Michael Woods Puts In A Good Performance At Spanish Vuelta

Canada’s Michael Woods is participating in just his 2nd Grand Tour event at the Spanish Vuelta and he is putting in a good performance even though he is surrounded by more experienced competitors and has also had to battle a lot of off-field drama. The 30 year old who hails from Ottawa is currently in 8th place as the final week of the Spanish Vuelta commences.

He currently has a 33 second advantage over Spain’s Alberto Contador who is in 9th place. Woods will definitely be feeling the pressure as Contador is the crowd favorite and a three time winner. The race will finish on 10th September in Madrid after a total of 3,324.1 kilometres have been completed. The leader right now is Britain’s Chris Froome while Vincenzo Nibali is in second place with a 61 second gap between the two and Russia’s Ilnur Zakarini in is third place with another 67 seconds separating the two.

Woods is overall 3 minutes and 26 seconds behind Froome and will have a lot of catching up to do in the remaining stages of the race. The Canadian who is a part of the Cannondale-Drapac team has had to battle a lot of off-field drama along with his other Cannondale-Drapac teammates and that has proven to have been a big distraction.

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The drama has to do with the fact that Cannondale-Drapac has lost a sponsor and is struggling for finances. The company which is run by Slipstream Sports has tried to raise funds via a crowdfunding effort and has so far managed to bring in $2.4 million against a goal of $7 million.

Woods was looking to sign a new contract with Cannondale-Drapac in 2018 but considering the state of the company, he along with his team mates could end up having to look for a new sponsor.

In a statement, Woods said

I didn't feel like I was in a bike race for certain periods in the race, just because the guys on the team were so focused on where we were going to go next year or who we were going to sign with

The Canadian remains grateful to Cannondale-Drapac as the team had believed in him and sponsored him even though he was a relatively latecomer to the sport. Woods says he is in the best shape of his life right now and is fighting hard to put all the off-field issues behind him and do well at the Spanish Vuelta.