Settimana Coppi e Bartali (finale) / Gent-Wevelgem
Basque climber from Movistar Team confirms strong form in return to stage racing after Thursday's victory at Rubicone, finishes on the verge of GC podium. Carlos completes great race in Belgium, as Kristoff (UAD) succeeds.
Two races as different as the Settimana Coppi e Bartali in Italy and the Flemish classic Gent-Wevelgem completed Sunday’s historic Movistar Team agenda, tackling the most races in a single day since they started competing in the pro scene back in 1980.
At the final stage of the ‘Coppi e Bartali’, 151km with a series of final climbs to the Valico di Fazzana (2km at 9% avg. gradient), the Blues’ efforts to keep alive a 40-man front split formed halfway through the race, as well as the attacks from Rubén Fernández -who crashed with no major consequence- into the last climb, weren’t able make a real selection GC-wise, with Lucas Hamilton (MTS) sealing his overall success.
Mauro Finetto (ITA) anticipated the bunch with an attack into the last downhill as Mikel Landa confirmed his 4th spot overall, behind the three Mitchelton-Scott riders leading the race ever since Wednesday’s team time trial on stage one. The Murgia native leaves Italy after leaving a very good impression, satisfied after his stage two victory at Sogliano al Rubicone that opened the account of a 2019 season off with a very time-consuming injury.
An even faster-paced, more intriguing race was seen at the prestigious Gent-Wevelgem (UCI WorldTour), 251km covered at full speed from the very beginning as crosswinds destroyed the bunch, leaving only 18 riders at the front for the first half of the event -more than 100km into the first two hours of the race-.
After the gravel sections (‘Plugstreets’) and final Kemmelberg climbs were over, Carlos Barbero and Jasha Sütterlin still sat into a reduced field of about thirty riders, from which the German detached just 12km from the end. Barbero contested the sprint with the small energy left in his legs and took a very decent 12th place, which keeps the Chente García Acosta-led squad in the spotlight at the demanding Flemish classics.
Cover picture (c): Dario Belingheri / BettiniPhoto