This Saturday, Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux started its Spanish triptych with the Tour of Murcia (1.1, 12/02), a classic of 188 kilometer between Fortuna and Puerto de Cartagena. Next to the Alto Collado Bermejo (17.5km at 5%) halfway through the race, the contenders for the victory had to cover the Alto El Cedacero 20 kilometer before the finish.
Belgian rider Kobe Goossens finished three times in the top ten in the Challenge Mallorca two weeks ago and showed himself again uphill by accompanying a counterattack on the Alto Collade Bermejo. These men caught the early breakaway and started the downhill 2 minutes ahead of a reduced peloton.
Several teams joined forces in the chasing peloton with Jan Bakelants, Théo Delacroix, Biniam Girmay and Loïc Vliegen to reduce the gap to the four leaders. But Goossens’ group resisted well and started the final climb of the day in the lead. McNulty then distinguished himself from his breakaway companions before being caught with 5 kilometer to go by a chasing group of fifteen riders with Goossens and Vliegen.
In the end, it was Covi (UAE) who made the decisive move with 5 kilometer to go and preceded the sprinting group by one second on the line. Vliegen sprinted to fifth place, Goossens crossed the line in eleventh place.
« Kobe’s initiative on the Cima Pantani was promising, especially because Biniam and I were present in a group of twenty riders behind. Just like in my previous races, I committed to work for our leader but unfortunately the pace on the final climb was a little too high for Biniam. I’m satisfied that I was able to sprint to a fifth place against riders such as Trentin on a slightly downhill finish. Already on Mallorca I felt that my condition was good and that I am pedaling smoothly, this is a feeling I was missing last season. I’m motivated to keep working for the team and I’m very much looking forward to the races which suit me best. »
