2017 Klasika Primavera de Amorebieta (1.1), Spain
63rd Edition: Sunday, April 9, 2017
Klasika Primavera podium history | 2016 edition | 2018 edition
Amorebieta - Amorebieta, 171.5 km
Gorka Izagirre gets a sit-up race win in Spain
The race: Here's the report from winner Gorka Izagirre's Movistar team.
The big week of racing in northern Spain ended up as a resounding success as Gorka Izagirre claimed Sunday's honours in the 63rd Klasika Primavera de Amorebieta (171.5km) with a late solo attack. The Basque's victory marks the 18th triumph -with seven different riders- for Eusebio Unzué's squad in just three months.
After good early work by Dayer Quintana, Moreno and Betancur to control the initial break, Gorka made the decisive, eight-man escape formed at the second of three climbs to Muniketa / Montecalvo. The group was never let gain more than 1' over a bunch led by Caja Rural and Sporting-Tavira, with Rojas, De La Parte and Jesús Herrada sitting tight at their slipstream, waiting for any possible regrouping.
Izagirre, riding close to home and 2nd over the very same finish line three years ago (also runner-up to team-mate Visconti in 2016), fractured the escape with a fast final descent, and won the battle against the other seven escapees despite the short margin -never more than 15"-. Gorka could finally raise his arms victorious after 33 months without a win, the last being his home Prueba Villafranca in Ordizia back in 2014.
Gorka Izagirre: “I really struggled a lot in the finale - I though I wouldn't reach the finish solo. It was high time to win here after two second places. Even though some folks close to us make it seem like it's easy to win a pro race, for most of us it's really hard to have a shot at a victory. I had spent almost three years without a success and that's why this victory makes me so happy. Having such strong leaders is fortunate for us, though it obviously makes hard for others to aim at wins, and you really have to make the most of races like these.
"The truth is, I wasn't feeling great today. I felt a bit stiff during the first Muniketa climb, but later on, as we got through the second pasage, my body sort of got adapted to the racing speed, and once into the breakaway, it was back to all systems good. The breakaway had good riders in it, with all big teams represented, and I was calm by knowing that, if we had been caught, other team-mates (Víctor de la Parte, Jesús Herrada, José Joaquín Rojas) could win the sprint. The gap was really shot at the last summit, so I decided to pick up the pace into the downhill to try and keep it alive further. When I got a gap, I never looked back again. It's been an icnredible week for the team, and this is the best way possible to wrap it up."
Complete Results:
171.5 kilometers raced at an average speed of 42.571 km/hr
| 1 | Gorka IZAGIRRE | Movistar | 4hr 1min 43sec |
| 2 | WILMAR ANDRES PAREDES | Manzana Postobon | @ 6sec |
| 3 | Rui VINHAS | W52/PC Porto | s.t. |
| 4 | Salvador GUARDIOLA | Team UKYO | s.t. |
| 5 | Oscar PUJOL | Team UKYO | s.t. |
| 6 | Nicholas SCHULTZ | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 7 | Ibai SALAS ZORROZUA | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 8 | Garikoitz BRAVO | Euskadi Basque Country | s.t. |
| 9 | Eduard PRADES | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | @ 21sec |
| 10 | Jesus HERRADA | Movistar | s.t. |
| 11 | SERGIO ANDRES HIGUITA | Manzana Postobon | s.t. |
| 12 | Egoitz GARCIA | Bolivia | s.t. |
| 13 | Jose ROJAS | Movistar | s.t. |
| 14 | António CARVALHO | W52/PC Porto | s.t. |
| 15 | JUAN PABLO VILLEGAS | Manzana Postobon | s.t. |
| 16 | David BELDA | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 17 | Rinaldo NOCENTINI | Sporting Club Portugal-Tavira | s.t. |
| 18 | BERNARDO ALBEIRO SUAZA | Manzana Postobon | s.t. |
| 19 | Mikel ITURRIA | Euskadi Basque Country | s.t. |
| 20 | Diego RUBIO | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 21 | Antonio MOLINA | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 22 | Joaquim SILVA | W52/PC Porto | s.t. |
| 23 | Aitor GONZALEZ | Euskadi Basque Country | s.t. |
| 24 | Frederico FIGUEIREDO | Sporting Club Portugal-Tavira | s.t. |
| 25 | Gregory OBANDO | Inteja Domenica | s.t. |
| 26 | Igor MERINO | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 27 | Carlos Alberto BETANCUR | Movistar | s.t. |
| 28 | Victor DE LA PARTE | Movistar | s.t. |
| 29 | Mikel BIZKARRA | Euskadi Basque Country | @ 26sec |
| 30 | Josu ZABALA | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | @ 1min 38sec |
| 31 | Fabricio FERRARI | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 32 | Óscar SÁNCHEZ | Dare Viator Partizan | s.t. |
| 33 | Omar Alberto MENDOZA | Bolivia | +3:46 |
| 34 | Rodrigo LORENTE | Team UKYO | s.t. |
| 35 | Mario GONZALEZ | Sporting Club Portugal-Tavira | +5:38 |
| 36 | Oscar RODRIGUEZ | Euskadi Basque Country | +6:10 |
| 37 | Yecid Arturo SIERRA | Manzana Postobon | s.t. |
| 38 | Beñat TXOPERENA | Euskadi Basque Country | s.t. |
| 39 | David ARROYO | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 40 | David Da Silva LIVRAMENTO | Sporting Club Portugal-Tavira | s.t. |
| 41 | Jóni BRANDÃO | Sporting Club Portugal-Tavira | s.t. |
| 42 | Jhojan Orlando GARCIA | Manzana Postobon | s.t. |
| 43 | Gilber ZURITA | Bolivia | s.t. |
| 44 | Tiago FERREIRA | W52/PC Porto | s.t. |
| 45 | Alvaro ROBREDO | Burgos-BH | +10:44 |
| 46 | Raul CASTRILLO | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 47 | Pedro GREGORI | Bolivia | s.t. |
| 48 | Diego MILAN | Inteja Domenica | s.t. |
| 49 | Julio alberto AMORES | Inteja Domenica | s.t. |
| 50 | Carlos LORENTE | Dare Viator Partizan | s.t. |
| 51 | Juan Ignacio PEREZ | W52/PC Porto | s.t. |
| 52 | MARVIN ORLANDO ANGARITA | Bolivia | s.t. |
| 53 | Shaun-nick BESTER | Sporting Club Portugal-Tavira | s.t. |
| 54 | Javier ARANDO | Bolivia | s.t. |
| 55 | Julio PINTADO | Massi-Kuwait | s.t. |
| 56 | Javier VALERO | Dare Viator Partizan | s.t. |
| 57 | Rafael MARQUEZ | Inteja Domenica | s.t. |
| 58 | Yusuke HATANAKA | Team UKYO | s.t. |
| 59 | Ander BARRENETXEA | Euskadi Basque Country | s.t. |
| 60 | Ignacio SARABIA | Inteja Domenica | s.t. |
| 61 | JUAN JOSE AMADOR | Manzana Postobon | s.t. |
| 62 | Egoitz FERNANDEZ | Team UKYO | s.t. |
| 63 | Marcos JURAD | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 64 | Julen IRIZAR | Euskadi Basque Country | s.t. |
| 65 | Michimasa NAKAI | Team UKYO | s.t. |
| 66 | Justin OIEN | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 67 | Válter PEREIRA | Sporting Club Portugal-Tavira | s.t. |
| 68 | Fernando ORJUELA | Manzana Postobon | s.t. |
| 69 | Angel Lorenzo SANCHEZ | W52/PC Porto | s.t. |
| 70 | Óscar GONZÁLEZ | Sporting Club Portugal-Tavira | s.t. |
| 71 | Jacobo UCHA RODRIGUEZ | W52/PC Porto | s.t. |