Ropero and Gelabert, best juniors of RH+ POLARTEC in a grueling Tour of Portugal

The RH+/POLARTEC Junior Team today concluded its first Tour of Portugal with an excellent result, with Alejandro Ropero second overall, followed in fourth place by Tomeu Gelabert, who also won the Mountain. Only an extraordinary Joao Almeida, winner of all three stages and, of course, the final clasification, could beat the team of Alberto Contador Foundation, which also won by squads.

“It was the toughest race we’ve ride this year and the balance is very good, because cyclists have faced very difficult conditions, with temperatures around 40 degrees and very hard parcours”, said Felix Garcia Casas. “This race has been a fantastic experience because is so different to the races we use to racing in Spain”.

Portuguese Joao Almeida, who has been showing all season his quality, also in Spain, was the only rider over RH+/POLARTEC men, however, fought on all fronts, with Carlos García as the third rider scoring by team and that has been at a high level despite his youth.

In the first stage hierarchies were established, arriving a breakaway with the six best riders of the bunch. They fought for victory on the final climb and was the first of three victories for Almeida, but followed closely in second and third place by Gelabert and Ropero.

On the second day came a larger group, but again in the final Almeida made the difference, with Gelabert and Ropero entering among the best. Finally, today, in the third and final stage, the leader attacked in the last descent before the finish and only Alejandro Ropero could follow his wheel, finishing second in the stage and climbing up the same position overall, while Tomeu Gelabert finished fourth.

After this tour, the RH+/POLARTEC will face the last two races of the Cup of Spain, next weekend in Peñafiel and next in Moral de Calatrava, which will defend the provisional leadership of Marc Brustenga.

(Automatic translation. Forgive inaccuracies).