The XXX edition of the Ibercaja Quebrantahuesos Cyclotourist March sponsored by Oakley has been marked by water, cold and meteorological instability. The start at 8 in the morning of the 1,900 cyclists who have taken the start of the Bearded Vulture with heavy rain has made many decide not to be on the starting line. As in previous years, all the runners have traveled the four mythical mountain passes of the Aragonese and French Pyrenees: Somport, Marie Blanque, Portalet and Hoz de Jaca.
The desire to go through this 30th edition has given the courage so that nothing stopped the march despite the bad weather forecast, which has been fully met throughout the day. Faced with this situation, the organization, in contact with the main authorities, launched a special device to adapt to the circumstances: abandonment bus and ambulances at localized points, greater presence of medical services, hot liquid at aid stations and refuge points.
The weather has changed in each of the ports as cyclists pass, but many of them have remained strong with the challenge of traveling the 200 kilometers that make the QH unique, and thanks to the tireless encouragement of the volunteers who also They’ve been holding out the rain to the end
At 11:45 a.m., the first climber cyclists arrived, being the first to cross the finish line Francisco Rodríguez Pozo, with a time of 02:24:25. It was almost 2 o’clock in the afternoon when the two fastest cyclists in the Bearded Vulture reached the finish line, who rode together throughout the march. Darío Gadeo (05:45:19) and Haimar Zubeldia (05:46:18), who have valued the day as “very hard”. Zubeldia, a former professional cyclist, has remarked that “today so many organizations, volunteers, participants of the Bearded Vulture and Treparriscos are winners because the day was unpleasant. Right now at the finish line it is not raining, but throughout the day it has rained and we have had to draw on experience to avoid getting cold. The truth that I thought was going to be worse”. He closed reflecting on the fact that “we know how difficult this year has been for the organization to move the event forward and even more so with the day that it has played. The truth is that you do not feel like it, but it is to be appreciated and to try at least to do the whole march”.
Civil Guard, Gendarmerie, volunteers, collaborators and sponsors, doctors and security agents have watched throughout the tour for safety and the proper development of the march and its operation.