Abu Dhabi Tour (st. 3) / Castroviejo at Chrono des Nations tomorrow
Big suffering by Winner to take 11th place in mountain-top finish; Colombian from Movistar Team now sits 9th overall in Abu Dhabi Tour before Yas Marina's closing stage, Sunday
Winner Anacona (Movistar Team) tried to profit from his freshness in the last days of the 2016 season to offer the Movistar Team a good individual display on the mountain-top finish of the Abu Dhabi Tour -150km between Al Ain and Jeleb Hafeet-, coming just over a minute behind stage winner and presumptive GC victor Tanel Kangert (AST). It was another hot day, including some early echelon attempts -both Winner and Dayer Quintana staying with the lead group- and even late attacks by Juanjo Lobato and Fran Ventoso on the approach to the climb, just under twenty kilometers from the finish.
After struggling through the entire climb to keep a high level, till he had to drop back with just 3km to go, Anacona got an 11th place -Dayer was 17th, at 2'43"- that was enough for 9th overall, 1'38" in arrears. Things shouldn't change much GC-wise at Sunday's sprinters showdown in the Yas Marina Formula One course (26 laps). It will be the Blues' farewell ride to a 2016 season, in a day that will also include Jonathan Castroviejo's Chrono des Nations start in Les Herbiers. The Basque will be looking for a good result in the 51.5km ITT parcours in central France.