Márton Dina, again the first Kometa-Xstra in Bernia: “We’ve been going ‘fullgas’ since the first kilometer”
71ª Vuelta a la Comunitat Valenciana
Stage 4: Calpe – Sierra de Bernia, 170 km
The Hungarian Márton Dina crossed the finish line of the Sierra de Bernia in 26th place, one minute behind the Slovenian Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates), winner of this very hard fourth stage of the Tour of the Comunitat Valenciana and also his new leader with one stage to go. The finish in the Sierra de Bernia, those more than five kilometers of impossible slopes and ramps superior to 20 %, fulfilled the forecast to clarify the general classification. Pogacar, who accelerated the pace with two kilometres to go, made the double, while Dina, the great asset of the Kometa-Xstra Cycling Team, made a great ascent, from less to more, after which she is in 25th position in the general classification, 3:27 from Pogacar.
“I’m dead,” Dina says. “We’ve been going ‘fullgas’ since the first kilometer”. “The final climb was a survival exercise, a fight against yourself, it was to give everything.”
The fourth stage of the Levantine race repeated the pattern of the previous days, with a more or less numerous breakaway that seeks to stand out at the head of the race. On this occasion, the Kometa-Xstra did not manage to make the presence of any of its five riders concrete and concentrated on keeping Márton Dina well protected in the face of the terrible final climb. The day brought them, with several mountain passes in a first part that accumulated meters and meters of unevenness in the mountainous interior of Alicante. The first half of the stage was certainly demanding due to the passage through Rates, Benimatell, Confrides and Tudons.
“It was a quite demanding stage at the start, the breakaway was made relatively early, but there were many interests and behind them they did not stop pressing”, said Diego Pablo Sevilla. “Even in Rates people have continued to try it out… It’s gone all day long at a thousand. Only before the second rise the pace has slowed down somewhat. But a little bit. All day long the march has been demanding and even the descents have been very, very fast. For my part I’m happy. I was with Márton as long as I could, but on a steep slope about 20 kilometres from the end I stayed and couldn’t do any more”.
“I think it was the most difficult day of my life on a bike; coming from two falls in a row I suffered a lot, but also because of the incredible pace at which we rode”, says Giacomo Garavaglia.
The Vuelta a la Comunitat Valenciana finishes this Sunday with a 98 kilometers stage that will connect Paterna, in the alfoz of the capital of the Turia, with the center of Valencia, next to its city council. A last day for which it is presupposed an outcome to the sprint and that in the last two years gave very good performances to the sprint of members of the continental team of the Alberto Contador Foundation (Michele Gazzoli was sixth last year and 11th in 2018).
