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The Tour tears Euskadi from the south to the north, tracing a groove that crosses Álava and plunges into Bizkaia. And he does it at full speed, with no room for respite. The platoon devours kilometers in a hurry in the hope of dodging the Sirimiri or at least not becoming a storm that turns the day into torture. For 100 kilometers, nobody manages to take off the shackles and make their way to the margin of the large group, which as still remembers Pau's time trial and thinks about Los Machucos does not intend to suffocate. Only teams that pretend to be on the getaways, who take account and do not let anyone leave if they do not do so with one of their own. [Narration] [General classification]

When in the end the good escape is formed, only 60 kilometers from the Gran Vía de Bilbao, the race is already half an hour ahead, circulates at almost 50 km / h and has not yet started as hard, the three ascents chained in the last quarter of the day, especially those two criminal kilometers of Arraiz, at the same doors of the capital of Biscay.

The 19 escapees look at each other and immediately detect the threat. That of Philippe Gilbert, who attacked up to 20 times, or so he said, is an intimidating company, especially when he has taken his own tractor with which to sow his triumph. Tim DeClercq is emptied by his partner, by his leader, who tells him to stand behind him, who will protect him until the end, as he always does, while together they cross vast meadows along narrow roads and in the background they intuit the sea but never They get to see it.

Grossschartner, the man of the three years, and Grmay take advantage in Urruztimendi and the Nursery, but Gilbert does not care, they are on fire and he keeps at his side the panzer De Clercq, not too much to the rest of escapees who still resist. When they first pass through Bilbao, the group merges again, while the fans fill the sidewalks of all neighborhoods, the same in Deusto as in Rekalde, in Abando and in Basurto, passion reaches every corner.

De Clercq is still in front, crushing the pedals, until he sees the first ramp of Arraiz and gets scared. "Now it is your business," Gilbert seems to say, who is excited to see those 20% drops, which remind him of his times of pure 'grimpeur', those of the triplet in the Ardennes and his five victories in La Vuelta, the Last six years ago. Maybe now, at 37, he is not so explosive, so lethal when the asphalt rises, but his class remains intact.

And there it goes, fulfilling the forecasts, launching the attack that everyone expected and to which no one can respond. Gilbert squeezes and makes everyone suffer. Fernando Barceló, from the Murias, takes hold of his wheel for a few meters but soon decays. He does it at the same point where, three minutes later, Miguel Ángel López tested the forces of Primoz Roglic, who responded with solvency and reached the goal patiently, joking with his compatriot Pogacar, who continues to feel plethoric in this Tour.

The calm reached the main group, but not the escapes. Gilbert, pure force, Arraiz crown alone, among vineyards, asking for another time in the grill that is on the top, observing the small decorative caravan that adorns it. He has about 20 seconds of advantage and knows that it is enough, that he does not even need to risk the descent to take the cat to the water.

A destiny that Alex Aranburu and Barceló refuse to accept because they are young, because they are hungry for success and because they have nothing to lose. They understand each other, trace the descent to Bilbao as fast as they can, but they stay at the doors. Barceló smiles, the adventure has not been bad, but Aranburu regrets again, since he has already been in two leaks for two seconds and wonders what else he has to do to achieve what he is undoubtedly deserving, that victory that the Caja Rural will resists him from Antonio Piedra in Los Lagos in 2012.

Gilbert was already unattainable and has time to reach the finish line celebrating the victory, pointing with his fingers that he has already added 10 victories in big laps and wants more. The revenge is taken for having been relegated from the Tour and honors the Tour, winning in it instead of assuming it as a second-row commitment. Gilbert shows that he continues to conjugate the verb to win. That if he has signed with Lotto until he is 40 years old, it is because he will continue to win, because he wishes to complete his showcase of Monuments with which he resists, the Milan-San Remo. At the moment, he has already won in Bilbao, which is not little.

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