The week of cycling in Euskadi
A Itzulia really excellent, it made clear the standard in which the UAE Team Emirates, cycling in which we compete as if there were no tomorrow.
Tadej Pogačar finished this crazy race third in a final rollover, on the way to Arrate, that few expected in this way, as it occurred in the typical moment of slippage, on crowning a high as Gorla, towards Eibar, when the Astana caused a lethal cut in which the great rival leaked, Primož Rogličin green this day, so that he could not be seen until the finish line.
"We expected the stage to be a little different than how it unfolded. -said the reigning Tour winner at the finish line. but when Astana attacked, a quick gap opened up and we had to work hard with Marc Hirschi to make sure the race didn't get away from us."
The decision to pull out at that moment gave rise to a beautifully crafted day, comparable to the one that decided the Tirreno in favor of Pogačar.
The result this time was not victory, but a mirror of the cycling embodied by this cyclist, surrounded by the UAE Team Emirates, a cycling that does not understand speculation.
The concept of spectacle that was chiseled out in the six days of the Itzulia again demonstrated that victory at this level is very highly prized. In fact, the jolt of the final day should not hide the excellent performance that the team got from the American, Brandon McNulty.
The value of Brandon McNulty
Two days before the explosion between Ondarroa and Eibar, Brandon McNulty was a perfect stiletto in the UAE Team Emirates to put the Jumbo Visma of Roglič and Vingegaard in trouble.
With an overall conditioned by the first day's time trial, McNulty filtered into the good breakaway on the road to Hondarribia. to to wear the yellow jersey designed by Gobik, supplier for the first time of the leaders' jerseys of the race.
The Itzulia had started off well for the American, the best after Roglič in the initial time trial in Bilbao and a very dangerous asset throughout the race. In fact Tadej Pogačar ran very close to his teammate, demonstrating that he could the UAE Team Emirates can play more than one trump card. That didn't deprive the Slovenian of winning the first high finish of the race, in Ermualde, a very tough final ramp in which he Pogačar set the bar so high that only his compatriot followed him.
Thus, after Bilbao, after Ermualde, after Hondarribia..., Brandon McNulty faced the final day in yellow, but the very hard first pass near Arrate was too much for the American, who, unhooked, passed the baton to Tadej Pogačar in the lead of the UAE Team Emirates. Pogačar was very close to the group of Rogličbut he didn't hunt before the summit and that was the key.. A scenario that did not remove him from the determination to hunt further ahead: "When we saw that Brandon was completely unhooked, I went to chase and fight for the podium, the work was very intense for almost 40 kilometers," he said. Pogačar.
And it was, not in vain, the Slovenian defined the day "as one of the most demanding stages I've done in my entire sporting career."
Photos Photogomezsport
