1st Memorial Hermanos Otxoa

Nearly entire Movistar Team -including Winner Anacona’s late break, caught with 400 meters to go- jumps off the front in the Basque Country; Caja Rural take one-two with Aberasturi, Aranburu.

Caja Rural-RGA grabbed an impressive one-two finish -with Jon Aberasturi (1º) ahead of Alex Aranburu- in the 2019 Circuito de Getxo, held in its traditional July 31st slot over eight laps of a renewed circuit (196km) that featured the climbs to Unbe / Alto Quirón and the decisive, steep Txomintxu hill at the end.

With no clear favourite for the sprint finish which the race usually comes down to, the Movistar Team made a serious gamble on putting a man at each move in the second half of the race, once they caught the original, four-man break.

Jaime Castrillo and José Joaquín Rojas were part of a 13-man breakaway on laps five and six, later replaced by a split with ‘Rojillas’, Antonio Pedrero and Lluís Mas + Jorge Arcas, caught by the main field only inside the final lap. At that last loop, Winner Anacona went on the move through Txomintxu and joined Barceló (EUS) and Chernetskiy (CJR), a trio neutralized by the sprinters in the kick up to the line.

The final rush from the fastest men led Rojas to 5th place in the stage -after the podium + Enrique Sanz (EUS)-, with Anacona in 8th spot.

Cover picture (c): Photo Gomez Sport