Juan Pedro López, first leader of the Vuelta al Bidasoa
Vuelta al Bidasoa
Stage 1: Irún-Irrisarri Land (Igantzi), 104 km.
Great premiere of the Polartec-Kometa U23 in the Vuelta al Bidasoa 2018. The Andalusian Juan Pedro López won the first stage of the prestigious Gipuzkoarace, with the finish at the Irrisarri Land facilities, after releasing Tiago Antunes (Aldro) in the last 150 metres, with whom he had excelled at the head of the race within the demanding last kilometre of the decisive final climb.
“Viegas has left me very well placed. A mile away I managed to catch up with an outstanding UCI team rider, Archibold. Antunes came from behind and went on the attack, but I was able to rebuild myself well. I’ve given it my all. I’ve arrived dead. I couldn’t even feel my legs”, jokes the Sevillian, after which he won his second victory of the season. López is six seconds ahead of Antunes and ‘cajarural’ Joel Nicolau, nine seconds ahead of ‘ampo’ Jokin Aranburu and thirteen seconds ahead of ‘lizarte’ Carlos Ruiz. The top ten are separated by 21 seconds in time gaps that keep the top thirty in the final general classification below the minute. “This first day has been doing a lot in recent editions. We’re going to try to control”, he says.
“Our intention was to dispute with Juanpe and the bet went well. The first stage has been a bit similar in recent years. The last two kilometres are the ones that usually end up making the small differences that occur. But on the other hand, we also have several riders affected by the crashes that came to an end and we hope that they will recover well”, explains the director Rafa Díaz Justo. Daniel Cantoni and Jorge Pastor were involved in a big crash that took place ten kilometres from the end and affected some twenty riders, a fall that led them to lose almost ten minutes at the finish line. Previously, about ten kilometers before, Alejandro Ropero had gone to the ground, although the Spaniard was able to redo himself.
López, who also leads the provisional general classification of the mountain and the regularity, will start with the yellow jersey this Thursday in a second one of the Bidasoa Itzulia that will be disputed between Irún and Hondarribia on 119.4 kilometers. A stage that has Mount Jaizkibel less than ten kilometers to the end.
