On the way to Picón Blanco, outstanding work by Juan Camacho and Márton Dina´s step forward

41ª Vuelta a Burgos
Stage 3: Sargentes de La Lora – Picón Blanco (150 km)

For the third consecutive year, the summit of Picón Blanco hosted the arrival of the Vuelta a Burgos and this ascent to an old military installation in the Cantabrian Mountains once again demonstrated its hardness and entity. In an arrival under the fog, and with the thermometer marking 17 degrees, the Hungarian Márton Dina, the trump card for the general of the Kometa Cycling Team, finished at 2:46 of the new leader of the race, Iván Ramiro Sosa. The Colombian of the Sky, dorsal 1, obtained the victory in this third fraction of the Burgo´s race in which the manchego Juan Camacho prolonged the presence of the continental team of the Alberto Contador Foundation in the breaks.

The rider from Moral de Calatrava, an excellent time trialist, was part of the great breakaway of the day together with Ángel Madrazo (Burgos-BH), the Swiss Simon Pellaud (IAM Excelsior), the Austrian repeat offender Matthias Brándle (Israel Cycling Academy) or the French Lucas de Rossi (Delko) and Arnaud Courteille (Vital Concept). This Thursday the consolidation of the escape was much more expensive and did not consolidate until the Alto de la Lora, the first of the five orographic difficulties of the day. The six, with a great understanding, would end up kneading just over three minutes with respect to a platoon always attentive.

Less than 29 kilometres to the end, in the middle of the climb to Alto de Retuerta, Brändle took a break from the escape. The main squad was then just over a minute and a half from the head of the race. Camacho fought there for his continuity in the same on the final ramps. And ended up concreting it to the foot of the Picón Blanco, where the leak was definitely neutralized and began a new stage with protagonism for the men in the general.

“I would have liked to have better legs at the end to let me see a little more, but we have to be happy. Today was not an especially easy stage to catch the leak,” said Camacho.

“Juan is a spectacular rider, very powerful, with a rolling capacity beyond any doubt and also his top speed. I am especially happy that he was able to catch the leak today because he is one of those fundamental riders in any team because of the enormous work he does in each race, taking care of and protecting his leaders at all times. It’s not always a visible job, it’s not very mediatic and also it doesn’t allow a lot of splendour from the outside, but it’s fundamental in any structure. He is a great professional”, says Jesús Hernández, director of the Kometa Cycling Team.

With Movistar and Ineos, in different phases, setting the pace of an increasingly reduced group, the Hungarian Márton Dina and the Manchego Isaac Cantón managed to resist until the last six kilometers. The hardness of the port and the high rhythm imposed by the French Kenny Elissonde for the British team greatly reduced a leading group that, after a demarcation of Sergio Samitier (Euskadi-Murias) lived a phase of accelerations and groupings from which emerged Iván Ramiro Sosa (Sky), Richard Carapaz and Antonio Pedrero (Movistar). Sosa ended up leaving in solitary to 1,5 for the goal.

Dina finished in 28th position, while Isaac Cantón arrived shortly after, in 39th position.  The Magyar runner, with a jump of 25 places, is now in the twenty-fifth place of the provisional general classification, at 3:23 of Iván Ramiro Sosa, in the previous of a fourth stage that will connect the Atapuerca site with the Roman City of Clunia, near Coruña del Conde. A stage of 174 kilometres, the longest of this edition.

(automatic translation, sorry for mistakes)

? @dppuente / Vuelta a Burgos
? Mertxe Labrador
? Félix Ordóñez / Vuelta a Burgos