Double presence in the top ten of the Vuelta a Palencia with Alessandro Fancellu and Carlos García
52ª Vuelta Ciclista a Palencia
Stage 4: Palencia-Palencia (126.2 km)
The passage through the Golobar Refuge had practically clarified the general form of this new Vuelta Ciclista a Palencia, with the Alava guy Oier Lazkano concreting the final triumph that he caressed from the second stage and consolidated in the third. The Italian Alessandro Fancellu and the Spaniard Carlos García, respectively fourth and ninth in the general classification, achieved two places for the Kometa Cycling Team within the top ten.
The final stage, atypically disputed this Monday, was scored by the Basque Josu Echeverría (Caja Rural), who stood out slightly with respect to a small platoon, four seconds, in which Fancellu and Alejandro Ropero from Granada were involved in the finish to finish fifth and seventh. Echeverría marked an acceleration within the final circuit and managed to bring it to a good port in front of almost forty runners who were chasing them. A group where, in addition to the aforementioned Fancellu and Ropero, Sergio García, Carlos García and Álex Martín also rode.
It was the resolution of a new stage very moved, with many offensive bets and several movements in which the Kometa Cycling Team wanted to be the protagonist. Sergio Garcia rolled in an escape of nine riders where the winner of this last fraction was already rolling. Fancellu, Martín, Ropero and Carlos García would be integrated in the leading group, initially of only 19 units and with the leader present, when the race was divided into several small groups. In between, the Madrid team of the Alberto Contador Foundation worked very hard, imperial Joan Martí Bennassar in these races, to provoke cuts in a windy situation.
A way to conclude the Palencia round very prominent, even more so after having started it with doubts about some gastrointestinal problems, in the case of Fancellu, and after spending a night as a precaution in the hospital Rio Carrion de Palencia, in the case of the corridor of Otura, after suffering an episode of dizziness. The u23 set of the Alberto Contador Foundation directed by Rafa Diaz Justo was the third squad in this secondary classification, a good yardstick to measure group performance during the overall competition. Sometimes he also has an unfair point, since he neither understands nor contextualizes the circumstances of the race. In Palencia this was not the case.
“This last stage could be complicated by the wind and in the end it was. We have a very strong team and it was clear to us that in the wind we were going to try to hurt the general classification. And in the end, although I’m not particularly fast, I was clear that I would also try to sprint in order to exploit all the podium options”, explained Fancellu.
The next commitment of the team will be next Monday 19 August, in the emerging Trofeo Fira d´Agost of Xátiva. The thirty-first edition of the Valencian event, organised by the Club Ciclista Bicicletas Sanchís and the Consistorio, through its Consell Esportiu Municipal, is characterised by the hardness of a 140-kilometre track in which runners have to negotiate El Portixol (km 73.6), the very tough Campello (km 95.3) and on two occasions (km 36.8 and km 130) Serra Grossa. In 2018, José Antonio García from Granada, today runner of the continental team, signed an outstanding third place.
(automatic translation, sorry for mistakes)
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