Verona, Mas into long breaks for Movistar Team on Sunday

Clásica de Almería / Tour de la Provence (finale)

Carlos wins KOM classification in Almería as Barbero, Rojas take 4th, 5th in bunch sprint; Lluís finishes 12th overall in Provence following 130km lead effort, with Prades 8th in the final GC.

Other than their participation in the Tour Colombia, which came to its end on Sunday, the Movistar Team completed two fine performances in Europe at the Tour de la Provence and the Clásica de Almería, thanks, in both cases, to breakaways from recent additions to its roster.

In Andalusia, over the up-and-down 192km course from Almería to Roquetas de Mar, Carlos Verona led an early, seven-man break which saw the Spaniard crossing first through all four KOM banners, the latter of which, the summit of the Alto de Turrillas (Cat-2), had the Spaniard leaving behind the group and taking on a brief solo action, neutralized with 90km left by a split peloton. Verona stepped onto the day’s podium after a sprint-bound race, where Pascal Ackermann (BOH) won as Carlos Barbero and José Joaquín took 4th and 5th respectively.

Verona during his breakaway. (c) Clásica de Almería

In turn, the Tour de la Provence ended with a tight overall victory for Gorka Izagirre (AST), and all three podium finishers within only 1″, after the last stage to Aix-en-Provence concluded with a restricted field’s sprint, won by John Degenkolb (TFS). At the French race, Lluís Mas was a big protagonist with a long, 130km attempt, caught by the GC contenders with just thirteen kilometers remaining, inside the final Cat-3 ascent. The Mallorca native, a major highglights for the Blues so far in the 2019 early season, took 12th overall as Edu Prades, winner of Friday’s stage two, finished in 8th, just 21″ behind the GC victor.