Javi Serrano finishes third overall in a very intense Vuelta a Zamora
Vuelta Ciclista a Zamora
Stage 6: : Cobadú – Toro (115,5 km)
Javi Serrano from Madrid finished third overall in the Vuelta a la Zamora, his second consecutive podium in a stage race after his second place in the recent Vuelta a Extremadura. The 37th edition ended this Sunday in Toro with victory for the Ethiopian Mulu Hailemichael (Caja Rural) on the demanding wall of Cuesta Cavila and victory in the final classification for the Uruguayan Eric Fagúndez (Cortizo).
After the queen stage in the region of Sanabria, which left Fagúndez, Hailemichael and Serrano separated by half a minute, it remained to be seen how the final stage would be tackled tactically, with a double passage through the slopes of Cuesta Cavila, a kilometre at 9.8% with ramps of up to 20%.
From the start, several attacks, with some movement in which Andrea Pietrobon gave presence to the EOLO-KOMETA Cycling Team or with an attempt of Javier Chacón, who threatened the third place of podium of Serrano. It would be a breakaway of six riders, however, which managed to get into the last 40 kilometres.
After the first pass over Cuesta Cavila, where Hailemichael tested Fagúndez, the Russians Ivan Smirnov, Gleb Syritsa and the Italian Andrea Montoli moved from the peloton. The three of them joined the sextet and revitalised the movement with a breakaway that lost members. Montoli was very attentive to the selection of the breakaway and very active to maintain the options to reach the last climb, but the peloton ended up giving chase almost at the base of the wall.
A race of Zamora that leaves a great balance for the cyclist from Madrid, with two partial victories, successes in the secondary classifications of Best U23 and Combined and four days as yellow jersey of the competition. And for all the EOLO-KOMETA Cycling Team present in the roads of Zamora, with a formidable group performance. “I hadn’t won for a long time. I had achieved many second places or positions of honour, but without that victory. To have won two stages, to have been able to be leader and to finish in the final podium with two riders like Eric Fagúndez and Mulu Hailemichael is a great pride”, explained Serrano in the podium.
[📷 @lavueltaazamora]
