It is physically impossible to add more victories than days of competition, but due to the superiority shown on the asphalt, it seems that each success is worth double. And it is that in less than 48 hours, Tadej Pogacar has two victories this season in as many days. True to his style, as in the Clásica Jaén last Monday, the Slovenian prodigy unleashed all the favorites of the Tour of Andalusia in the last port of a demanding first stage and rode solo to victory. Intractable. Luckily, the differences with the trio that chased him from a distance, although they are considerable, are not yet definitive: 38″ over Mikel Landa, Carlos Rodríguez and Santiago Buitrago. yes it was further away Enric More, since he suffered a mechanical breakdown before crowning the last ascent that relegated him to the back group (at 1:39).
With a menu of four scoring climbs and 4,000 meters of unevenness, the premiere of the 69th edition of the Route of the Sun it was posed in the most succulent way. The escape of the day was made up of Clement Alleno (Burgos BH), Aaron van Poucke (Baloise) and the Spanish Alex Martin (EOLO-KOMETA) and Gotzon Martin (Euskatel). The latter, on the day of his 27th birthday, was especially active when it came to adding points that gave him the leadership in the mountain classification. Movistar and UAE controlled the advantage of the escapees at all times and did not allow it to reach 3 minutes. The final strake pointed to Despinacaballos…
Minutes before there was an interesting movement in the Horn Gorge, penultimate level of the day. Ineos, who disappeared at the head of the platoon, opted to have a presence in the escape and sent Omar Fraile forward. The Basque quickly caught up with Gotzon and Álex, the last survivors of an initial split break by then. The combined thrust of Movistar and UAE dashed their illusions two kilometers from the start of the last port, just over 20 km to go. The stage was reserved for the show of the ‘roosters’…
Although in practice, only one shone above the rest with a comfortable difference. The UAE lined up the small squad at the first ramps of Despiernacaballos, with a Carlos Rodríguez who suffered for a few seconds as a result of a small breakdown on the bicycle. Although it was difficult for him to remove the big plate, he was able to rejoin the group to be with the best in the underworld. because once Covi, Wellens and Majka finished their work, the Slovenian alien opened the throttle with 12.5 km to go and ‘see you soon, Lucas’. Only Buitrago resisted his wheel for a few meters, but he lowered himself so as not to explode, because the rhythm of pogi it was unreachable. But, that in the last ramps of the port suffered a mechanical breakdown, he lost precious time compared to Buitrago, Rodríguez and Landa (1:01) which could be decisive in the fight for the podium. The highest step seems on track…
Results and general of the first stage
1st Tadej Pogacar (UAE) – 5h 04:08
2nd Michael Landa (Bahrain) – at 38″
3rd carlos rodriguez (Ineos) – mt
4º Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain) – mt
8th enric mas (Movistar) – at 1:39