Another great performance by Javi Serrano in his first days in ‘blue’: fourth place in Betanzos
25ª Vuelta a la Comarca Brigantina
Betanzos – Betanzos (132,2 km)
There is no shortage of races on the national calendar, whether one-day or stage races, and the situation generated by the COVID-19 pandemic has additionally worsened the competitive fabric. That is why any return, with all the demands and the great efforts that any organisation requires, must always be welcomed with the greatest of gratitude. The Club Ciclista Betanzos, whose origins date back to 1983, with a cycling school of great tradition in Galicia, recovered its Vuelta a la Comarca Brigantina for 2021 after sixteen years without taking to the roads.
In the race, with a certainly broken profile, there were multiple offensives from the start and the U23 structure of the Contador Foundation tried to be in all of them. At kilometre 31 it was Álvaro García and Davide Piganzoli who were riding in a group of about twenty riders. At around kilometre 45, ten riders were leading the race and once again Rafa Díaz Justo’s team had double representation in the form of Arnau Gilabert and Fernando Tercero.
The breakaway apparently definitive would arrive kilometres later, facing the kilometre 65. A numerous group, about thirty cyclists, where the EOLO-KOMETA Cycling Team counted on the presence of four: Álvaro García, Davide Piganzoli, Javi Serrano and Fernando Tercero. In this breakaway there would be new attacks, but for the 85th kilometre the race regrouped again in its front part. Faced with the advantage taken by a solo rider at around the 100th kilometre mark, the Foundation’s team began to work to break up the attempt, a task that was completed a dozen kilometres later.
This rekindled the attacking impetus, with an active Javi Serrano getting into a quartet, later sextet, of fleeting existence. In the end, fifty riders were still in a position to fight for the victory, among them Serrano himself, Fernando Tercero and a brave Andrea Montoli tried to attack in the final stages in search of a surprise. Miguel Ángel Fernández (Rías Baixas) would be the fastest and Javi Serrano would finish in an outstanding fourth position.
[📷 Paula Fernández / @paulaa__fr]
