Itzulia Basque Country: Jonathan Caicedo and Jefferson Cepeda go up in the general; Julian Alaphilippe, winner in Viana | Other Sports | Sports

The reigning world champion, the French Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl), won the sprint this Tuesday’s stage in Viana and quelled the rebellion of the modest ones of the Itzulia Basque Countryfour adventurers from the ProTeam teams who, after fulfilling their role of animating the race, dreamed of raising their arms in front of a large lot in which the Ecuadorians Jonathan Caicedo and Jefferson Cepeda.

Escaped by 207 kilometers, the Spanish Ibon Ruiz (Kern Pharma) was the last of the adventurers to be reachedseeing how his big day was overshadowed 500 meters from the finish line, when the peloton showed him no mercy.

Nor had the lot 1,600 meters before, engulfed in its frantic final push the three cyclists who fled with Ruiz already at the starting signal of a day of 207.9 kilometers travel.

Those other three modest ones were the Spaniards Ander Okamika (Burgos BH), Julen Amezqueta (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Ibai Azurmendi (Euskaltel-Euskadi).

Already in the sprint, Alaphilippe, launched by his teammate Remco Evenepoel, took all his rivals out of the wheel on the small finish hill. In which another Frenchman, Fabien Doubey (TotalEnergies), and the Belgian Quinten Hermans (Intermarché – Wanty – Gobert Matériaux) followed at the finish line.

Impeccable victory for Alaphilippewho patched up the work of a Remco Evenepoel called to be the great rival of Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) in the race as he was on Monday in the initial time trial in Hondarribia, giving up only 5 seconds to the Olympic champion of the specialty.

A distance that is maintained in the general classification, in which Rémi Cavagna, teammate of Evenepoel and Alaphilippe, is third, 16 seconds after a strange stage.

An batch of 130 runners arrived with the same time as Alaphilippe (5 hours 04 minutes 35 seconds), in their rows the Ecuadorians Caicedo (EF Education-EasyPost) and Cepeda (Caja Rural), in positions 56 and 97, respectively.

In the general classification remains Roglic as leaderwith the Ecuadorians climbing 16 positions to locate Caicedo in position 101 and Cepeda in 116.

It was a day that adjusted to the planned script for the most part, a breakaway of four modest ones who reached a five and a half minute lead, but with a final turn that gave it an emotion that in similar days is limited to the sprint.

Well no. What in the group there were no great specialists in mass arrivals and the Jumbo did not seem very interested in defending the leader’s jersey too much, when it was time to hunt down the escapees the peloton stopped.

Y the fugitives dreamed of a day of glory. The one who was most excited was Ruiz, who escaped from his teammates 12.5 kilometers from the finish. He never quite went away and it seemed like Okamika and Azurmendi could hunt him down, often keeping him in sight.

Amezqueta showed little participation in the final part, with his team, Caja Rural, also seemed determined to fight for a sprint, which caused a discussion of directors between Burgos BH and Caja Rural.

In the end, neither of them was happy because their runners were hunted down and Alaphilippe raised his arms in a stage in which most probably would have liked him to have been one of the modest ones in the peloton, whose rebellion drowned out the sprint in which the world champion prevailed, without it being a bad outcome.

The third stage of the racethis Wednesday, promises emotions with a chain that will have two intermediate sprints, two mountain prizes in the second category and three in the third, in a stretch of 181.7 kilometers. (D)