Vingegaard repeated his triumph and extended his lead
MADRID, 25 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish ex-cyclist Miguel Indurain, five-time Tour de France champion, covered the last 60 kilometers of the third stage of the Galician round O Gran Camiño this Saturday, despite the bad weather and low temperatures.
In an act of sponsorship of the event promoted by Banco Santander, the Sports Santander ambassador put on his jersey again to finally cover the last 60 kilometers of the planned route from O Barco de Valdeorras to Alto do Castelo, accompanied by a small peloton.
O Gran Camiño, sponsored by Banco Santander, once again suffered unexpected changes due to the snow, which fell again at the top of the mountain, and saw the route of the third official stage modified and shortened, which began hours later.
The current champion of the Tour de France, the Danish Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma), won alone this Saturday in a second consecutive victory, after the one achieved on Friday in Monte Trega and extended his overall lead to 53 seconds over the Portuguese Ruben Guerreiro (Movistar Team) and 1:25 with Spanish Jesús Herrada (Cofidis), before the final time trial to Santiago.
Of the 163 kilometers designed starting from Esgos and arriving at Alto do Castelo, in Rubiá, the stage was shortened to 120 kilometers, eliminating the double pass through Alto de Santa María and the last three kilometers of the finish in Alto do Castle.
“It has been a tough tour, we have done the same as the professionals and the truth is that it has been a pity that the morning started a bit badly due to the low temperatures. But the group of people we have been with was eager to ride bike and the event has been enjoyed”, assured Miguel Indurain.
“Cycling has that: it’s a beautiful sport, with wonderful landscapes, you enjoy it a lot but it has extremes. It’s also very hot. When it hits 30 or 40 degrees you suffer just the same, but the cold doesn’t help either, although there are those who do better with one thing or another. another,” he added.
Indurain, winner of the 1995 Cycling Tour of Galicia just after celebrating his fifth Tour de France, lamented the adversities that O Gran Camiño is experiencing this year. “It’s a shame because an event like this one tarnishes and it costs a lot to carry it out, but with inclement weather you can’t do anything. Last year the weather was very good and this DANA that has passed through here has caught it fully. The good thing is that they have options. Except in the first stage, in the others they have been able to adapt to the inclemencies”, he celebrated.
“Muscularly, the cold is not good for me, I want warmth. The clothes, then, are not like now and you suffered more, but I remember how in some race I had to abandon precisely because of the cold, like the Tour of the Basque Country “, he recalled. At the end of the stage, the Spanish champion and ambassador of Sports Santander was in charge of handing over the regularity jersey, which was awarded to Sebastian Schönberger.