The youngest of the saga conquers the autonomic cyclocross after a beautiful fight with his brother and Lastra
The Euskadi Cyclocross Championship held yesterday in Ibagüen set course for the second time in a row towards Ormaiztegi. In this case, thanks to Ion Izagirre, who succeeded his brother Gorka, who won in Lezama in 2019, in the track record. The youngest of the Gipuzkoan saga completed a race from less to more and, on the 2,700-meter course, made good the predictions that they gave as a favorite to the triumph with his brother. The two Astana riders – until next Friday they will change teams – already left a beautiful duel at the beginning of the month in Ametzaga, but yesterday they had a teammate like Jonathan Lastra who fought tirelessly in search of surprise.
The fast route traced in the fields of Ayala by the Aiala Cycling Society and the Peña Iñaki Isasi left entertaining races, with little mud, but open in their final resolution until they were well completed. At the beginning, Guaresti and Ruiz de Arcaute from Alava set the tone by showing their credentials to win the U23 title. although in the middle of the race, Igor Arrieta from Navarra showed his quality and drive to win the txapela without any contemplation.
Already in the second turn the older of the Izagirre was taking the head of the test and his wheel was trying to weld Lastra. The Caja Rural arrived in Alava with all the intention of sneaking to the top and offered a lucid performance. Meanwhile, Ion was calculating the forces and measuring the exact moment to launch his attack. The nine laps they had to take on the 2,700-meter circuit made it necessary to calculate the times well. Behind, a warrior Aitor Hernández had to settle for fourth position, seeing how his chances of stepping on the podium vanished in the middle of the race.
There was hardly any mud, which made for a somewhat more conducive surface for road cyclists. More comfortable for those with more depth than for those who love the quagmire and love the quagmire. The circuit had a couple of areas where you can take the bike with your hands – some logs and stairs – as places of certain technical skill. The rest, to pedal between several curves dotted with certain straights in which, at times, they seemed to move on asphalt.
Two mechanical problems ruined Gorka’s options to revalidate his title, which his brother Ion took advantage of to don the Euskadi champion’s jersey. Lastra, bronze, completed the podium, while Arrieta, fourth, was proclaimed champion sub’23 ahead of the Alava duo.
In the junior category, Aimar Madina took the gold, beating Galder Leiza from Biscay and Beñat Fernández de la Peña from Vitoria. Madina took advantage of the fall of Gorka Corres when he rolled in the lead alone when trying to jump the tronces without getting off his bike and of the breakdown that the Alava also suffered in the last lap, being relegated to eighth place at the end.
It was an entertaining and open race until almost the end. With a favoritism that for these two circumstances was not fulfilled, although with a fight behind seven other runners that the Gipuzkoan Medina resolved in his favor, offering a beautiful fight between a handful of participants who crossed the finish line within a margin of fifteen seconds
Amurrio wants to organize the 2024 national
It has only organized one edition, but Amurrio has decided to host the Spanish Cyclocross Championship. In this case, that of 2024 since next year Vic will host this event after requesting it from the Spanish Federation a few months ago. The balance has been so good that the Amurrio test left a little more than a week that the step has been taken. The good benefits of the route and what the El Refor complex offers in terms of infrastructures in addition to the Ayalese town itself mean that the request has sufficient guarantees for the federative entity to take this possibility into account. His candidacy is endorsed by the Basque and Alava federations.
A map of the route as well as a letter of support from the Amurrio City Council and the Álava Provincial Council itself reinforce the idea. As a prelude, the Alava organization is working on hosting in 2022 one of the tests of the Spanish Cup, an event that bears some similarity to a national.
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