Cycling: Xabier Berasategi, in the fight for victory in the Girino

«I have reached the finish line very just and I have not been able to sprint, but I am satisfied to see myself competing in a race of such a level». Xabier Berasategi (Laboral Kutxa) was fourth in the fifth stage of the Giro d’Italia under-23, reaching the finish line in the quintet that disputed the victory after attacking in the final circuit, a leg breaker “that suited my characteristics well”. The 22-year-old olaberriarra did not have a last explosive change for the final meters. The victory went to Gil Gelders, from the Bingoal subsidiary team.

Berasategi explains from the massage table at the hotel that “there was a first port of departure (Valmala Sanctuary) and I was not feeling well. It was very hard and I gave in a bit, but on the way down I managed to get in. Then there was a flat section before the final circuit, where I have already recovered the sensations. I have seen that people attacked to look for the escape and I have tried to get in there. We have arrived a quintet, but to the sprint I have arrived very fair. But I am happy. After several hard days, let’s see if this result gives us morale and we take advantage of it. The objective was this, to go day by day and see if any opportunity arose.

The Girino brings together the best of the world under-23 squad. “It shows at the level there is, very high. It goes very fast and the ports are uploaded very fast. It also shows in the mileage. The other day we did more than six hours of stage with a drop of 5,000 meters. I had never done anything like this. I finished quite well, although the last half hour cost me.

This Friday a new stage of maximum hardness, ending in Fauniera, at 2,476 meters of altitude.