Fourth and fifth place for Pérez-Landaluce and Gilabert in Ronda al Maestrat

45º Ronda Ciclista al Maestrat
Benicarló-Benicarló (172,4 km)

Vibrant and intense return of the Ronda Ciclista al Maestrat, a return to the roads in which Benjamín Prades won and where the U23 structure of the Contador Foundation was one of the great attackers of the race. Prades imposed his experience and his speed in a quintet that was formed in the last kilometres and in which the Asturian Edu Pérez-Landaluce and the Catalan Arnau Gilabert rode fourth and fifth respectively. The overall team victory, the result of a great group performance, went to EOLO-KOMETA Cycling Team. Also Álvaro Garcia won the Metas Volantes overall.

On a long and very demanding route in its central part, as is the orography of the area, a multitude of alternatives from the initial flag in which the team led again this Sunday by Guillermo Gutiérrez wanted to be always present.

At the start it was the Andalusian David Martín who was involved in some initial cuts, always with minimal differences. Later, Martín himself, together with his fellow countryman José Luis Medina and Álvaro García from Cantabria, joined a break of twenty riders that opened the race, with an advantage of up to one minute, for about ten kilometres. New attempts would come in the following kilometres, the most demanding phase of the race, although the general tone was that of minimal differences controlled by a main bunch that was gradually losing units. After passing through La Serratella, on the subsequent terrain, both Álvaro García and Arnau Gilabert would be the protagonists of different actions at the head of the race.

In the last ten kilometres there was a movement of five units with Benjamin Prades (Rias Baixas), José María Martín (Valverde Team), Abel Franco (Caja Rural), Arnau Gilabert and Edu Pérez-Landaluce. The five would reach the final stretch with a dozen seconds to play for the victory. After a couple of cyclists interspersed, 27 seconds behind came a first bunch in which Álvaro García rode in the first positions to finish twelfth. A position that underpinned the team victory for the Contador Foundation structure.

“A good day, we are happy especially because we are working well and we are on the right track. For the race we had talked about trying to test it after La Serratella. That’s what we did. We tried it, we got four riders together and we held our nerve for more than 50 kilometres. But at the end there was a strong headwind blowing and it became very complicated”, says Álvaro García, winner of the Metas Volantes, from Benicarló.

[📷  Thanks to Eloy CG (1, 3)]