Vuelta a Burgos: Gavazzi wins stage 1

Francesco Gavazzi (Androni-Sidermec) claimed victory on stage 1 of the Vuelta a Burgos after he delivered a powerful sprint on the uphill finish at Alto del Castillo. The Italian beat Pello Bilbao (Astana) into second place, while Alex Aranburu (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) took third.

The sharp finale at Alto del Castillo is a staple of the Vuelta a Burgos, and well-tailored to Gavazzi’s talents. The 34-year-old opted to open his sprint from distance, and his ferocious acceleration served to shatter an already fragmenting leading group.

Bilbao battled gamely to get on terms with Gavazzi in the final 150 metres, but he was left with too much ground to make up and had to settle for second place. Aranburu produced a strong finish to take third ahead of Marco Tizza (Nippo-Vini Fantini) and Jon Aberasturi (Euskadi-Murias). Tao Geoghegan Hart (Team Sky) placed 6th ahead of Jonathan Lastra (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA).

Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) was the best-placed of the pre-race favourites, coming home in 13th place, just behind fellow countryman Winner Anacona (Movistar) and 10 seconds down on Gavazzi. Sky’s David De La Cruz crossed the line a further 2 seconds back on the explosive finale, in a group that also contained Louis Meintjes (Dimension Data).

The 157km stage was animated by a six-man break compromising Sindre Lunke (Fortuneo-Samsic), Ricardo Garcia (Fundacion Euskadi), Pablo Torres (Burgos-BH), Diego Sevilla (Polartec-Kometa), Lucas De Rossi (Delko-Marseille Provence KTM) and Bryan Nauleau (Direct Energie).

The sextet forged clear inside the opening 10km and quickly established a maximum lead of 6 minutes over a peloton that was largely content to allow them their early freedom. In time, Team Sky and Movistar, began to keep tabs on the break’s lead, and the gap dropped accordingly as the afternoon wore on.

Torres led the escapees over the category 1 ascent of Altotero after 76km, but from there, the peloton started to increase its urgency on the fast run towards Burgos and Alto del Castillo, which was to be climbed twice in the finale.

With 25km to go, the break’s lead was down to just 1:30, and the six leaders were swept up by the bunch as they hit the lower slopes of the category 3 Alto del Castillo for the first time with a shade under 15km still to race.

Burgos-BH and then Team Sky maintained a blistering pace on the final lap of the finishing circuit, which prevented any attacks from going clear. The intensity remained undimmed as the race hurtled towards the final haul up the Alto del Castillo, where Astana were prominent in trying to set up Bilbao for the stage win.

On the short but tough climb to the finish, however, Gavazzi emerged as the strongest rider. His vicious acceleration proved enough to build a winning advantage and he will wear the purple jersey of race leader on Wednesday’s stage 2, which brings the peloton from Belorado to Castrojeriz.

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