After his fourth place last year in his first participation, Lorenzo Rota again managed to finish in the top ten of the Basque classic on a hilly parcours. He became tenth at the end of an effort of more than five and a half hours of racing.
His teammate Théo Delacroix animated a major part of the race in the lead, as he joined an early breakaway of nine riders in the first 10 kilometer. The Frenchman rode in the front of the race for almost 160 kilometer, until the ramps of Jaizkibel, the fourth of seven categorized climbs.
An important selection in the downhill resulted in a peloton of around 30 units at the foot of Erlaitz, the succeeding climb on which the decision was made. The trio of Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux maintained a high rhythm in the pursuit behind the new leaders, enabling Rota to sprint for seventh place.
« We showed a nice spirit today. Because even though the strongest riders were out of reach, we continued taking initiative in the peloton to fight for a good result. From the downhill of Erlaitz, Domenico Pozzovivo, Jan Bakelants and I attacked one by one, hoping to bridge to the group which was riding for fourth place. I managed to escape with a rider from Astana, but we were caught by the chasing peloton on the slopes of Murgil, the final climb. Domenico Pozzovivo accelerated a couple of times but the small peloton stayed together, so we sprinted for seventh place. »
