Klasika Primavera

Colombian climber from Movistar Team -joined at final selected group by Edu Prades (3rd)- wins again after three years, prolongs Movistar Team's run in Bizkaia to five consecutive years.

The Movistar Team again made its best to put the Klasika Primavera in Amorebieta (UCI 1.1) into the spotlight, Carlos Betancur taking the baton from Andrey Amador to win the Basque classic, three years after his maiden success in Blue colours at the Vueltas a Castilla y León and Asturias (2016). The Antioquia native crowned a good job from the José Luis Jaimerena-directed squad, with Blues in all main breakaways and its full seven-man lineup into the 21-rider selection before the last climbs to Montecalvo and Autzagane.

After moves from Barbero, Amador and Rubén Fernández prior to the hilly final circuit, Betancur and Edu Prades got themselves into a decisive move of six riders -with Carlos Quintero (MZN), Sergio Higuita, Txomin Juaristi (EUK) and Mikel Bizkarra (EUS)- through the last climb to Muniketa, a group reduced to four men -without Juaristi nor Bizkarra- after the last descent. Kept in check by his rivals, Prades managed well the team’s strength in numbers to leave a gap and propel Betancur to success –the men’s Movistar Team’s 7th win in 2019-, ahead of Quintero and Prades (3rd).

REACTIONS:

Carlos Betancur: “Amorebieta is a race we always come to with a great will to success, and fortunate, we were all to move our pieces well and secure victory once again. As we climbed Autzagane for the final time together, we had in mind that both Edu and myself had a chance at the sprint, and we were able to profit from that and secure a Blue win. It was an excellent work by all the team-mates all day, and on a personal note, contesting the win against two Colombians has also been beautiful. That hug I gave them at the finish, especially Higuita, is pure excitement, feeling that we’re all helping out, both the youngsters and the strongest teams, to make our sport better. After all the criticism in the last few years, winning here helps me much, and gives me motivation to work hard for the upcoming challenges.”

Edu Prades: “In the finale, our main goal was being able to hold off Higuita, since we thought he’d be the strongest – even if Quintero also proved to be quite consistent today. We were two against two rivals, we really had to win it, either Carlos or me, we couldn’t allow ourselves a mistake. Before launching the sprint, I left him gain a few meters as I was riding on his wheel, and told him: ‘Attack, attack.’ That helped us secure that success. In the end, when you’re a rider like Carlos, who has spent some time without a win, you need some motivation to keep on working, doing things well and achieving your goals, and it was my task today to help him out, as other team-mates have done for me in the past. We didn’t want to break that Amorebieta streak, and we succeeded – I’m just happy about this win, so let’s hope we can continue to score some more in the next Spanish races.”

Cover picture (c): Photo Gomez Sport