Márton Dina, protagonist of a demanding day
42nd Vuelta Ciclista a Burgos
Stage 3: Sargentes de Lora – Picón Blanco (150 km)
Alejandro Ropero pointed it out in the morning in the starting zone, talking with Juan Mari Guajardo: “The level of this Tour of Burgos is very high. To be in the break is one of the best ways to have presence in the race. Today we will try to be ahead with our climbers, Márton and Fancellu. We have nothing to lose”. And so it happened. Hungarian Márton Dina set off with the aim of catching the ‘good’ breakaway, again conceived early on, and he succeeded. Classified far from the leader in the general classification, the Hungarian rider joined a breakaway of nine cyclists that was formed in the first kilometer.
Dina travelled with Edward Theuns (Trek-Segafredo), Nikita Stalnov (Astana), Joel Nicolau (Caja Rural), Gotzon Martín (Fundación Euskadi), Jetse Bol and Juan Felipe Osorio (Burgos-BH) and Kiko Galván and Roger Adriá (Kern Pharma). The nine adventurers would quickly open differences and in their journey would achieve more than ten minutes of margin at kilometer 40. Back in the peloton, they worked hard to reduce it to seven minutes. With the race entering its final fifty kilometers, the appearance of a strong gust of wind as it passed through Medina de Pomar revolutionized the race in the group of the favorites due to the efforts of Team Ineos and Bora-Hansgrohe. The pack broke up into many small groups. A crazy phase of the development of the race from which the ninth leader left with less than four minutes.
At Retuerta, the penultimate mountain peak, the breakaway was selected. From there, the Catalan Roger Adrián (Kern Pharma) would jump alone, who would end up rolling with half a minute over several pursuers among whom was Márton Dina while, from behind, a very selected peloton would speed up the pace and reach the foot of Picón Blanco. In the ascent, of eight kilometers and an average slope superior to 9 %, the rate of the Mitchelton-Scott and different skirmishes ended up phagocyting, one to one, to the fugitives. Márton Dina was caught within the last three kilometres and at the finish line, which he crossed in 33rd place, he gave up just under five minutes on the winner and new leader of the race, the Belgian Remco Evenepoel. During the stage, José Antonio García retired.
Márton Dina, after his great third day in the Tour of Burgos: “It has been a really demanding stage. The Picón Blanco is an ascent that I already knew last year and I knew how I had to face it. During the whole day I felt very well. Around kilometer 80 I had a puncture in my back tire and I had to go full speed to get back into the breakaway. Just when I managed it the wind started to blow really hard and I had to spend some precious energy that I have missed in the final climb”.
This edition of the Tour of Burgos has passed its equator and faces this Friday a fourth stage in which again the protagonists will be the adventurers, the racers and the fast men. The 163 kilometres will be in the Ribera del Duero, and its area of influence, between the Bodegas Nabal facilities in the town of Gumiel de Izán, and the village of Roa de Duero.
? Ricardo Ordóñez
(automatic translation, sorry for mistakes)
