Fruitless efforts in Benicàssim
24 June 2018

Spanish Road Race Championships

Gorka Izagirre (TBM) becomes national champion as Movistar Team sees Erviti and Barbero’s breakaway neglected; Valverde takes 2nd place.

Basque allrounder Gorka Izagirre (TBM) became the new Spanish road race champion with a dominant display over the closing stages of the 211km event in the Castellón province. The former Movistar Team rider took to the finish in Benicàssim solo after jumping away from the main favourites’ group with just over 10km remaining.

Despite the efforts from Rubén Fernández, Marc Soler and Carlos Barbero to close the gap from the pursuit group to the front, the junction was impossible for them. The Movistar Team had to stay content with a 2nd place and silver medal for Alejandro Valverde, the fastest into the main group over Astana’s Omar Fraile and Luis León Sánchez and a great Barbero, who took 5th.

The Spanish road race was long led by a thirteen-man breakaway starting after 30km, which contained Imanol Erviti and Barbero himself. The move built a massive 15-minute advantage, yet in the final climb of three to the summit of the Desierto de las Palmas, the attacks by favourites like Fraile, the Izagirre brothers and Valverde ended up catching the remnants of that group and helped Gorka launch his attack towards glory in Castellón.

Cover picture / 1 (c): Photo Gomez Sport