Alejandro Ropero, sixth in a day of madness on the roads of the region of Sayago
XXXVI Cycling Tour of Zamora
Stage 2: Muga de Sayago – Cabañas de Sayago (141 km)
Between Muga de Sayago and Cabaños de Sayago, heat and a thousand leaks. A second stage of the Vuelta a Zamora characterised by numerous skirmishes and multiple alternatives after which some seventy units, with the six riders of the Kometa Cycling Team in the vanguard, would play the partial victory. The Argentinean Tomas Contte (Mutua-Levante) would prevail in a sprint where Alejandro Ropero signed the sixth place. A technical arrival that arrived after a small descent. The puestómetro placed Álex Jaime as leader, the first of a general where five riders of the Alberto Contador Foundation remain among the top ten.
Alejandro Regueiro and Joan Martín Bennassar were involved in the fight to catch leaks at different times in the development of the race. The Galician would be part of the first great getaway that managed to consolidate with some stability and the Spaniard, in a job where he also acted quickly Arturo Grávalos Rioja, was instrumental in bringing down a dangerous leak and also showed his rolling skills with a movement in the last third of the test. “At least we’ve tried,” Bennassar notes.
“It was a pretty crazy stage. No team took control of the pack. At least we managed to get Regueiro on the run to get some peace of mind behind us. The team was great today: they responded to all the cuts behind them and we had a lot of presence during the race. The most important thing is that we are in the general fight for these three days left,” explains Alejandro Ropero.
Rafa Diaz Justo, director of the Kometa Cycling Team: “It’s been a really crazy day. From kilometre 0 it lacked stability, all the time there were movements. One leak after another, without stopping. Regueiro gave us representation in the first big leak, in which there were dangerous riders, but also missing members of several teams. That generated work behind. With thirty kilometres to go, we did worry about a leak that was achieving a rent of close to two minutes. I ordered Bennassar and Arturo to attack in the last port of the day and a small group was formed with the strongest of the race where Ropero was also. Between all of them they practically managed to bring down this escape, but behind Caja Rural he worked with a lot of insistence in the platoon and, almost unintentionally, practically all the little groups got together”.
Looking ahead to this Thursday’s stage, third fraction of the Vuelta a Zamora, a 135.5 km route between San Mamed and Rabanales with many nonscoring climbs in the same and two highs, Vega de Nuez and Viñas, within the last 30 kilometers. “This Thursday is a hard, hard, hard stage and we are going to know who doesn’t win this Vuelta”, says Díaz Justo.
(automatic translation, sorry for mistakes)
