Kelso cyclist Oscar Onley targeting a top-three finish approaching halfway stage of 2026’s Vuelta a Espana

The Kelso 23-year-old, riding for English team Netcompany Ineos, was fourth in general classification in the Spanish race’s 81st edition following stage ten of 21 on Tuesday, trailing Spanish front-runner Enric Mas’s leading time of 32 hours 41 minutes and 44 seconds by two minutes and 20 seconds.

Separating them at that point were second-placed Slovenian Primoz Roglic on 32:43:02 and third-placed Austrian Felix Gall on 32:43:23.

The Borderer was also leading young rider ten stages in, 5:45 ahead of Slovenia’s Jakob Omrzel.

Onley, born in London but brought up in the Borders, finished Tuesday’s 115-mile stage from Alcaraz to Elche de la Sierra in Albacete in 26th place as one of 68 riders on 4:07:41, including French winner Bastien Tronchon.

That followed crossing the finishing line as runner-up to Mas, 31, in Sunday’s ninth 117-mile stage from Villajoyosa to Alto de Aitana in Alicante in 5:10:40 and 45th on Saturday as one of 144 cyclists clocking 3:47:06 for the 110 miles from Pucol to Xeraco in Valencia, French winner Bryan Coquard among them.

Ahead of the weekend, Onley finished 24th in last Friday’s 93-mile stage seven from Vall d’Alba in Castellon to Aramon Valdelinares in Teruel in 3:54:39, trailing Norwegian Andreas Leknessund’s pole position by 4:52; 12th in the day before’s 110-mile stage six from Alcossebre to Castellon in 4:14:18, 1:38 behind Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar, overall front-runner until then, as he notched up the third and last of his stage wins before being forced to withdraw by broken collarbone sustained in a crash on Saturday; and 50th in last Wednesday’s 106-mile stage five from Falset to Roquetes in Catalonia as one of 89 cyclists, led by County Durham’s Matthew Brennan, out in front on 3:47:02.

The race’s opening stages saw Onley get under way by finishing 5.6-mile time-trial in Monaco on Saturday, August 22, 106th in 11:47, 50 seconds behind winner Pogacar, 27; ninth in the day after’s 134-mile stage two to Manosque in France as one of 41 leading riders clocking 4:47:47; and fourth in last Tuesday’s 65-mile stage four in Andorra on 2:43:14, again won by Pogacar, with the Scot 2:39 behind.

Today’s stage 11 is due to go 97 miles from Cartagena to Lorca in Murcia and tomorrow’s 12th stage 104 miles from Vera to Calar Alto in Andalucia, ahead of a finish in Granada on Sunday, September 13.

Onley has maintained his top-five positioning despite suffering from a stomach bug for much of the race, saying, after chalking up his best finish on Sunday at the eighth time of asking, the preceding Monday’s stage three having been abandoned: “Today was the first day I felt fully back to normal.

“It took longer than I was expecting. I actually felt good in Andorra and then it hit me, but now I’m back to normal.

“I feel back to the level I was at before this race, so that was nice.

“I felt good today and it was nice to be racing in the front.”

Onley’s fourth place in general classification as of Tuesday leaves him 41 seconds off a podium placing, and with his chances of making the top three boosted by favourite Pogacar’s withdrawal, that remain his target.

“Before the race, I was already thinking of a podium, so nothing really changes, and I just keep doing what I’m doing,” he said.