Carlos García touches the podium in the final general of the Bizkaia Saria: “We keep learning”
Bizkaia Saria 2019
Sagasti Memorial / Mungia-Mungia (116 km)
The Kometa Cycling Team is leaving this first edition of Bizkaia Saria, a very firm organizational bet to recover the spirit of the late Bira, with the fourth place in the final overall of Carlos Garcia (37 seconds from the winner) and third place in the overall squads in his bag. A Bizkaia Saria in which the Madrid team, who finished their form in the face of the imminent Giro d’Italia, was one of the great protagonists, especially in the second stage, despite the falls and mechanical incidents that influenced their tactical approaches at different times.
The Sagasti Memorial, a priori the most comfortable orographically of the three events of this Challenge, had to decide the final winner of a general in which the ‘lizarte’ Ibon Ruiz arrived with two seconds of margin over the Norwegian Adne Holter. The route was not especially selective, but the minimal difference fed multiple uncertainties. The Nordic Dare tried his options in the ascent to La Mesa, but the leader responded well and all the illustrious, including Carlos Garcia, also ended up grouping. In a rough final as a consequence of a fall, and after catching Íñigo González (Telco’m) in the last few metres, the partial victory went to Colombian Santi Mesa (Eulen).
“Surely it wasn’t the best day to provoke a revolution along the route; we tried it on the steep slopes, but it wasn’t possible”, explains Tres Cantos about this Sunday fraction. “We arrived with the objective of getting the last touch for the Giro d’Italia, the great goal, and we left with a fourth place in the general classification that tastes to us little by little. The race has been tough, but above all based on steep slopes, not so much on major ports, and that is something that has made everything more complex. The most important thing is to always try to give the maximum and learn”.
The Sagasti Memorial was the scene of a dizzying day of cycling characterized by numerous attacks. The escapes had a short life and a good part of the morning passed in a succession of escapes. The entire Kometa Cycling Team was also present. Sergio Garcia and Alejandro Regueiro, at some point integrating the same group, were the ones who were able to achieve more benefits to their persistence managing to be part of numerous escapes. “I finished the day with a good ‘leg pain'”, jokes the Galician Regueiro, 16th in the last sprint. “In the end, I’m disappointed because in the sprint I was well positioned and another rider threw me out in a curve, he left me closed and I had no options. It tastes bad because they were doing well”.
The next event of the Kometa Cycling Team under 23 will be here in a few days and promises strong emotions: The Giro d’Italia U23, the mythical Giro Baby, will put the Madrid team to the test on a very demanding course where the peculiar Italian mountain will be the main protagonist.
(automatic translation, sorry for mistakes)
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