As the Tour de France heads into breakaway territory, theoretically giving lesser-known riders a chance of glory, Britain’s first stage winner of this year’s race could come from an unlikely source – of sorts.

Abel Balderstone, 26, is making his Tour debut for Spanish wildcard team Caja Rural-Seguros RGA just under a year after finishing 13th overall at the Vuelta a España.

His name is a mix of classic Catalan and English. Abel is a common name in Catalonia; Balderstone, meanwhile, has its origins in Lancashire, the English county where his father John Mark was born and raised – in the town of Lancaster, to be precise.

When John was 24, he moved to northern Spain to become an English teacher, met his wife and in 2000 she gave birth to Abel, their second son.

Balderstone, who has been racing with Caja Rural since 2022 and was the Spanish time trial champion in 2025, has been building a good reputation for himself in recent years, and could feature in the mountain days in the coming fortnight.

This article was published by Cycling Weekly in July 2026. To read the full article click here.