A ‘high level’ break stops the aspirations to dispute the volley with Oldani in Poreč
Troféj Poreč / Poreč Trophy
Poreč-Tar (156 km)
Seventh place for Italian Stefano Oldani, eighth in the top ten for the Kometa Cycling Team so far this season, in an edition of the Poreč Trophy in which the breakaway triumphed. The Italian of the Madrid continental team finished third in the sprint of the pack, which reached 55 seconds of the winner, the Swiss Fabian Lienhard. The Swiss cyclist of the IAM was the fastest in the quartet that played the victory in Tar.
The Poreč Trophy, the second race of the Croatian triptych facing the Kometa Cycling Team these days, presented a more interesting profile to exploit Oldani’s options, as the finish was on a small slope and the Lombard cyclist, who is finding himself with very good legs these days, is doing very well on that terrain. The Madrid formation protected their options at all times, grouped, together and riding around their main asset.
An escape formed by Lienhard, Florian Stork (Sunweb), Chris Hatz (Herrman) and the ex-rider of the continental team of the Fundación Alberto Contador Patrick Gamper (Tyrol), a quartet that was well understood and managed to open a very interesting gap despite the work of the riders of the Kometa Cycling Team, very alone in the work of hunting when it would have been more feasible to neutralize. The four fugitives would knead for more than 4 minutes with 40 kilometres to go, 2:30 twenty kilometres later.
Jesús Hernández, sport director: “The team was very good, they took the initiative to control the race for the sprint finish and try to control the leak. But we were very lonely. As soon as the breakaway was formed, when they were still riding with a short margin, we tried to keep it within a few margins. We also tried to involve other teams with the same interests, but nobody gave us any help. When other formations wanted to come in and shoot, the beads didn’t come out. That’s what happens when the leak is four and a half minutes long and is made up of high level people. In our case we make a good assessment of this test, without incidents or falls that affect us”.
The last race that the Kometa Cycling Team will compete in Croatia will be the Istrian Spring Trophy, a stage race that will take place between Thursday 14th and Sunday 17th March.
“It wasn’t the best day. When the breakaway was formed no team wanted to work in front, only us. It was not fair that only we carried all the weight, no team wanted to carry that responsibility. At the end of the race we were back on track, but it was a big advantage. Antonio was the last one to prepare for the finish again, he did an impressive job and I jumped to 400 meters. Just before the finish line two riders passed me. Personally I’m fine, I feel fine, but it’s been another very peculiar day. We hope to have more and better opportunities in the next few days”, explains Stefano Oldani.
(automatic translation, sorry for mistakes)
