Joan Martí Bennassar, ninth in an opening of the Vuelta a Zamora with a good collective performance of the U23
37ª Vuelta Ciclista a Zamora
Etapa 1: Playa de Villardeciervos-Villardeciervos (3,4 km ITT)
Far, far away, is March 8th. On that day, the Trofeo Guerrita, the second round of the Spanish Cup, was held. And after the appointment Murcia, the stop derived from the health emergency by the coronavirus. More than four months later, this Tuesday the bicycles returned to compete in the Spanish amateur category. And that is the great, good, best news, without losing sight of the precautions or lowering the guard ever. The return came with an individual time trial in which the Uruguayan Mauricio Moreira, the current leader of the Spanish Cup, scored the best final time (4:35) and won the first leader’s jersey. A time trial where Joan Martí Bennassar finished with the ninth time, 12 seconds far from Moreira and the sextet of the Kometa-Xstra Cycling Team U23 had a great group performance.
A time trial without much distance, for very powerful riders or specialists; but also a time trial with several points where to take risks and mark the differences. Bennassar, however, did not finish especially satisfied with his final time. “I’m not happy at all, but tomorrow will be another day and now it’s time to reset”, explained the Spaniard from Villardeciervos. Much happier was the Andalusian Mario Vilches. The small rider from Quesada, who was the thirteenth cyclist to start the race and the first among the Kometa-Xstra Cycling Team U23 riders, ended up stopping the time in 4:49, a record that at the time kept him in third place provisionally and that in the end (after some corrections by the judges) left him in fifteenth place.
Thirteenth (after those corrections) finished the Andalusian David Martin with a time of 4:48. Eighteenth was Pucelian Vicente Hernaiz (4:50); twenty-eighth was Riojan Arturo Grávalos (4:54); thirty-fifth was Asturian Edu Pérez Landaluce (4:56).
“The most climbed rider has made a spectacular time. We were pleasantly surprised. This was a time trial for people who dominate very explosive disciplines, of four or five minutes, like the people on the track; but Mario was very brave in the routes, he didn’t touch the brake very much. Beyond Jonny’s ninth place, the whole team is very well positioned in terms of time, and that gives us a chance to get into the race right away. The Vuelta is completely open, we have to stay calm and go day by day”, explains director Rafa Díaz Justo.
“I’m very happy, the truth, and more for weighing 50 kilos”, Vilches adds with a smile. “It was a route that at first stung upwards, with little slope, and there we had to give everything. In the end, the last kilometer and a half, with a lot of street, was quite technical”. “Personally, I was hoping to do a bit more, but the race has only just begun and now we have to think about the next few days”, said Arturo Grávalos.
This Wednesday, the second stage, first in line, of the Zamora round: 141.3 kilometers between Villaralbo and Roales with three high points for the mountain’s grand prize and a terrain where the wind can appear.
(automatic translation, sorry for mistakes)
📸 Álvaro García / El Pelotón (1)
