Samuel Novak best under-20 rider in Bidasoa
The under-23 team managed to close the Bidasoa Itzulia with a good attitude to reach the podium. After a very good start, the second stage truncated the development of the race for a team that was able to reverse the situation on the ‘queen’ and final day.
The shorter but more demanding stage, with three first category and two second category climbs, started with Samuel Novak and Dario Giuliano out of the top 10 in the general classification after a second stage where the result was not as expected despite the great adventure of Tommaso Bessega and Gabriele Raccagni in the breakaway.
Right from the start, the climbs reduced a peloton from which it was difficult to escape. The riders gradually lost contact with the bunch. Halfway through the stage, 40 riders remained in the main group. Erlaitz (1st) was the last climb to close the race. Dario Giuliano showed his offensive attitude and reached the top in fourth place in a chasing group that was trying to catch the two riders who would end up winning the stage and the general classification and the rider who was riding in between.
On the descent and the road to the finish line in Irun, the chasing group was formed in which both Giuliano and Samuel Novak were riding. In the battle for fourth place in the stage, the Frenchman finished eighth and the Slovakian was twelfth. Novak’s result was good enough for him to finish 7th in the overall classification of the race and the best under-20 rider. Giuliano was 14th.
Samuel Novak was really happy about team performance on the last stage in Bidasoa: “The last stage of the Vuelta Bidasoa was fast because of how short the stage was. Team did once again a perfect job, the way they helped me and cared about me, just pure perfection. Today we were riding in the front all the time so we avoided problems. In the last climb we tried our best and in the final it was 8th for Dario in stage and for me 7th in GC and 1st u20”.
Dario Giuliano showed an offensive attitude during the stage: “Today was the hardest stage of the race, with a lot of steep climbs. About 500 metres from the top of Erlaitz we counterattacked and chased the leading riders for 10 kilometres, but they caught us with less than 4 kilometres to go, and then I tried to get the best possible place in the sprint with a group of about ten riders. I would like to thank all the staff and my teammates for their hard work during all the stages”.
Photos by Ziklix/Bidasoa Itzulia
