Great Antonio Puppio, fourth at the Calatayud finish line
44ª Vuelta Ciclista a Aragón
Stage 1: Andorra-Calatayud (182.6 km)
The Italian Antonio Puppio obtained a brilliant fourth place for the Kometa Cycling Team in the first stage of the Vuelta a Aragón, held this Friday between the towns of Andorra and Calatayud. The Samarate rider and his team-mate Stefano Oldani were very attentive and managed to enter among the twenty riders who stood out in the lead within the last fifty kilometres, although Olda was condemned to the rear group as a result of an untimely puncture. The Frenchman Justin Jules (Wallonie), the first leader in the general classification, won the stage. Puppio, on the other hand, is the first leader of the overall U23 riders.
“After the top of the third high you reached a moor and there the boys of Wallonie-Bruxelles and Movistar have tightened a lot and have formed several fans. Oldani and I were riding together and we took the wheel of the first. Formed the cut, we even started to pull into the fan. The bad luck is that Oldani suffered a puncture and I was left alone in the front group. Once there, I did the best I could for myself and the team,” explains Puppio.
Up to the genesis of the cuts, the stage had been dominated by a leak of four riders that came to roll with almost fourteen minutes of advantage, a movement that did not crystallize until after kilometer 24 and where the Kometa Cycling Team could not put any rider. The day had not had the best start for the Madrid team, as the Italian Michele Gazzoli caused a last-minute crash: he couldn’t take the start after having had a bad night with vomiting and stomach problems.
“Today was a day of bad luck and that saddens me. I had good legs facing the end, but well, this is cycling and what is clear is that we are going to keep trying,” says an Oldani who reached the finish line with the rest of the teammates in the first group, 41 seconds from the winner. The first time comes this Saturday, on the occasion of the second stage of the Aragonese round: 182.6 kilometres between Sádaba and Canfranc Estación with a good half mountain ration.
(automatic translation, sorry for mistakes)
? Cristian Casal / Vuelta a Aragón
