Sensational time trial by Martí Bennassar in the inaugural ITT of Navarre

Vuelta a Navarra
Stage 1: Tudela – Tudela (4.9 km CRI)

“I think I can do well in the prologue,” he said in the previous days. Said and done. Joan Martí Bennassar signed a sensational time trial on Wednesday in the start of the Vuelta a Navarra. On the 4.9 kilometres along the streets of Tudela, and with a magnificent time of 6:12, the Polartec-Kometa U23 cyclist from the Balearic Islands finished fourth, one second behind Belgian rider Ruben Apers (Lotto-Soudal), who was ultimately the winner of the time trial and first leader, and only separated by a hundredths from Martí Márquez (Lizarte) and José Daniel Viejo (Caja Rural), second and third respectively. The last three men to enter the competition.

Coupled to perfection on his bike, moving the development with cadence and risking the maximum in each turn on a pavement prodigious in highlights and with much presence of water by the rains that had his presence during the first hour of the afternoon, Jonny deployed on the streets of Tudela his enormous skills for the fight against the clock. It wasn’t an easy circuit. But the young Mallorcan won his photo with Miguel Indurain, master of ceremonies on the podium of the event in Navarre, when he became the first leader of the general classification of the combined event.

“It was an explosive time trial, short distance, it was the first time trial of the year and I am very happy with the result. So am I with the sensations and the form point.  I’m very confident for the next few days”, said Joan Martí Bennassar after taking the podium. The Portuguese Daniel Viegas, with 6:25, signed the fourteenth best time, while José Antonio García finished the sixteenth with 6:26 and Carlos García the nineteenth with 6:27. Four runners in the top 20.

Rafa Diaz Justo, director: “We dreamed for twenty minutes that we could win, but we had a very, very tough opponent like Apers, who finally won. We are very happy after that first stage, because our specialist did as he knew and was in his place. They’ve been very tight in those first places and it’s practically a success. I leave with a very good taste in my mouth because of the sparkles left by José Antonio and Carlos García, especially this one, who is a climber and yet has done an impressive time. We have come to have a nice race and this first day makes us very excited, if everything goes well and the crashes respect us. The general standings are very difficult, because there are teams with a high level of performance, which are very popular on L´Isard, and the Vuelta a Navarra is also the objective of the year for the teams from the region. But let’s see if we can take advantage of all the noise”.

This Thursday, the Navarrese round will face a second stage of 148.5 kilometres that will link the towns of Lodosa and Azagra.

(automatic translation, sorry for mistakes)