{"id":71967,"date":"2019-09-07T18:19:34","date_gmt":"2019-09-07T16:19:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movistarteam.com\/?p=71967"},"modified":"2019-09-08T19:42:33","modified_gmt":"2019-09-08T17:42:33","slug":"vuelta-espana-14-boels-ladies-4-tour-britain-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movistarteam.com\/en\/2019-09-07\/vuelta-espana-14-boels-ladies-4-tour-britain-1","title":{"rendered":"A crash, two sprints and a decisive breakaway"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Movistar Team tackled on Saturday the first of two triple-duty days this weekend at the\u00a0Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a<\/strong><\/a>, the\u00a0Boels Ladies Tour<\/strong><\/a> and the\u00a0Tour of Britain<\/strong><\/a>. At stage 14 of the Spanish grandtour<\/strong>\u00a0-188km along the Asturian coast, from San Vicente de la Barquera to Oviedo-, the peloton did not miss its chance to seek for a sprint finish<\/strong>\u00a0they won’t enjoy many like before Madrid. However, a crash inside the final kilometer, with the sprinters nearly fighting for victory, split the peloton<\/strong>\u00a0as Sam Bennett (BOH) claimed the day’s honours, with Marc Soler in 6th place.<\/p>\n

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Arcas and Erviti protect their team-mates into the La Madera climb. (c) Photo Gomez Sport \/ Movistar Team<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jos\u00e9 Joaqu\u00edn Rojas, Imanol Erviti and Alejandro Valverde were the main riders involved in a crash which didn’t cause, though, any major injuries to the Blues. Valverde stays in 2nd place<\/strong> overall behind Primoz Roglic (TJV) as Nairo Quintana sits in 5th spot, before two crucial mountain stages in the Principality which could even define the GC podium. Sunday’s stage 15<\/strong> features four big climbs, including the two ascents to the\u00a0Santuario del Acebo (Cat-1), another mountain-top finish<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Alejandro Valverde:<\/strong> “I was almost still as I crashed. I don’t think it’s going to affect me; the wrist hurts just a little bit, I don’t think it’s too serious, just the blow. Actually, I felt near the finish like a crash was going to happen. It was an uphill finish, there could be some splits, and everyone wanted to stay near the front. Fast speeds, lots of nerves, two riders touched wheels, and everyone went down. I think I’m OK – I just want to get to the hotel and recover. Other than that crash, the day went pretty well for us, even if it wasn’t easy: 2300m of vertical gain, and a huge pace over the final climb. Two big mountains days coming up – let’s make the most of them.”<\/em><\/p>\n

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Malgorzata Jasinska in action during stage four of the Boels Ladies Tour, alongside race leader Lisa Klein (CSR). (c) Velofocus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Boels Ladies Tour: Rain and wind take its toll towards Nijmegen<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was quite less of a generous day with the Movistar Team riders at stage four of the Boels Ladies Tour (UCI WWT), 135km from Arnhem to Nijmegen, covered under\u00a0rain torrential at times and strong winds\u00a0<\/strong>which split the peloton from afar<\/strong>. Alicia Gonz\u00e1lez, Roxane Fournier and\u00a0Malgorzata Jasinska<\/strong> -eventually the top Blue finisher, into a 20-strong selection following the tough hill of\u00a0Oude Holleweg<\/strong>– kept the front into the echelons formed 70km from the end, before which\u00a0Sheyla Guti\u00e9rrez crashed<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The Spaniard, with\u00a0pain to her chest and left arm<\/strong>, as well as her head, was\u00a0forced to abandon<\/strong>\u00a0near the finish after her incident, which leaves the Telef\u00f3nica-backed squad down to four members before Sunday’s showdown in Arnhem. Christine Majerus (DLT) is the new race leader<\/strong> after she took to fruition a three-woman move, together with stage winner Franziska Koch (SUN) and Riejanne Markus (CCC, 3rd), into the final 40km.<\/p>\n

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The Movistar Team at the signature check of stage one in the Tour of Britain. (c) SWPix.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tour of Britain: Groenewegen wins opening bunch sprint<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Blues’ action on Saturday was completed by the\u00a0first stage of the Tour of Britain<\/strong>, a sunny route through Scotland<\/strong>,\u00a0201km from Glasgow to Kirkcudbright, where Team Jumbo-Visma kept under control the early breakaway for the entire route and launched a powerful final sprint with\u00a0Dylan Groenewegen, first race leader<\/strong>. Andrey Amador (22nd) was the top Movistar Team<\/strong> finisher in an otherwise uneventful debut. The sprinters will seek for a second chance on Sunday, with the Dingleton hill (2.4km at 7%) set to make things harder just 20km from the finish in Kelso.<\/p>\n

Results > Boels Ladies Tour<\/a> | Tour of Britain<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Cover picture (c): Photo Gomez Sport<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bennett (BOH), in Oviedo -after a pile-up which involved Valverde and Rojas-, and Groenewegen (TJV), in Scotland, win bunch sprints in Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a & Tour of Britain; Majerus (DLT) takes over GC lead in Holland as Sheyla Guti\u00e9rrez abandons due to crash.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":72030,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"mc4wp_mailchimp_campaign":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,36,52,148,186],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-female-team","category-races","category-vce","category-tour-of-britain-en","category-simac-ladies-tour-en"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t