Gil and Mancebo after Subida al Naranco

By Monika Prell

After his impressive victory in yesterday's Subida al Naranco, Koldo Gil commented to Diario Vasco. "In fact, there was a moment, at less than one kilometre before the finish, when I thought that I would not be able to reach Mancebo, but in the end, he paid for his effort."

The 29 year-old Saunier Duval rider affirmed that he had little hope when he tried to capture Mancebo. "in the last 300 meters I saw that Mancebo sit down and was not able to further his advance," continued Gil. "I managed myself well and at the end I was able to win."

Francisco Mancebo admitted that he overestimated the final kilometre of the Naranco. "The last kilometre seemed to be very long," noted Mancebo. "The day was very hard and we already spent a lot of energy before the finish.

Gil saw his victory as a sort of compensation for his "bad luck" he had during the Vuelta al País Vasco, when he fell down together with his team mate José Angel Gomez Marchante in the penultimate stage. "I am very content. It was a spectacular race and the team was perfect. We know that Relax was the big rival and we conquered them."

Tomorrow the Vuelta a Asturias begins and Koldo Gil will be a favourite for the Spanish race. "It will depend a lot on how I will feel with my allergies, because last week was disastrous for me. If I have no problems, I think I could do a good race and fight for the victory."

He thinks Relax will be the toughest rival. "It's the most potent team with [Ángel] Vicioso, [Francisco] Mancebo, [Oscar] Sevilla and Santiago Pérez, they have four riders that will have to be controlled." "