A Dane, a Basque and the Asturian, the hill in the middle of the mining area, near Muskiz, which broke the stage that ended at sea level, a few meters from the docks of the fishing port of Santurtzi.
The Dane was the same as always, Jonas Vingegaard, one of those cyclists with a starving appearance but a voracious appetite;
the Basque, Mikel Landa, the pimple that has grown on the Dane's behind, who sticks to his wheel with Loctite, although he lacks the spark to finish off the finish line.
The two are consolidated as favourites, although the winner of the Tour is more so, and his ambition does not wane.
Of course Vingegaard and Landa are under surveillance, because Gaudu, Mas and Izagirre are on the very near horizon.
Everything is carefully controlled between the favorites, as in general in modern cycling.
In Itzulia, without going any further, there is also an eye that sees everything, the VAR of cycling.
In a white van with the emblems of the International Cycling Union with tinted windows, Juan Martín, a referee from Valladolid, sits in front of several screens that broadcast the images that the television production sends from the truck that is right next to it.
Sitting in his gamer
chair
, Martin observes what is happening at every moment;
if he perceives something irregular, he rewinds, records the cut and sends it to Catherine Gastou, the president of the technical jury, so that she can decide if the maneuver is punishable.
Not an offside goes unnoticed, not a red card, like Filip's
Maciejuk in Flanders for taking down half a squad in a dangerous manoeuvre.
After passing Muskiz he worked the VAR on the fall that occurred in the peloton, but it was a fortuitous action.
Go on, go on.
Attack @j_vingegaard |
@JumboVismaRoad
🏆 @BancoSabadell
MORE INFO 👉🏻 https://t.co/JABIxm2MWO#Itzulia2023 pic.twitter.com/lhbSAJ4G2I
— Itzulia Basque Country (@ehitzulia) April 6, 2023
The transcendental came later.
In the Itzulia oasis, the stages are simmering, on roads cut off for cyclists, while a few kilometers away, the highways by which tourists try to reach Cantabria are collapsed.
Helicopters swarm, those of the race and those of Traffic, while after the territory broken by several ascents, the runners appear on the Asturiana, a narrow road, between trees.
Shortly before, in the
sprint
Larigada special, Enric Mas tried to subtract seconds with the bonus, but they were caught by Vingegaard, insatiable, who was still hot in the Peñas Negras, a few kilometers later.
The Ineos worked, Carapaz tightened the rope, and then the leader took the lead, stretched the group, and only Landa followed him.
"It was something improvised," he later confessed.
The Dane was asking for relays, but the Basque seemed on the limit following his rhythm.
In a couple of kilometers, the difference was already half a minute with Gaudu, Izagirre, Mas and Higuita, who did not understand each other.
At the top of the Asturiana is when Landa gave the first relay, downhill in a very technical descent, where the distance did not decrease, although the chasing group was growing larger and the difference was reduced going up towards Portugalete, while they crossed it and They lined up the street that connects the jarrillera town with Santurtzi.
The pursuers came from behind, “although I would have preferred to keep the 30 seconds”, said Vingegaard, when Landa, not very good at finishing, gave the insatiable Dane the inside of the turn, and with it, the stage victory.
"I would like to improve in arrivals", acknowledged the winner.
What will others say, after his sixth victory of the season.
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