Alessandro Fancellu and Joan Martí Bennassar, very attentive to the cuts on the route to Lodosa

58ª Vuelta a Navarra
Stage 1: Estella/Lizarra – Lodosa (139.7 km).

On the a priori most favourable day for sprint, there was sprint. But it was not as massive a finish as one would expect. The Belgian Arne Marit, rider of the Lotto sub23, became the first leader of the Vuelta a Navarra after winning the group of thirty-seven units that reached the finish line in the town of Lodosa. A small group that included two representatives of the Kometa Cycling Team: Joan Martí Bennassar and Alessandro Fancellu. The Italian finished fourteenth, the Balearic twentieth.

The Lotto carried the weight of the race for many moments. The Belgian formation marked the rhythm of a platoon that managed the up to seven minutes that came to catch a break of three cyclists formed in the first kilometers (two Italians, Mattia Soprana and Gabriele Porta; a Spaniard, Abel Franco). In this context, the ‘Kometa’ Yago Segovia and Alejandro Regueiro suffered one crash each one and Alessio Acco had to change his bike. The first day of the race always has a pose of endurance and survival.

The Italians (since Franco took a fall a little before) would be hunted less than twelve kilometers to the end by a group that had been cut since the stage entered in its last third, after passing through the finish line flying Berbinzana. The last thirty kilometres where it was driven at a very high speed and in which Bennassar and Fancellu demonstrated their rolling qualities. Particularly noteworthy is the performance of the Italian, who comes from suffering a traffic incident in his country days ago, while training, which had no serious consequences.

The rest of the riders of the Kometa Cycling Team crossed the finish line at 14 seconds, in a numerous second group.

This Thursday there will be a second stage that will connect Pamplona with Sangüesa on 132.5 kilometers marked by several ascents, the last of which, the Sanctuary of Leyre, is fourteen kilometers from the end.  A very winding route, with more than 2,600 metres of accumulated slope.

(automatic translation, sorry for mistakes)

📸 Vuelta Navarra