Betancur takes the win in Castilla y Leon opener
Carlos Betancur (Movistar) took his first win since the 2014 Paris-Nice when he came out on top in the windy, cold and lumpy first stage of the Vuelta a Castilla y Leon.
The Colombian went on the attack on the final climb inside the final 10km and after briefly having been distanced, he beat Pello Bilbao (Caja Rural) in the two-rider sprint to take both the stage win and the leader’s jersey.
With the win, Betancur is of course the first leader with a 4-second advantage over Bilbao. He will try to defend his position in stage 2 which is another lumpy affair. After three early climbs, the terrain gets significantly flatter but in the finale the riders will tackle a 4.5km category 2 climb that averages 6.3% and summits just 3.1km from the line. From there, it is a flat run to the finish.
Vuelta Castilla y Leon 2016 – stage 1 results (Alcanices – Bragança):
| 1 | Carlos Betancur (Movistar) |
4:27:02 |
| 2 | Pello Bilbao (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) |
,, |
| 3 | Carlos Barbero (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) |
+46” |
| 4 | Dmitrii Sokolov (Lokosphinx) |
,, |
| 5 | Winner Anacona (Movistar) |
,, |
| 6 | Alvaro Trueba Diego (Efapel) |
+49” |
| 7 | Rafael Silva (Efapel) |
+54” |
| 8 | Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) |
,, |
| 9 | Diego Milan (Inteja-MMR Dominican Cycling Team) |
,, |
| 10 | Jesus Ezquerra Muela (Sporting/Tavira) |
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