Felix Grossschartner , as many arrests as that is shown in his endless surname, did not know the chiseled curse on the road that gives access to the castle of Burgos and therefore decided to start. It usually happens on that climb that the one who gives the first stakes does not win and, even worse, tends to stay with the feeling of having been about to achieve it. Ask Alex Aranburu , surrendered last year on the last breath when he already believed he was the winner.

Winning at that classic point in Burgos was a matter of strength, but above all of calculation. It had always been like that, that word that is no longer valid, now that customs have ceased to have the sacred weight they had in our lives in recent months. The always, although in his case it was still brief, is no longer useful for Remco Evenepoel , who now when he starts sometimes does not do it to offer an exhibition, but can stop thinking that there will be a better occasion.

The return to cycling this Tuesday, in the form of the Vuelta a Burgos, was actually a continuous rediscovery of the usual, sifted with a new aroma. This is life after the coronavirus and this is how he has immersed himself in cycling, startled by the positive in the Israel Start-Up that left two cyclists without leaving the hotel and the entire squad with uncertainty, even more submerged in the bad omens they had before they started.

Trouble on the podium

With or without positive, the virus was the protagonist in the end. From the signature control, which was accessed by a mask in the mouth, in rigorous order and after the mandatory taking of temperatures, to the necessarily cold podium, with the hostesses making appreciable efforts to fasten the Grossschartner jersey, winner of the stage and first leader, trying to touch the Austrian climber of Bora as little as possible.

A first afternoon of cycling had come to an end with a lot of movement and interest in the knot and a trigger on the final ramp. Through the Burgos moors, at a surprisingly high speed given the circumstances, the first falls appeared, always inevitable, even more so now after so long without the cyclists feeling the touch and hearing of a moving platoon. Even intuition wears out after so much fallow time, much of it being a boring roller at home.

And also, oh the longing for cycling as always, the 'fans' appeared, with the group suddenly broken into pieces. It was brief, but the stage was used by Evenepoel to rehearse his cannibalism. The boy, 20 years old, had stopped the season with the generals of San Juan and Algarve in his record. He had won everything he had run, in short, at an age when it is already extraordinary to be even professional.

800 meters from goal

So, fueled still by that self-confidence, 35 kilometers from the finish line, he decided to start alone, challenging a platoon in which only Movistar wanted to work. Soon after, he had already amassed a 45-second difference. Too bad so early, just 10 kilometers later, Evenepoel came to the conclusion that this was too much for him and raised his foot.

Another day would be. The peloton regained calm and from there to the end the stage went by where it was expected. With Movistar exhausted by the persecution of Belgian talent, the Matteo Trentin CCC took the approach to the goal. So it was until, already on the final slope, Grossschartner launched the first attack 800 meters from the goal ... and won. No one followed, nor were there counterattacks and all the others arrived in single file, with Alejandro Valverde attentive in third place and Mikel Landa in fifth, both confirming that they are arriving in Burgos at a good time.

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