A STRONG START FOR LANDA & CO IN ANDALUCIA
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| The first day of the 69th Ruta del Sol proved as tough as expected for the ‘Queen Stage’ of a mountain-heavy race, and also provided an opportunity for Bahrain Victorious to show their strength. |
| There were 5 categorised climbs in the 179km between Puente de Génave & Santiago de la Espada, and a four-man breakaway escaped early, but their lead never reached 3 minutes. With 23 kilometres and just the Cat 1 Despiernacaballos remaining (10.6k at 5.8%), the peloton caught the break, and from then on, it was a battle of wits, strength, and legs, between the GC favourites. |
After his team pushed the pace at the front, Tadej Pogačar (UAE) attacked midway up this last climb. Our Colombian climber Santiago Buitrago responded, caught, and countered the former Tour de France winner, belying his relative lack of experience at this level.
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Behind those two, Mikel Landa went to the front of the chasing group, and ‘Santi’ dropped back to join his leader. But it wasn’t just Landa & Buitrago who were showing the Bahrain colours: also still in contention were Australian Jack Haig in his first race back after injury at last year’s Tour, and road captain Damiano Caruso. |
| As the final summit was crested, 7km remained, and there was no catching Pogačar, described by the race commentator as “the greatest cyclist in the world’. But behind the Slovenian, Mikel and Santi were fighting for the day’s podium. |
| In a sprint to the line, Landa took 2nd, ahead of Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos), with Buitrago in 4th. And Bahrain made it 4 riders in the top 10, with Caruso 7th, & Haig 9th. Our leader will start tomorrow’s stage in the pink jersey of the leading Spaniard, and both he and Santi are 38 seconds behind Pogačar overall. |
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After the stage Landa reflected on a tough but promising start for him and the team: |
| “It’s been a difficult day – quite hard, and not easy to find the best feelings, but I think it was a good day for the team. It was difficult to follow Pogačar, but Santi and I arrived in the second group, so it’s still an open race for the podium.” |
Stage 2 is up and down all day, before a fiendishly steep finish to the Fortaleza de Mota at Alcalá la Real.
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| (All pictures can be used for editorial and non-commercial usages only and are copyright @Sprintcycling @TeamBahrainVictorious) |
