Álex Martín wins the final overall of a Volta a Galicia in which Fernando Tercero also climbs the podium
19º Volta a Galicia
Stage 4: Cariño – Cariño (125 km)
Álex Martín from Barcelona was proclaimed winner of the Volta a Galicia 2021 this Sunday after finishing second in the queen stage, in which he had to face the ascent to the Garita de Herbeira near the finish line, and recover three seconds with respect to his teammate Fernando Tercero, leader after his victory in the previous day. A very satisfactory day for the U23 team of the Contador Foundation in which he deployed a great collective and tactical work. Martin finally put his name to a group victory.
The last fraction promised tensions and offensives. The route was favourable and several riders arrived with options to fight for the general classification. In the first 25 kilometres, full of attacks, a numerous breakaway of fifteen riders was formed, among which the EOLO-KOMETA Cycling Team managed to include Yago Segovia and Álex Martín. The move was good for their interests, with the second in the general classification involved, and allowed both to reduce the workload and the pressure on Tercero. Martín, for his part, had the best possible custodian: the tireless Segovia.
Gomur, with five representatives in the leading group, was responsible for keeping the breakaway alive and maintaining a pulse with the chasing peloton (quite reduced after a third stage that caused many abandonments). It was a battle between Gomur in front and Aluminios Cortizo behind, with a two-minute margin at many moments and in which the U23 structure of the Foundation remained attentive. In the vicinity of the ascent to the Garita de Herbeira, that advantage was close to one minute. And already on the climb, the Portuguese Patrick Videira made his move, who began a ride to the finish line with a great ascent and good management of a descent with its point of complication. Behind, Martin ended up imposing his climbing skills to stand out in his pursuit and close the gap with Videira, who also had his chances for the general classification. The group with Tercero was 57 seconds behind the winner and 29 seconds behind Martín. The change of leader was a certainty. But the victory was forged within the team.
#VoltaGalicia21. El catalán Álex Martín se impone en la general final de la ronda gallega tras acabar segundo en la etapa final, donde se impuso el portugués Patrick Videira. Fernando Tercero, también en el podio.#EOLOKOMETACyclingTeam #EquipoSub23 #FormandoCiclistas pic.twitter.com/oetB8QAsSe
— FundContadorTeam (@FundContaTeam) September 19, 2021
Fernando Tercero, who finished on the podium of his second consecutive stage race after finishing third in Salamanca: “We said it yesterday after the stage: it was time to defend the lead and it was time to do it well with Álex and with me. And that’s how it went. Álex rode all day in the breakaway and that meant a lot of work and a lot of tension for all of us. On the final climb we were attentive to all the movements to avoid complications, but the main work was already well underway. A victory that makes me very happy, because it’s a victory for the whole team”.
Álex Martín, winner of the Vuelta a Galicia: “I’m very happy, I’m very happy. After all, we are talking about a very prestigious tour in the amateur calendar. That makes it special and makes me very happy. Today we started the last stage in a very advantageous position, because Fernando was the leader and I was very close; we played that I was looking for the cuts while Fernando stayed behind, which gave us a race situation that allowed us not to have to work either in front or behind. In the end I was able to catch the good cut. Once there, we rode all day long. On the final climb I went flat out. Patrick Videira had gone and we had a very nice battle, because a little more and he could have taken the overall victory, but we managed to control the situation”.
.[📷 Christian Pradas]
