A lesson in perseverance with the signature of Joan Martí Bennassar
X Volta a la Provincia de Valencia
Stage 4: Moncada-Moncada (122,3 km)
The Balearic rider Joan Martí Bennassar scored a brilliant victory in the last stage of the Volta a la Provincia de Valencia after getting involved in the great breakaway of the day, one hundred kilometres to the end, and reaching the finish line alone after an intense fight against the pack in the last kilometres. The one from Marratxí, a great specialist against the clock, displayed his great riding qualities on a circuit that was not at all easy, where the breakaway triumphed last year. A triumph that rewards the great work that the Mallorcan does in all the races in favour of the options of other colleagues.
Bennassar’s victory was based on the break he formed with four other riders during the second lap of the circuit. The Mallorcan, Eloy Teruel from Murcia and the Galician Raúl González (Valverde), the Valencian Ricardo Zurita (Tres Anchas) and the Catalan Aleix Biel (Benicassim-VR ESport) opened the way and caressed the three minutes margin halfway through the stage. In the seventh lap the difference was significantly reduced due to the efforts of both the leader’s team and the Russian Lokosphinx in different phases.
The breakaway, at the same time, had been reduced to a trio that ended up as a duo, with González and Bennassar at the helm holding a slightly greater lead than a minute. The Vigo player would give way as he entered the last twenty kilometres and Jhonny (as he is known in the team by everyone) began his particular exhibition with barely fifty minutes’ lead over a large group in which some falls took place, affecting Alessio Acco, Mario Vilches and Vicente Hernaiz. Joan Martí Bennassar was able to cross the finish line, celebrating it as he deserved, with seven seconds over an advance party in which his partner Álex Martín was riding.
The victory in the final general classification went to the pouch of the Uruguayan Mauricio Moreira (Rias Baixas), while the Kometa-Xstra Cycling Team of Rafa Díaz Justo finished with three riders within the top ten: Fernando Tercero from La Mancha, sixth at 1:53; Yago Segovia from Asturias, seventh at 2:06; and the Catalan Álex Martín, tenth at 3:39 after having won the first stage and wearing the leader’s jersey one day. For Joan Martín Bennassar, in the same way, the final general of the intermediate sprints (metas volantes).
Joan Martí Bennassar, winner of the last stage: “I don’t believe it yet. For the stage I was marked to be in the good escape, which is always difficult in itself. I felt good, but also being in the lead from so far away was a little crazy. We have gathered good riders, to see Eloy Teruel there was a sign that you could walk. And that’s how the laps went. There came a time when I began to believe that the breakaway could come. I began to value the strengths and weaknesses of my companions, in order to hit the closest to the finish line knowing that behind it would fly. The stage was going to be difficult anyway and I’m not a particularly fast runner in a sprint either. Rafa was singing my praises and in the end it was a question of giving everything until the end. I’m very happy, I’m very happy”.
📷 José Sauri Olmos / Federación de Ciclismo de la Comunitat Valenciana (1, 2 y 4)
(automatic translation, sorry for mistakes)
