Double presence on the podium in Castellón: David Domínguez and Javi Serrano, second and third overall
39ª Volta a Castellón
Stage 3: Castellón de la Plana – Castellón de la Plana (135 km)
The Volta a Castellón closed this Sunday with a last stage in which the passage through the Desierto de las Palmas in the final part guaranteed movements in the fight for a general classification in which three riders of the EOLO-KOMETA Cycling Team U23, David Domínguez, Javi Serrano and Ramón Fernández, were to few seconds of Oliver Knight’s leadership.
In the iconic mountain pass of Castellón David Domínguez made his move. An offensive that allowed him to take a few seconds and crown in the lead. The leader, always marking him, ended up catching him together with Ivanov Viacheslav (MPGroup). The three would be neutralised by a small chasing group that would end up playing for the victory in Columbretes street in Castellón. In the sprint, the fastest rider was the Belgian Sanders de Vet (Basso Team), ahead of Javi Serrano.
Until Domínguez’s attack, however, the strategic battle of the blue team had been led by Ramón Fernández. The Asturian and his team-mate Edoardo Alleva were part of the early and numerous breakaway, eighteen riders, which led the race to the vicinity of Benicassim. Fernández was the provisional leader for many kilometres during which the breakaway rode with a two-minute advantage, and more.
“I leave Castellón very happy, above all for the sensations of these three days of racing and for having been so far ahead in hard stages. We’re leaving with the thorn in our side of giving three out of three in the stick, even in the general classification, but the whole team has done a great lap”, says Javi Serrano. It was especially hard for Arnau Gilabet. The rider from Barcelona, who had stomach problems during the first two days, was not able to ride as far ahead as he would have liked and instead worked as hard as he could.
David Domínguez, second overall of Volta a Castellón: “The feeling going up the pass was very, very good and there were less and less of us in the group, so I decided to give it a try and I managed to drop all the rivals. It’s a pity that first I was caught by the leader and a Russian rider from MP and then we were caught five kilometres from the reduced group where the stage victory was at stake. In the last kilometres I tried to help Javi as much as possible, who is our fastest man, but in the end the victory eluded us”.
📷 @cxcling / Volta Castellón (1, 2)