Anacona, Valls fare well in Castillo; Barbero suffers ill-timed puncture
07 August 2018

Vuelta a Burgos (st. 1)

Movistar Team duo take top-20 results at Vuelta a Burgos' opening, uphill finish as Gavazzi (ANS) dons first purple jersey. Carlos sees chances hampered by mechanical with 3km remaining.

Francesco Gavazzi (ANS) was the best punchy finisher on the slopes of the Alto del Castillo, which, just like every season, opened the action in the 2018 Vuelta a Burgos -157km around the province’s capital, with the Altotero (Cat-1) as only rated climb before the two passages over the decisive hill-.

The Italian took the day’s honours after a quite eventful day due to the strong winds, with several splits in the late phase that including a move by the Movistar Team’s Nelson Oliveira. The Blues held the lead of the bunch for most of the stage with a relentless Jaime Castrillo.

Carlos Barbero, who was slated to be the Eusebio Unzué-led squad’s reference for the finish, suffered a puncture with 3km remaining which took him out of contention. Winner Anacona -12th, 10″ behind the winner- and Rafa Valls (19th) were the top Blue finishers.

It was, all in all, a day of short time gaps between the GC contenders before the decisive, mountain-top finishers of Picón Blanco (Thursday) and Lagunas de Neila (Saturday). Wednesday, though, will bring the pure sprinters a chance in Castrojeriz, after 163km from Belorado on stage two.

Picture (c): Photo Gomez Sport