Alexey Lutsenko takes solo win at Circuito de Getxo
Lutsenko attacks breakaway to win alone ahead of Gallopin and Velasco
Alexey Lutsenko (Astana-Qazaqstan) attacked away from a six-man breakaway group to ride to solo victory at the 78th edition of the Circuito de Getxo-Memorial Hermanos Otxoa 2023, his 36th pro career victory.
With 16km of the race remaining Lutsenko attacked from the day’s main breakaway group containing Simone Velasco (Astana-Qazaqstan), Toms Skujiņš (Lidl-Trek), Tony Gallopin (Lidl-Trek), Eduard Prades (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA) and Matteo Trentin (UAE Team Emirates).
Lutsenko avoided disaster as he took the wrong turn at a roundabout with 12km remaining, losing at least 15 seconds of his advantage. However, he managed to navigate back to the course and hold onto his advantage entering the final 10km.
Lutsenko held his advantage and entered the aggressive final ramp of the course with an advantage of just over 30 seconds on the group of chasers, themselves fending off a chase from Trentin who had been dropped kilometres earlier.
From that group, Tony Gallopin attacked his breakaway companions to take second place, while Lutsenko’s teammate Velasco took third place in the Basque one-day 193.3km race that honours the memory of the Otxoa brothers.
After the finish, Lutsenko thanked his team for the support in the breakaway and control of the peloton.
Second place Gallopin also spoke after the finish. “I’ve only just finished the Tour de France and I’m tired," he said. "The team wanted me to ride at the front, and it was a big surprise for me, I wasn’t expecting to have a race like that - I was planning to work for the team and Tom Skujiņš.
“Lutsenko was the strongest, that's the point. When we came on the flat in the end we could see that we could not come back on him. So I said to Tom we have to be on the podium.
"To finish second here is a big emotion and big surprise... the best way I can go out of the País Vasco here," he added.
Results powered by FirstCycling
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Peter Stuart has been the editor of Cyclingnews since March 2022, overseeing editorial output across all of Cyclingnews' digital touchpoints.
Before joining Cyclingnews, Peter was the digital editor of Rouleur magazine. Starting life as a freelance feature writer, with bylines in The Times and The Telegraph, he first entered cycling journalism in 2012, joining Cyclist magazine as staff writer. Peter has a background as an international rower, representing Great Britain at Under-23 level and at the Junior Rowing World Championships.
Latest on Cyclingnews
-
Pan-Am Cyclocross Championships: Lauren Zoerner and Ian Ackert retain U23 titles
Jenaya Francis earns silver for Canada in U23 women's race while USA's Jack Spranger takes U23 silver for men -
Zoe Bäckstedt carries road racing form into cyclocross season with an eye on Worlds
Geert Wellens joins Canyon-SRAM as new cyclocross director -
Baloise Trek say SRAM chain failures cost European cyclocross championship medals
Manager Sven Nys points to ongoing issues with components -
Rigoberto Urán closes out professional cycling career with farewell event at Medellín stadium among 8000 fans
'I was able to fight and inspire an entire country'