"Spending cold in Burgos" we are told with derision at the heat, never better said, of the end of the second stage of the Vuelta a Burgos, right now "the world capital of cycling".
A mesetastic stage, on dry terrain, high plateau, ochre in summer, icy in winter, which has put emotion to the second day of the race that we were waiting like water of May, although we are at the gates of August.
A day that was resolved in a sprint, a masterful triumph of Fernando Gaviria, with three team-mates less, who had to be left aside at the start for having had contact a few days before with a person who tested positive for coronavirus.
But Gaviria was not intimidated and opened the account in a sprint that speaks of the level of the race, beating Démare, Bennett and Trentin, in a few days, when the Milan-San Remo is run, we may be talking about one of these.
The work of the organizers is evident in a route that has linked several points of the Camino de Santiago as it passes through the province of Burgos: "The most important thing is something that I have discussed with the organizer, and that is that the objectives of the Provincial Council are to get to know the territory, to give an image of the area... The start and finish are in small towns, but what matters is to publicize the tourist content of all the routes", says Gino Dona, from Gobikfrom Burgos.
We are on the second day," he continues, "and you can see that the protocols are more internalized and normalized among the people. It is not a pleasure to be wearing a mask all day long, but we have to be careful with the material we are going to hand out, always with clean hands".
Today they worked from the podium truck, "very similar to that of the Vuelta a España", he says, "everything is more comfortable".
Gino has a very clear opinion about the three cyclists who have been removed: "It seems that they lived with a person who tested positive for coronavirus and they have been withdrawn. In the atmosphere there is respect, but we can't say that there is fear. Resolutions are taken as in any other sport, tests are made to all the closest people, if they are all well, everything goes ahead. We have to be careful and limit risks, but we cannot stop and the world must go on. Be consistent and follow the rules of social distance and masks, always keep your hands clean".
For the time being Gobik is satisfied with the progress of the race and its impact: "We are very happy, not only because of what you can see on the podium, the image of the two teams of GobikCaja Rural and Kometa, is being seen in all the breakaways. That's television minutes. It's too early to know the impact, but I sense it will be good."
"If even the leader has gone to the start with the mask to match the jersey"he concludes.
Text: JoanSeguidor's notebook
Photos: Photo Gomez Sport
