The Burgos block, facing a demanding Circuito de Getxo
75th Circuito de Getxo / Getxoko Zirkuitoa
Getxo-Getxo (177 km)
No truce. The Kometa-Xstra Cycling Team faces what will be the most special edition of the Getxo-Memorial Hermanos Ochoa Circuit in recent times with five participants who will arrive very close to the Vuelta a Burgos. José Antonio García (so outstanding in this race a year ago), Antonio Puppio, Alejandro Ropero, Diego Pablo Sevilla and Riccardo Verza will be joined by Sergio García and Daniel Viegas for the Biscayan event. A Getxo Circuit that especially motivates the continental staff of the Alberto Contador Foundation for the great confidence shown by the Punta Galea Cycling Society.
It won’t be a Getxo Circuit on Saint Ignatius Day, as required by the rules, but only three days will be modified from the original dates. A minimum adaptation that comes after a convulsive spring, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, and the firm and constant work of the organization to carry out the edition of the Brilliant Wedding. The official poster of the event recovers with the occasion an image of Jacques Anquetil taking part in the 1958 edition.
The presence in the corporate image of the event of the French star is just one of several changes, no doubt the most anecdotal, implemented by the organizers for this year. Related to the start, the first pedalling will take place on one of the monumental icons of the estuary: the Bridge of Bizkaia. The sensational engineering work designed by Alberto Palacio and Ferdinand Arnodin at the end of the 19th century will see off the runners in their first pedalling on the 25-kilometre circuit, which has to be completed in seven laps. In the final part, on the last lap, another great novelty, perhaps the most important one, the race will debut with the Pike Bidea climb, a road of about two kilometres and ramps of up to 14% that connects Sondika with Mount Artxanda and will be passed with fifteen kilometres to go.
The finish line will be located again after the ascent through the so-called Txomintxu wall. The participation will be a real luxury, with twenty participating teams among which there will be up to five WorldTour formations that will raise the level of a race always very disputed.
“Personally I am looking forward to seeing what level I am at in front of the rest. The feeling is very good in training, but the races are always a different world. Looking at the Vuelta a Burgos you can see that there are a lot of nerves because it is the first big cycling event of the return of the competition and, above all, that there is a lot of level. Here nothing stops”, said Sergio García from his residence in Alcalá del Valle.
Portuguese Daniel Viegas, for his part: “I can’t wait to race. All the riders of the team always want to be in the best races, but now it is also a question of wanting to run again after these months. I feel very good, confident, I think I can do a good race and show that I have worked very well during the break. It is true that this Getxo Circuit is harder in its final part, but that a priori is not a problem because it will be for all riders equally”.
(automatic translation, sorry for mistakes)
