GP Miguel Indurain

Movistar Team plays lead role at GP Miguel Indurain with a long break by Moreno and Intxausti, the last rider able to follow an unstoppable Simon Spilak (KAT). Valverde takes 4th

The home race left a sour-and-sweet taste for Movistar Team, the Blues fighting with some of their best cards to get on the podium of the 15th GP Miguel Indurain, held this Saturday over a demanding 181km parcours starting at Estella and finishing atop the Basílica de Santa María del Puy. The telephone squad set two of their riders, Beñat Intxausti and Javi Moreno, into the 12-man breakaway that led most of the stage and contained the eventual winner, Slovenian Simon Spilak (KAT).

It was Intxausti who led a first split into the group, the Basque rider taking Spilak and Aussie Rohan Dennis (GRS) on his wheel and earning a massive eight minutes over the bunch. Spilak picked up the speed through the Alto de Lezaun, less than 40k from the finish, and left behind his two fellow escapees into an action that took him to the finish line, with a minute and a half over a short escape from the bunch -Antón (EUS) and Stetina (GRS) completed the podium- and almost two minutes ahead of the favourites, with Alejandro Valverde taking 4th and showing full recovery after his crash in Catalunya.

Sunday (10am CET) will see the riders tackling the 53th Vuelta a la Rioja, over 158km in and around Logroño, before the start of the Vuelta al País Vasco in Elgoibar -which Nairo Quintana will be finally set to start into Movistar Team’s eight, replacing Pablo Lastras-. Valverde, Quintana, Lastras, Iván Gutiérrez, Vladimir Karpets, Rubén Plaza, Enrique Sanz and Argiro Ospina -who made his first outing in Movistar Team colours today- will be the men on the road tomorrow.