Vuelta a Asturias (final stage)
Jesús Herrada wins in Oviedo, clowns Movistar Team exhibition -20 victories so far in 2015-, with all Ion Izagirre (3rd), Rubén Fernández (4th), Igor Antón (5th, race winner) again in the mix
The 2015 Vuelta a Asturias had only one colour: the Blue from the Movistar Team, whose huge responsibility over its shoulders didn't avoid the squad led by Igor Antón sealing the overall victory he started to build with his emphatic win in Pola de Lena on Saturday. The squad directed by José Luis Jaimerena used its strength in numbers to dominate the 170km stage two from Bueño to Oviedo, which included the steep Cat-2 climbs of La Degollada and El Violeo.
Though Marc Soler and Enrique Sanz had to work hard from the very start to contain an eight-man move without any Blues, the help by Colombia and Murias Taldea freed them from extra duties as the race approached the Violeo. A strong attack from Antón into that last ascent made even think about back-to-back victories for the Basque climber, before he was caught with only 600 meters to go by a group pulled by Caja Rural which included three other Movistar Team riders: Ion Izagirre (3rd), Rubén Fernández (4th) and day's winner Jesús Herrada, solid into the final sprint.
Herrada's success, his second in Asturias after conquering the morning sector on stage two in 2012 in Avilés, took him into the third spot overall and increases the Blues' victory tally in 2015 to twenty, with nine different riders. Such are the figures by Eusebio Unzué's squad -holders of the UCI Hour Record, brilliantly taken by Alex Dowsett in Manchester yesterday- before the Giro d'Italia starts on Saturday.