A ‘full gas’ time trial on the Istrian peninsula that leaves Oldani, Sevilla and Puppio in good position
XVI Istrian Spring Trophy
Stage 1: Umag-Umag (2 km ITT)
A frenetic two-kilometre race against the clock, a cycle path along the Umag promenade and a return trip along the iconic Šetalište Vladimira Gortana Avenue, welcomed the kick-off of a new edition of the Croatian Istrian Spring Trophy on Thursday. In a individual time trial with privileged views over the waters of the Adriatic, a traditional prologue for this event, the Italian Stefano Oldani signed the best time among the six riders of the Kometa Cycling Team in competition. The Lombard, who comes to the race in gallons, finished in 31st place, 4 seconds behind the winner, the German Niklas Märkl (Sunweb).
A flat course of strength and power, a very intense exercise with no technical complication other than a 180-degree turn to face a change of direction in the march, at the height of the casino, was the scene in which the first pedals were given. Over such a short distance, the differences were minimal. They commanded the tenths and hundredths. More than fifty riders were separated by just five seconds and up to 156 of 168 participants finished within fifteen seconds of Märkl.
Diego Pablo Sevilla finished three places behind Oldani, 34th also four seconds behind. The Italian Antonio Puppio took the same disadvantage, 48th. The 50th, already at five seconds, finished the ‘route captain’ Juan Camacho. Daniel Viegas finished in 8 seconds, in 102nd place, and Isaac Cantón in 10th. “It has been a full gas day,” admits Puppio. “It has been a very fast stage, for explosive people and very fast. The day was good, I only lost four seconds and I think it’s an interesting income for the next days of the race, where we hope to be ahead,” said Oldani.
The second stage of the Istrian Spring Trophy emerges as keys in the resolution of the final general of the race given its arrival in slope in the nice population of Labin. A six kilometre ascent with an average slope of 5% will receive a first pulse for the Croatian race leader. It is not an excessively groundbreaking finish and the dynamic of recent years has been that of margins of very few seconds. The 161 kilometres of this second stage will be possibly, and from an orographic prism, the most complex of this edition. They do not present a high mountain, not even a half mountain of entity, but a multitude of steep slopes that will contribute to harden the race if the pace is high.
(automatic translation, sorry for mistakes)
