MADRID, 9 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish rider Julen Zubero (Krypteia) and the Namibian Vera Looser (Tamayo Team) won the sprint in the second stage of the Skoda Titan Desert, disputed over 102 kilometers between the Moroccan towns of Merzouga and Ksar Jdaid and which was the first sector of the ‘marathon stage’ of this edition.
The day, marked by the heat, the intense pace and the variety of sandy and rocky terrain, was once again decided in the men’s peloton in a reduced sprint of a dozen cyclists in which Julen Zubero was faster than the Swiss Konny Looser and the Spaniard Francisco Herrero, who remains in the red jersey as leader of the general classification.
“It was a surprise to win the stage. I had been suffering a lot on the final climb. In the end I knew how to navigate and I was able to take the win”, commented Zubero.
Pau Salvá, from Alicante, remained in the lead for much of the stage, but in the last 15 kilometers he began to lose seconds until his pursuers caught him in a moment of navigation by the Factor8 Cycling Project team rider.
For its part, in the women’s category, Vera Looser deprived the Spanish Anna Ramírez (KH-7) of achieving the double in a very tight sprint. Looser and Ramírez were in the lead alongside Norway’s Hildegunn Gjertrud for the first 75 kilometres, but the former Norwegian road champion ended up losing some of the camber from the third checkpoint.
In the general classification, Ramírez keeps the lead with four minutes of difference with respect to Looser. “I look strong and I see that I don’t suffer when I go with my rivals. Tomorrow I will follow the same strategy as today and I will go out to all of them. I cannot neglect myself,” he said.
This Tuesday the second sector of the ‘marathon stage’ is disputed, between Ksar Jdaid and Fezzou, of 125 kilometers and in which the cyclists do not have mechanical assistance and have to carry what is necessary in their backpacks. It starts with a fast section until facing a small erg and the participants will enter a section of mines, with two ups and downs.