The turbulent 24 pre-Vuelta hours of Ben Turner and Finlay Pickering
The Vuelta a España has a way of testing teams before the racing even begins. On Saturday in Turin, both INEOS Grenadiers and Bahrain Victorious managed to present full squads, but only after a whirlwind of phone calls, airport dashes and lost luggage. Ben Turner and Finlay Pickering weren’t on the original start list. Within 24 hours, both were, thrown into the year’s final Grand Tour at the very last moment.
For Finlay Pickering, the 22-year-old living in Andorra, the call came only on Friday, as he explained in the mixed zone before the start of stage 1 of the Vuelta. He was supposed to be training, but a mechanical had delayed his ride. “I was on my way to the bike shop to pick up my wheels when I got the call: how fast can you get to the airport?”
Pickering rushed into a taxi, lucked into a driver who could get him out quickly, and scrambled to catch a flight. The chaos didn’t end there: delays meant his suitcase never arrived. “But luckily I had two pairs of shoes, some underwear, and socks in my hand luggage,” he smiled. “That was enough to start. It all worked out, thanks to the team’s organization.”
The reality of why he was called up sank in later. Damiano Caruso had broken his hand in a freak hotel accident. “I feel bad for him. He sacrificed so much to be here.”
Now Pickering must take his place. “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 this 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 [Tiberi] and Santiago [Buitrago], because I really believe they can do big things in this Vuelta.”
Ben Turner’s story unfolded with less chaos, but the same urgency. The 26-year-old had just finished the Tour of Poland with a stage win and the points classification jersey, and carried that form into the Renewi Tour. Sixth on the opening stage hinted at more to come, but on Thursday evening the direction of his week changed entirely.
'The last 24 hours have been crazy,' Turner said to In de Leiderstrui. 'I was racing full gas in the Renewi Tour, and on the way back to the hotel after the second stage I got the call that they needed me in the Vuelta.' A sudden vacancy had opened after Lucas Hamilton fell ill, and Turner was next in line.
By 6 a.m. Friday he was already on a flight out of Belgium, leaving behind the cobbles for three weeks in Spain. His response was pragmatic. “This is cycling,” he told. “When you’re needed, you show up. You reset your focus and give everything for the new goal.”
It’s a new twist to a busy calendar: he’s already completed the Giro this season. “I’ve got a good feeling,” he added. “Hopefully that pays off here, because this team has a lot of options.”
The Vuelta has always thrived on unpredictability. For Turner and Pickering, that started before the race had even begun.
