Joan Martí Bennassar finishes third in a Circuito del Guadiana where the Foundation’s team pushed with the strategy
55º Circuito del Guadiana
Don Benito – Don Benito (171,4 km)
An unforgettable race. A battle of more than 120 kilometres that began shortly after the first pass over the Magacela wall and lasted until the last lap. A commitment to cement a victory from afar. The company did not bring the desired result, but it was necessary to try and, even so, the Balearic rider Joan Martí Bennassar was in the final fight for the victory to finish third. So it came this Sunday for the U23 structure of the Contador Foundation in the Guadiana Circuit in Extremadura, where Rodrigo Álvarez won.
In a race that started a bit crazy, influenced by the wind that blew from the early hours and caused some early cuts, a race without as much heat as could be expected, the first climb to Magacela was key to the evolution of this edition of the Circuito del Guadiana. After its slopes of up to 15%, a breakaway of eighteen riders was formed, with the presence of many strong teams and up to four riders (Vicente Hernaiz, David Martín, Edu Pérez-Landaluce and Fernando Tercero).
The movement, by kilometre 35, had built up a lead of almost a minute. A difference that went up to two minutes near the second pass through Magacela, left there with 1’10” and, halfway through the race, at the flying finish in Don Benito (second pass through the finish line), it was around a minute and a half. On the third pass through Magacela, a small selection of five riders was formed: Francisco Agea (Gomur), Javier Ibáñez (Lizarte), Andoni López de Abetxuko (Caja Rural) and EOLO-KOMETA’s Edu Pérez-Landaluce and David Martín. A temporary breakaway that had to negotiate a strong side wind, which amassed about twenty seconds and ended in the vicinity of Don Benito and meant a new work spurt for the riders led by Rafa Díaz Justo.
In the breakaway there were new movements on the way to the last ascent to Magacela, while the peloton increased its pace. With the big group less than a minute behind, the Extremaduran Antonio Nieto and the ‘Eolo-Kometa’ Vicente Hernaiz and Fernando Tercero moved. Before the wall, the breakaway was definitively neutralised.
In Magacela Pau Miquel and Marc Brustenga would move and would leave with twenty seconds, but the EOLO-KOMETA started to pull to complete the neutralization within the last ten kilometres. Rodrigo Álvarez (Gomur) and Joan Martí Bennassar attacked with five kilometres to go and achieved a minimum gap that only Guillermo Silva could close. An attack to avoid a mass sprint. The peloton, without Fernando Tercero and Álvaro García present due to a fall, reached three seconds.
Rafa Díaz Justo, team manager: “A ten for the team, they have been very good. The result is not quite fair for the performance, but we know that winning is very difficult. Winning is the icing on the cake. We leave Extremadura very happy. The riders are in great shape and that will make us do very nice things in the rest of the season. It was a race that was, to say the least, a bit crazy. It’s not that we were really looking for the breakaway, but the group that formed was big and we were well represented. The breakaway has been rowing for almost 140 kilometres and if it fell apart at the end it was because in the last kilometres they started to get into a dynamic of attacks while the peloton was moving up a gear. In the end they were caught at the base of Magacela and shortly after the start of the last pass the first two riders of the Cup started very strong. We were able to get up quickly to nullify that movement. The idea was to keep a high pace to avoid attacks, but just at that moment the Gomur rider with Jonny took off and, except for one rider who caught them from behind, that’s how they went to the finish”.
[📷 Circuito del Guadiana]
