Tour de Wallonie (final stage)

Andalusian finishes Tour de Wallonie in 2nd overall after great Movistar Team commitment; Amador offensive, Lastras in 8th spot

Picture (c): Tour de Wallonie

A notable Movistar Team is leaving the 35th Tour de Wallonie with a satisfactory overview. The telephone squad finished on the final race podium with Juanjo Lobato’s 3rd spot, the Andalusian having resisted with courage into the slopes of the hardest day in Belgium. The 184km parcours from Malmédy to Ans included the final 25k of Liège-Bastogne-Liège, with the côtes de la Roche-aux-Faucons (Cat-1), Saint-Nicolas (Cat-1) and the famous last slope in the outskirts of the Belgian city.

Andrey Amador took the role of hardening the race for the lads directed by Jaimerena and Laguía, with a move -joined by Enrique Sanz- in the Saint-Nicolas climb, an attempt in pursuit of Belgian Tim Wellens (LTB) that was eventually reached down by a bunch of no more than rthiry riders, including six of the Blues. Despite subsequent moves, the pace by OPQS neutralized every attempt and launched a sprint where Gianni Meersman confirmed his overall success with the win after four second places.

In the day’s volata, Pablo Lastras -who had taken some bonus seconds throughout the week- was 8th, enough to nail the GC top-ten (12th) which Lobato obtained as part of the podium, despite not being able to sprint due to a crash into the final straight. It’s the best result in a stagerace for the Trebujena-based rider, whose victory in Neufchâteau and great performance overall crown a brilliant progression in his first season in Movistar Team colours.