Venezuela is searching for it's two new champions on the road and against the clock.. a brutal 187km mountain race will - obviously - favor the mountain goats and there's no question about who's the clear favorite..
It's going uphill right from the start and Abreu (Barcelona) is the only rider to try an early breakaway attempt, establishing a decent gap quickly!
Halfway through the race (95km to go) the gap is at three minutes (Repsol actually does some chasing) and now we see another serious move:
Delgado (VW) goes solo quite early in the race!
He bridged the gap to Abreu quickly and spent a few kilometres in his company.. with 45km remaining, Delgado drops Abreu easily though!
And more good news for him: the bunch somehow stopped working and the gap grows to 15 minutes! Delgado looks like the certain winner..
Vazquez (Repsol) and top-favorite Rujano (Pokerstars) actually do attack the bunch with 20km to go.. but with more than 20 minutes in arrears, this is by far too late..
And so it's an uncontested victory for Yeison Delgado, who finishes almost 8 minutes ahead of 2nd placed early escapee Abreu! Rujano completes the podium 18 minutes later...
39km flat timetrial and the chance for Rujano to bounce back from his missed chance in the road race.. he may be the favorite, but especially Briceno (Repsol) can be a real threat, too..
Road champion Delgado (VW) sets the most notable BT late in the day: beating Galviz (Repsol) by 8" for the provisional lead with only the two top-favorites to come!
Fernando Briceno (Repsol) is the one, who could give Rujano a tough challenge.. he takes the lead, but it ain't looking too extraordinary strong, as he's just 10" faster than Delgado..
Yap, Briceno hadn't his best day.. or at least, not good enough for Rujano (Pokerstarts): the veteran is 21" better than Briceno and grabs a well needed victory after yesterday's huge fail.
Venezuela is searching for it's two new champions on the road and against the clock.. a brutal 187km mountain race will - obviously - favor the mountain goats and there's no question about who's the clear favorite..
