Vicente Hernaiz, second again in Amorebieta: “We are close, let’s see if victory finally comes”
60º Gran Premio Primavera
Amorebieta – Amorebieta (110,9 km)
Vicente Hernaiz from Valladolid continues to put in sensational performances in the Basque calendar. After his recent second place in the Memorial Aitor Bugallo, on Thursday, the rider from Puebla of the U23 and elite structure of the Contador Foundation came close to victory again this Sunday in the Gran Premio Primavera de Amorebieta. Hernaiz finished second behind Mikel Retegi.
The climbs, as expected, were decisive and after the climbs there were seven riders in the lead, including Hernaiz and three Lizarte riders. At the finish, Retegi imposed his top speed.
“We are close, let’s see if we can finally win”, said Hernaiz. “The start was very fast, the first lap of the initial circuit was over 50-odd kilometres on average, but when we got to the village the race stopped at a level crossing. When it picked up again, so did the speed. The peloton was in line the whole time. On the first pass through Montecalvo we stayed ahead about fifteen of us, but then on the subsequent terrain the group grew. On the last climb to Montecalvo Imanol Álvarez started, I went with him and they caught us near the top. In Autzagane there were several attacks, I responded to one from Arrieta and we went away with another Lizarte rider. At the finish, the sprint didn’t go as well as it could have”, explains the rider from Castilla-León. “The team-mates were very good, attentive to all the breaks. Yago did a spectacular job”.
Hernaiz, the Cantabrian Álvaro García and the Asturians Edu Pérez-Landaluce and Yago Segovia were the four EOLO-KOMETA riders who took part in this race that counted towards the Abiatzen Tournament. Pérez-Landaluce finished 20th, 19 seconds behind the winner.
“The race, for a shorter and quite explosive race, quite fast from the start, went quite well. Álvaro was very unlucky with a crash in the middle of the race. Both Yago and I were good at helping Vicente, especially in the cuts between the passes and I think we did a good job. I finished happy. But it goes on. Now it’s time to keep training and taking care of ourselves for what’s to come. Little by little”, says Pérez-Landaluce.
