It had been a while since the spanish fans I was not thrilled with the possibility that one or more local riders aspire to fight for the final victory of the Vuelta in Madrid. Since Enric Mas will finish second in 2018a similar connection between fans and runners was not seen – leaving aside and turning the page of controversies and “packages” -.
leader, and exhibiting solvencythe Belgian arrives at the second day of rest Remco Evenepoel (Quick). So far it has been the strongest and most ambitious in the mountains of the Cantabrian coast, nothing to object to. Three-time champion Primoz Roglic (Jumbo) is third, just over a minute away, and with a diminished team after the loss of faithful squire Sepp Kuss.
Other main protagonists in the fight for the General were born in Spain: Henry More (Majorcan from Movistar) is second at 1’12’‘, Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos from Granada) is fourth at 2’33” and Juan Ayuso (Valencian from UAE) is fifth at 2’36”.
The region of origin of the three presupposes a more favorable adaptation to the heat and the roads that the race will face in the coming days, from Alicante to Extremadura through Andalusia. They wait temperatures above 35 degrees in some days and it is unknown to see how the Belgian Evenepoel, the Slovenian Roglic or the British Tao Geoghegan assimilate it.
The Alicante time trial, key to the future of the race
The Rubicon of this battle will be fixed at the Alicante time trial, in stage 10 on Tuesday. There the three Spaniards start in the pools with very few options compared to Remco and Primoz. That’s when the extra strength of running at home has to give the rest if we want to dream of everything on the way to Madrid.
The Spanish fans, although it seems somewhat unfair, always like to look for a foreign ‘enemy’ against whom the Spanish cyclists have to fight. This was demonstrated in the years of Pedro Delgado and Álvaro Pino against Robert Millar, Roberto Heras and Carlos Sastre against Denis Menchov, Ezequiel Mosquera against Vincenzo Nibali or Enric Mas face to face with Simon Yates.
Television audiences endorse that when one or more Spaniards are in the fight, a delay or even a cancellation of the siesta can be considered.
.
