The climbers of the World Team got well through the first stage on Spanish soil this Tuesday, on a hilly parcours in the Basque Country and in a heat of 30 degrees. After the start in Vitoria-Gasteiz, the peloton had to cover two categorized climbs, among which the Puerto de Herrera (7 km at 5%) 15 kilometer before the finish.
The peloton didn’t gave the early breakaway any chance, closing the gap more than 30 kilometer before the end. After an important reduction of the peloton on the Puerto de Herrera, Louis Meintjes, Domenico Pozzovivo, Rein Taaramäe and Jan Bakelants were part of the peloton of around forty riders starting the final uphill kilometer. The Italian climber finished eighteenth, seven seconds after winner Roglic, and was the first representant of Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert at the line.
« Taking into account the training days before the Gran Salida in Utrecht, the past week was probably the most flattest in my career. The stages in the Netherlands contained a lot of technical sections through villages so this was quite a challenge for me. I’m happy to be back on hilly terrain, although it was a hard day today. The temperatures were considerably higher and the pace in the peloton was fast from the beginning as we were chasing a strong breakaway. In the end we were one of the only teams to survive with four riders in the final, which is promising for the next days. »
Domenico Pozzovivo Tweet