Gabriele Bessega fourth after a late change of plans
The fourth stage of the Vuelta a Madrid meant a last minute change of plans for the team as Tommaso Bessega, who was supposed to fight for the victory, suffered a fall 10 kilometres from the end that prevented him from arriving in the first group. His brother Gabriele took the responsibility and finished fourth. With one stage to go, the young Italian is fifth in the general classification.
The stage unfolded according to the usual script. A breakaway of four riders was the great adventure of the day and although the race had to be neutralised briefly due to a fault in the route, the stage was calm. Attacks followed one after the other from the peloton to try to link up with the front group, which meant that the gaps never became too big at any time. With 35 kilometres to go, the team began to impose a pace on the peloton to try to hunt down, control and fight for the victory.
The breakaway was neutralised with 20 kilometres to go, but soon after, on the final climb of the day, the team’s plans were thwarted. A snag in the peloton caused Tommaso Bessega and Gabriele Raccagni to fall to the ground. Gerard Cano stopped to try to get them back into the peloton, but it was impossible. Gabriele Bessega took the responsibility to fight for the victory and with the help of Dario Giuliano and Bálint Feldhoffer, he finished fourth. The result put him fifth in the overall standings with one stage to go and he was the team’s only asset in the fight after the fall of his team-mate Raccagni.
“We had in mind from the 100th kilometer to start working and break the bunch and then get to the sprint. We had three good riders, but the idea was to fight with Tommaso because he’s more powerful. Everything was going well and 10 kilometers from the finish line they crashed and although they tried to come back, with the pace of Vendé it was impossible. The work was excellent, but our day was cut short. The positive side is that they are fine”, explained Miguel Gómez at the end of an eventful stage.
