In case anyone had any doubts, the Jumbo-Visma is already here. They were slow to start the season and barely had a win until a few days ago, with the stage won by Rohan Dennis at the Tour Down Under. But this week they have started the engine and in what way. Specifically, on a Saturday day in which the first exhibit was Dylan van Baarle on the Oomlop and then Jonas Vingegaard in O Gran Camiño. The Dane achieved his second victory of the season in the Galician round, for the second day in a row, with another demonstration of strength unattainable for the rest of the mortals in terms of climbing. Only the best Tadej Pogacar could challenge such dominance. The general, at the expense of what happens in the final time trial in Santiago, sentenced: Ruben Guerreiro will start with 53″ lost with the Dane, while Jesus Herrada it will do it at 1:25. Game over.
The controversy continued inherent to this second edition of O Gran Camiño, even before the start of the main stage. In the morning, meeting between organizers and team managers, since most of them urged that the double pass through Santa Mariña be removed from the route due to the strong cold and rain. And the organization agreed. There was agreement by majority, but teams like Movistar were against the modification because this enclave was an ideal strategic point to move the race from afar. His options of turning the general around in a one-on-one with Vingegaard were greatly reduced, as he hinted Ezequiel Mosquera, director of the test, in the microphones of Galician television: “Without that double pass to Santa Mariña, we all know who is going to win…”. Time will tell if so many modifications at the request of the teams create a dangerous precedent for races in this category.
Camino del Alto da Hermida, after about 65 km of stage of a route that remained in 119 km (43 less compared to the initial layout), a breakaway of twelve riders with a notable Spanish presence was consolidated: Jorge Arcas, Jonathan Lastra, Xabier Isasa and Igor Arrieta. However, it was the Colombian Andrés Ardila who became the virtual leader for a handful of seconds on the yellow jersey. The capo’s team was not going to allow any hint of surprise…
And so it was, because the neutralization occurred just before the start of the Alto do Castelo, a very hard and epic stage finale in equal parts. Narrow, broken road, with gravel and ramps up to 20%. Pure aroma of epic, old cycling. From below, the Jumbo began to shoot block with an unexpected protagonist: Attila Valter. The Hungarian destroyed the group of favourites, taking down all of Vingegaard’s rivals one by one until only Ruben Guerreiro and Ion Izagirre remained when he finished his job. At that moment, Vingegaard’s attack just before reaching the 2 km to finish line and job done. The Dane’s rhythm was unattainable, so in the absence of the final time trial, the general classification was decided. Guerreiro was once again the best of mortals, while a superb Valter surpassed Jesús Herrada (his partner Izagirre suffered a fall on the descent that led to the last ramps) to be 3rd. Jonas doesn’t want to leave even the crumbs…
Results 3rd stage
1st Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo) – 3h 19:58
2nd Ruben Guerreiro (Movistar) – at 21″
3º Attila Valter (Jumbo) – 35″
4th Jesus Herrada (Cofidis) – 36″
5th Lorenzo Fortunato (EOLO-KOMETA) – 40″
General of the 2nd O Gran Camino
1st Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo) – 7h 53:08
2nd Ruben Guerreiro (Movistar) – at 53″
3rd Jesus Herrada (Cofidis) – 1:25
4th Attila Valter (Jumbo) – 1:29
5th Lorenzo Fortunato (EOLO-KOMETA) – 1:31
