Juan Pedro López, in the ointment of a crazy spring day in Biscay
65ª Klasika de Primavera
Amorebieta-Amorebieta (171.6 km)
Juan Pedro López finished this Sunday in the fifteenth square of the Klasika of Primavera de Amorebieta. A new edition of the historic Biscayan race in which once again the final circuit, the ascents to Muniketagane and Autzgane, were decisive and ended up winning, for the fifth consecutive year, a rider of the Movistar WorldTour. It was the Colombian Carlos Betancur who won the Basque event, the culmination of a day where the Kometa Cycling Team showed ambition and attitude. A Sunday where the runners flew: the winner signed an average of 43.4 km/h.
The Andalusian rider was the great asset and the objective was for the Sevillian to be present in the decisive phase of the race, a goal that was more than achieved. Until then, the team had to be attentive to the usual multiple cuts that usually come in this test and keep their strong man well protected, a job in which Juan Camacho embroidered again. López himself, displaying his gallons, did not hesitate to commit himself to an escape that took place at the height of Durango, an escape in which several important names had been included, including Eduard Prades, Julen Amezqueta and Ángel Madrazo. Then it would roll in the group of chosen from which would come out the seven men who would play the victory, a movement of six men gestated in the last step by Muniketagane.
It was the Portuguese Daniel Viegas was the most active in that fight for escape. The Algarve cyclist managed to be part of a first escape, the first with more than half a minute of margin over the pack, and also integrated into another movement that was born halfway through the test, before the start of the three laps of the circuit with the double mountain pass. With the arrival of the climbs the race went even crazier and gave way to a phase marked by numerous accelerations and alternatives where no cyclist, in group or alone, achieved more than a minute and a half of margin.
Juan Pedro López, fifteenth at 2:13 of the winner: “I finished very happy. In the second climb it was very tight, a high pace, and there we were in the lead five riders. Then the group grew to twenty units. It was a very nervous phase, with a multitude of starts. Riders were moving all over the place and at that moment I was alone. I fought to be always present until I was blown up.
At 6:32, Isaac Cantón (26º), Jose Antonio García (27º) and Stefano Oldani (28º) entered the finish line.
Daniel Viegas, 48º to 17:27, the same time with which Juan Camacho arrived: “It has been a very positive day. Before starting the race I was already thinking about taking the breakaway in the first part, because it was very good for me and it was a much more favorable terrain. When Jesus asked me to be attentive I was very happy in the sense that I came predisposed and be able to show that I am having a good moment of form both in training and in competition. The race changed completely when it entered the circuit area, it’s a completely different race. I tried, but I couldn’t keep up with the front group. In any case I think the team was very good today”.
It wouldn’t be the best day for the very young Samuele Rubino, who had to retire: “I haven’t had my best legs. I need to compete a little more to improve my physical condition. But the Basque experience has been fabulous, very fun; I really like to compete here”. The Italian will be one of the riders taking part in the next challenge of the Kometa Cycling Team, in one week: the Vuelta a Castilla y León.
(automatic translation, sorry for mistakes)
