The first episode of the Tour of Andalusia, 174 kilometers hard between Alhaurín de la Torre and Grazalema, could not be better for the spectator, for Jakob Fuglsang, who is reissuing his 2019 title, and for Mikel Landa , who at the end he missed the shot after a play of pure class .

In the previous one of the Route of the Sun there were three couples : Fuglsang with Ion Izagirre in the Astana, first and sixth of the stage, separated by half a minute; Landa and Pello Bilbao in Bahrain McLaren, second and fifth, with whom the Belgian Dylan Teuns, third, and Marc Soler and Enric Mas in the Movistar Team, thirteenth and thirty-first, respectively, batted a trio.

The Movistar Team had worked in the four previous ports, but already in Las Palomas, the 'first', Mas - who had left by flu a few kilometers from the first stage of the Tour of Murcia last Friday, disappeared and Soler showed weakness. The Catalan, the only Spaniard who has raised his arms this season, progressed more by effort than by force and in the end he gave 1:21 minutes to Fuglsang.

Astana and Bahrain dominated the fight. But the brave attack reached 11 kilometers from the goal , climbing Las Palomas. Landa, in his first race of the year, gave the whiplash and it was seen that he preferred to go badly accompanied than alone . Fuglsang followed him rabidly, and they both reached the top of the Cadiz mountain range with just under a minute about a persecuting group in which Bilbao and Teuns, with Izagirre, guarded their companions: the Spanish David de la Cruz (UAE) and the Australian Jack Haig (Mitchelton Scott).

In the descent only Haig, next to the guardian of the Astana and the two of the Bahrain, cut the losses. A minute arrived Rubén Fernández, the Murcia fish from the Orbea Foundation (Euskadi), a runner to take into account after a few years lost due to injuries and setbacks.

The arrival in Grazalema has nothing to envy to the most beautiful, painterly and demanding of the Giro d'Italia or the classic transalpine. Stoned, narrow alley, slope ... On the final ramp you could see Landa fatigued and the final arreón of his Danish companion cost him six seconds of loss in the goal. It is not to be unhappy. The beginning of the Bahrain, coral, predicts a good spring for Mikel Landa .

Fuglsang admits no doubts, he won last year and usually starts the campaigns well and improves every month. In the Tour de France he has seen the podium from afar (7th in 2013 the most), but it always appears as a figure to be considered at kilometer zero of the 'Grande Boucle'.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • cycling
  • sports

CyclingIván Cortina: "I want to win the Paris-Roubaix, I put the pressure on myself"

Cycling: Crazy Febrerillo and the big traffic jam

CiclismoTour Colombia, the biggest party in the country of bikes that finally won a Tour