Guardian,  ProCycling Police have smashed Spain's largest counterfeit clothing ring over the sale of 235 tonnes of fake designer clothes and shoes The ring made the counterfeit items in illegal factories in northern Portugal and then shipped them across the border by van to Xinzo de Limia a city of around 100,000 people in northwestern Spain had 'regional delegates' across Spain who distributed over the past two years 235 tonnes of fake garments and footwear generating revenues of 5.5 million euros ($7.5 million)," it said "Part of this black money was hidden along with bank cards and other financial documents belonging to the organisation in the mosques of Ourense and Xinzo de Limia," it added Among those arrested was the imam of the mosque of Xinzo de Limia whom police said was one of the leaders of the ring The mosque received nearly 100,000 euros in donations from the ring The imam at the mosque in the nearby city of Ourense was also detained as part of the operation His name appears on bank accounts used by the group and police suspect him of helping to launder money earned by the ring Police searched over 117 locations across the country which was launched in September 2012 and carried out in cooperation with Portuguese authorities Police seized just over one million items of counterfeit clothing several weapons and software containing the logos of over 200 registered brands Police also closed 10 illegal factories in northern Portugal where the fake goods were made The operation "dismantled the main network which manufactured and distributed counterfeit clothes in the Iberian Peninsula" The authorities detained 65 people in Spain and 34 in Portugal The arrested include 37 Senegalese nationals Anonymous artist behind billboard’s makeover says it was ‘just a poetic endeavour’ into the blue depths of the Spanish spring sky thanks to an overnight sortie and some very long brushes the Osborne bull on the outskirts of the small Galician town of Xinzo de Limia is a fetching shade of azure – and a reflection on the impossibility of doing justice to the ever-changing heavens The idea for the taurine makeover came after the artist – who wishes to remain anonymous – began to ponder the silhouettes’ trompe l’oeil gap which is meant to show the sky between the animal’s back legs and tail it’s just painted blue,” the artist told the Guardian “Everyone associates that blue with the blue of the Spanish sky I thought it would be good to turn all that on its head by painting the ‘hole’ black and the rest of the Osborne bull Spanish-sky blue It wasn’t about trying to make the bull disappear it was about making a little bit of black sky appear.” An Osborne bull on a road outside Barcelona in 2012 Photograph: Jacob Halls/AlamyOnce the right paints and kit had been assembled the artist and their team crept out under cover of dark and began their project “Sometimes if I feel an idea’s good enough I just go and do it and then they go and undo it,” the artist explained When the people and passersby of Xinzo de Limia awoke the next morning “This was just a poetic endeavour,” said the artist “It was about trying to match the exact colour of the sky – which is something impossible because the sky’s changing every minute It’s a kind of ode to the sky and how it changes throughout the day Perhaps they need to do a study of how many cloudy days there are in each region to decide whether blue or grey is better.” The author of the latest bovine beautification which swiftly attracted the attention of Guardia Civil officers is keen to stress they are a big fan of the Osborne bulls “I read one article that said we were trying to make the bull disappear They also gave short shrift to any suggestion of some lurking political or social message arguing the work is a purely poetic and artistic act an enormous blue bull is just an enormous blue bull I think they’re one of the best examples in the world because they’re so simple – and that’s why they’ve endured,” the artist said they’ve been politicised and used by one group against another Anything you do involving one of these bulls is going to make people think something because they carry such meaning.” Joshua Tarling won the first stage of the O Gran Camiño on Thursday a 14.8 km time-trial but it didn’t count and he Jonas Vingegaard (Hansen) participated in his first race of the season and finished in 45th position finishing 2 minutes and 26 seconds behind the 20-year-old British rider from Ineos Unfavourable weather conditions during the route recon caused several riders to fall so most likely Vingegaard (Hansen) rolled it in Why time trial bikes should be banned for junior races race organizers not only prohibited the use of time-trial specific bikes but also declared that the results would not contribute to the overall standings due to the extreme weather conditions “The wind is so strong that it’s even affecting the trucks Imagine riders who weigh 60 kg,” organizers said is expected to persist throughout the week Jonas Vingegaard is now a Hansen and I for one, very much approve Regular racing continued on Stage 2 with Vingegaard (Hansen) taking the win Friday’s race was a 151.2 km from Taboada to Chantada The Dane beat comeback king Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers) by 23 seconds with Jefferson Alveiro Cepeda (Caja Rural – Seguros RGA) The 2.1 stage race continues on Saturday with a 173.2 km event from Xinzo de Limia to Castelo de Ribadavia Results powered by FirstCycling.com Get the digital edition of Canadian Cycling Magazine Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value"