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Roglic starts the harvest in the Vuelta

Everything that the Tour denies him is granted by the Vuelta. Primoz Roglic has tuned in to Spain as his supply point in cycling, the country that has enthroned him as a world figure. From the first year in which he arrived confused and elusive until this Tuesday, in which he already appeared smiling and charming in the public image. “Uaaahhhm, this race is still crazy”, he blurts out after winning at Laguardia in a ramp sprint that brings together other race favorites, Enric Mas y el belga Remco Evenepoel. The Vuelta has returned to Spain after its jubilant journey through the Netherlands and in the reunion it is normal for Roglic to win, from today also leader of the round. The fourth Jumbo rider with the red jersey in four stages.

The Vuelta through Spanish territory begins its journey from Vitoria. Clean streets, wide boulevards, neat and beautiful city, many kilometers of bike paths and green areas in abundance. On the esplanade next to the old Mendizorroza pavilion, the talk is led by Joseba Beloki, a passenger from a better time in Spanish cycling who fought for the Tour and the Vuelta and never won.

He has devised the stage that is about to start among a swarm of public that recalls the fervent love of the Basques for cycling. At kilometer zero, the organizers of the round hold an emotional minute of silence in memory of the cyclists who were victims of outrage, who in recent times have left a trail of terrible news in the newspapers.

A group of cyclists run over in Castellbisbal (Barcelona) by a bastard who fled and left two dead on the asphalt. With a history of crimes against road safety, the individual was arrested by law enforcement officers.

There are hundreds of cyclists on the fourth trip of the Vuelta 2022, which runs through the Sierra de Cantabria confluence with the provinces of Navarra, La Rioja and Álava. Fans who dare to climb the port of Herrera, an emblematic summit for all balloonists in the area and which is the gateway to the outcome of the day.

In Vitoria, the Emirates (UAE) bus is a pilgrimage point for journalism. There is no Tadej Pogacar, the terrible boy who has won two Tours and lost the last one due to an excess of belligerent enthusiasm. But there is Juan Ayuso, the reason for all the queries coming from the Spanish media, who, like the supporters, want to cross this immense desert that opened up on the horizon with Contador’s withdrawal. Although he is not a guy who likes to slow down, Josean Matxin, his mentor who has renewed him until 2028, tries to curb the euphoria around the 19-year-old.

In the game of forecasts so healthy to entertain time, Juan Ayuso even appears as a candidate for victory in the Vuelta for some enthusiastic analyst, but alas, the kid from Jávea falters in the first port of this edition, the high Herrera, a third that is really a second due to the hardness of the first kilometers.

They are not expected news in the Pogacar team. Marc Soler, the diesel and explosive Catalan educated at Movistar, also gets off the hook in Herrera’s step. Soler, who one day vindicated his aspiration to lead the Unzué team, is now trying to revive as a premium gregarious.

Jumbo has already taken the reins of the platoon, a team that does not know how to circulate without dominating. He did it in 2019 with Roglic in the Vuelta, in 2020 with the Slovenian in the Tour, and in 2022 with Vingegaard as skipper in France. On the Tour he plays the game of interchangeable parts and gives free rein to literature, because both the excellent quality of Van Aert, the solvency of Roglic or the new leadership of Vingegaard.

But in the Vuelta the Dutch team has little to exchange. There are no cyclists who can assume the role of Roglic in the Vuelta. Perhaps only the hummingbird Sepp Kuss, an excellent climber with no pretensions to leadership, could weigh that hegemony.

It is the first port of the Vuelta and the acceleration of the Jumbo brings the game closer to the Indian ranks. Teams advancing en bloc for their leaders, Movistar for Enric Mas, Quick Step for Evenepoel and Alaphilippe, Ineos for Carapaz… Roglic scores in the port, seconds away.

The squad shows up in Laguardia with world champion Alaphilippe to Roglic’s wheel. Enric Mas attacks in that aspiration to change the nondescript record, Mads Pedersen tries his breath on the finish ramp, but there is nothing to do. Roglic is armed by holding on to the handlebars, his unmistakable pedaling and the cradle power to let go of everyone and get his first victory in the 2022 Vuelta, the tenth in his service record.

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