Not a single day of rest in Andalusia

Vuelta a Andalucía-Ruta del Sol (2.PRO)
Lucena-Otura (153’2km)

Today was supposed to be a quiet day. Perhaps, despite the toughness, an opportunity for a sprint. But the terrain, the heat and the ambition of the leaders broke any prediction.

A consented breakaway, reduced gaps, two chained climbs? Everything blew up with 35 kilometres to go, with attacks from Yates (BikeExchange) and López (Astana). A selection of just 25 riders went ahead and neither Fortunato nor the rest of the blue riders could stay there.

Diego Pablo Sevilla took the podium to receive the leader’s jersey of the flying goals, a recognition that he maintains for the second consecutive day. Alejandro Ropero also received recognition for his great progress to the applause of the public. Tomorrow, another new opportunity.

Alejandro Ropero: “The end of the stage was quite tough and selective. Gavazzi, Albanese and Fortunato were in front, they lost time in the general classification but I think they still have a chance. The lap is long and there are two very hard days left. We knew that in the most selective zone today we had to keep a good position. We tried and we were close to get our leaders in the leading group”.

Jesús Hernández: “We wanted to defend Diego Pablo Sevilla’s jersey and we did it, because the breakaway didn’t threaten us. We thought we could fight for the sprint with Albanese, but he couldn’t save the critical moment and although we tried to close the gap, in the end we were just a little bit away from getting in. We missed a nice opportunity, but I’m sure that tomorrow there will be options again depending on how the race goes after the very hard start with a first category climb”.

SprintCycling