Javi Serrano finishes seventh on a windy day in which Oliver Knight puts together a great ride

Vuelta a Navarra
Stage 1: Sangüesa – Sangüesa (140,4 km)

British rider Oliver Knight (Aix-en-Provence) took the first red and black leader’s jersey after winning the first stage of the Vuelta a Navarra on Thursday, a very demanding stage both because of the broken terrain proposed by the organization and the wind that appeared with special force during some stages of the race. Knight arrived alone, a great exhibition of his own, and 1’44” behind came a first main group, about forty units, in which the U23 team of the Contador Foundation counted with the presence of Javi Serrano (7th), Marcel Camprubí (17th), Andrea Pietrobon (20th) and David Domínguez (22nd).

A crazy Thursday, with a lot of wind, with early attempts to form fans, some crashes due to the tension derived from the wind and, cosustancial to the category, always with a breakaway attempt to be starred. There were several attempts. The definitive one was that of Knight who broke away from the main peloton at the halfway point of the race, with broken terrain ahead and three climbs that were still to be negotiated for the grand prix of the mountains.

With thirty kilometres to go, the Briton reached a lead of more than four minutes ahead of the main group. Behind, they would be working very hard. Knight, for his part, had to face the obstacle of a strong headwind alone. His income would allow him to maintain more than two minutes on the Alto de Aibar, where several accelerations would take place in the main group.

Javi Serrano, seventh at the finish line in Sangüesa: “It was a complicated day. It was very windy and the wind even knocked riders off their bikes during the race. In the end it was a very tense race; on the last pass we were a group of 10 riders, but they left us little room to go. Near the finish line there were a lot of uncontrolled attacks and some riders ended up in front. We are going to keep fighting day by day”.

Rafa Díaz Justo, team manager: “Today we could say that we have been conservative. We come with several very young riders to a tour with a very extreme route. For us today was a day in which the objective was, above all, to save the day and avoid crashes, breakdowns and the wind. The air today was hurricane-force at times, it was dangerous and there were a lot of crashes. The race is going to be beautiful: there is a very good leader, with a strong team behind him, but there are three very tough stages left. This Friday’s stage is the queen stage, especially because of the accumulated and the high finish. We will try to manage it and try to do well. For the moment, the idea is clear: day by day these first two or three days and we’ll see where the race takes us”.

… And this Friday, a big stage in the Pyrenees. A major high finish in the Belagua ski resort, near the Piedra de San Martín, which is reached after a chain of half-mountain climbs that will put a lot of wear and tear on the riders. The final climb, which goes up the beautiful Roncal valley, is just over 9 kilometres at an average of 6%, although the first six kilometres are very steady at around 8% and the last two are very gentle.

📷 @Vuelta_Navarra (1, 3, 5)