Jorge Pastor, Carlos García and Sergio García, protagonists in the Vuelta a Vetusta
Vuelta a Vetusta (Asturias)
From 11 to 12 August
In one of the toughest races on the calendar in 2018 for its orographic proposal, that first high final at Angliru, that second stage of long mileage for the category, the Polartec-Kometa U23 had double representation among the top ten in a general final in which it won, the winner at the top of the river, the Ukrainian Anatolii Budiak (ULBSports). The Angliru was crucial, as predicted.
Carlos Garcia, eighth at almost five minutes from Budiak, and Jorge Pastor, ninth at five and a half minutes, signed the best performances of a very active Polartec-Kometa thanks to the figure of Sergio Garcia, very combative during the two days of this race, two days in which he looked for and fought the escape. This Sunday caused more than one headache for a squad that eventually made the escape a success and facilitated a massive arrival in which Julen Amarika (Telco’m) won; a finish in which José Antonio García signed the eleventh place.
“Saturday was tremendous. I suffered a lot. What a port! In my life I’m going to climb something that hard, I think. When I lowered it, then, I didn’t think I’d be able to get through there. I think I’m a climber, but I thought this was more of a survivor’s experience than a climber’s. You have to climb very, very well to do it well in the Angliru,” Carlos García from Madrid explained about the experience in the Sierra del Aramo.
Jorge Pastor Terol comments: “It has been a beautiful experience. To have this opportunity in an amateur race is something incredible; although I suffered a lot, I’m sure we’ll all have a great memory, because it’s a climb to make in a race, if you’re not lucky enough to make the Vuelta a España, it’s very difficult; that’s why I value this opportunity. Back in the top ten again, in the fight. We’re leaving reinforced for what’s coming. I think we have to make a positive reading because we had just had a short competitive break after a very busy month of July and at the end I had some doubts as to how I would get to Vetusta, where I would resume the competition. In the Angliru I noticed it a bit, I lacked some rhythm. But in the end, in a climb as hard as the Angliru, we were there, which makes us get stronger for the month and little season, where there is still a lot to do”.
Rafa Díaz Justo, director of Polartec-Kometa: “We’ve just made a small ‘technical stop’ and always coming back to the competition involves a period of adaptation. Vetusta was an extremely tough race, with a finish in one of the toughest ports in the world and a second day less tough than originally planned with an average speed of around 45 km/h. It has been two very hard days, one because of the heat and the end and the other because of the distance and the average he has taken. From the first day I have a good taste in my mouth, because we were protagonists with two runners who escaped and we had two runners in the top ten. In the general standings, maybe two or three are missing, but among the first ones are the fittest riders at the moment. This Sunday it is ratified that Sergio Garcia is going from less to more: the Angliru road took the escape and ended on the 14th; and this Sunday he made the bunch very nervous with an escape of the whole day”.
The Trofeu Fira d´agost of Xátiva and the Vuelta Ciclista a Salamanca will be the next challenges of the Polartec-Kometa U23.
