David Martín imposes his speed tip in the return of a Spain 2020 Cup of which he is now the new leader
IX Memorial Ángel Lozano / Spanish Cup
Valladolid-Valladolid (160.5 km)
David Martín from Seville won the Memorial Ángel Lozano in Valladolid on Sunday, returning to the front line of the elite and U23 Spanish Cup. A triumph in the sprint, where the Andalusian showed his great speed in which is his fourth success of the year. In the arrival next to the Dome of the Millennium of the Pucelan capital the local Vicente Hernaiz rounded off the performance with his third position. The Kometa-Xstra Cycling Team U23, driven by this double podium, won in the general team classification. A very fruitful Sunday for the structure u23 of the Alberto Contador Foundation, which leaves the capital of the Pisuerga with Martin at the head of the provisional general of the Spanish Cup.
A flight of seven riders, later six, led the development of the race until it approached the second step through the Alto de Portillo. In the second climb to the iconic Pucelian ascent, after an attack of the Uruguayan Mauricio Moreira, a group of about twenty-five units was formed where the Kometa-Xstra Cycling Team had a quadruple presence: Vicente Hernaiz, David Martín, Eduardo Pérez-Landaluce and, after recovering the ground due to a breakdown, Arturo Grávalos. This group, where the leader of the Spanish Cup, Jordi López, was not riding until this Sunday, ended up being phagocyted by a larger group in the ascent to Simancas. Many interests in the massive arrival.
At the pass by Robledillo, five riders will again star in a pulse with the pack, with Arturo Grávalos in the fight, but the closest attempt to get away with it would come from six riders (Raul Garcia Pierna, Lizarte; the Venezuelan Edwin Torres, Vigo-Rias Baixas; the New Zealander Thompson Reuben, Telco’m; Miguel Ángel Ballesteros, Caja Rural-Seguros RGA; Carlos Gutiérrez, Aluminios Cortizo; and Edu Pérez-Landaluce) that planted themselves within the last ten kilometers with half a minute of margin.
After a counterattack attempt by Vicente Hernaiz on his own, the Kometa-Xstra Cycling Team will be working hard to break this leak and look for the resolution to the sprint, something that will not be achieved until the final kilometer. In the volata, Martín will beat Raúl García (Lizarte), his partner Hernaiz, Álex Ruiz (Valverde) and Raúl Rota (Lizarte).
David Martín, winner of the Ángel Lozano Memorial: “It was a pretty fast race, where we all had our share and the work of our colleagues has to be acknowledged. It has been excellent, they have known how to control the race, being aware of all the cuts. Vicente has done a job of ten, he has thrown me and thanks to him I have been able to win this race. But the work of all the colleagues during the whole day has been sensational”. After this victory, Mairena de Aljarafe leads the provisional general classification of the Spanish Cup after three races. The Sevillian totals 215 points compared to the 179 presented by his teammate Vicente Hernaiz and the 152 of Pablo Alonso (Gomur). The Spanish Cup faces another hiatus until September 8, when the Memorial Momparler will be held, after the announcement that the Gran Premio Primavera de Ontur (Albacete) will finally not be held.
Rafa Díaz Justo, director of the Kometa-Xstra Cycling Team u23: “It has been one of those Sunday rounds where everything has gone perfectly. During one hundred kilometres the race has been very controlled by the Lizarte team, with the escape maintained around the two minutes. At the moment when the leader of the Cup retired due to stomach problems, something that coincided with the hardest part of the course, a completely different race began. Many groups began to form. We were always well represented in all of them. Fifteen minutes from the end, a group of six cyclists was formed where we took Edu Perez-Landaluce, but he was the least fast of all and we had to break up that escape from the chasing group. A lot of work to break it down, but in the end the icing on the cake came with first and third place and all that they mean in terms of positioning themselves in the Spanish Cup”.
📷 Álvaro García / El Peloton (2)
