At 23 years old, Oier Lazkano continues to be a current and future rider for Movistar. The ‘colt’ from Álava, after a good classic campaign in which he came second in Through Flanders, something unusual among the Spanish peloton, he achieved victory this Friday in the second stage of the French Boucles de la Mayenne. More than the victory as such, the third of his career and the second with the Navarrese team, was the way he did it: being in the pelotonhe attacked with 90 kilometers to go, reached the breakaway that was ahead… and in the final stretch he left them behind to cross the Laval finish line alone. A show of force.
After the prologue on Thursday, in which Ivo Oliveira prevailed, Lazkano was 40th overall, 15 seconds behind the Portuguese from the UAE. Little mattered in the face of this first stage with numerous levels, including a first-class port. The race is made up of two more days, with broken ground, especially on Sunday, which a priori will decide the general. At the moment, Lazkano wears yellow with a 42-second advantage over the aforementioned Oliveira. An income to take into account. Erviti, Romeo, Norsgaard, Rangel and Gonzalo Serrano will escort the player from Alava. There are three more Spanish teams present: Burgos BH, Caja Rural and Kern Pharma.
“It was surely the hardest stage of the race”
After his victory, Lazkano spoke to the media in a statement provided by the team: “A very, very beautiful day. It was surely the hardest stage of the race and finishing like this was a great joy. In reality, the movement was made in an area of heights that was in the middle of the race. The leader Oliveira had moved with Zingle and Cosnefroy; we have been cut from behind, I have set the pace to chase -I was going with Gonzalo (Serrano), two or three colleagues came in a group of about ten-, and once we managed to neutralize, at a certain point I was alone ahead of the peloton and behind the breakaway Since they had attacked before, I preferred to go ahead and anticipate in case they repeated. I decided to continue, I managed to reach the lead and from there, we had to push, push… and when we had a 4′ lead I realized that we still had options. In the last step through the finish line we kept 2’30 There is no victory more beautiful than another, but it’s the first of the year… and hopefully it’s not the last. There is still a lot ahead of us this weekend; It’s a nice goal, but a lot can happen.”