Chakib Lachgar and Laura Rodríguez are the winners of the Behobia-San Sebastián 2023. The test has had its share of emotion and records. The Moroccan athlete based in Irun has achieved his second txapela after 2019 and has set the test record with a time of 59 minutes and 56 seconds, becoming the first runner to go under the hour. For her part, Laura Rodríguez has taken her first Behobia in an exciting finale, beating Sara Villasante from Gipuzkoa by a narrow margin.
The men’s event has had an infernal pace. Nan Oliveras, winner in 2022, wanted to go out and break the race from the first meter and set an impressive pace that has destroyed any possibility of a group race. The Moroccan based in Irún although he lived for many years in Rentería, Chakib Lachgar, and the Gipuzkoan Iraitz Arrospide have tried to ensure that the Catalan runner does not escape.
After ten minutes of the test, Lachgar managed to catch Oliveras, and the pace of both was improving by one minute over the same time from last year. Both have faced the Gaintxurizketa summit together, while Arrospide lost ground and positions, with Zakariya El Boubekraoui, the Moroccan living in Calatayud, approaching at forced marches.
And around kilometer 8 of the test, just after passing by the Pirate, the decisive change of pace for the race occurred. Lachgar, winner in 2019, has left Nan Oliveras pinned, who has not been able to respond to the attack and has suffered the wear and tear of his fast start. The distance has been opened by a few meters and even Zakariya has hooked a broken El Boubekraoui.
Lachgar has been a true cyclone from Lintzirin to the finish line, and already in Rentería the pursuers had lost sight of him. The man from Irunda has rushed towards the finish line with every intention of breaking the race record and, above all, with the intention that his mother and his brother would see him raise his arms at the finish line of San Sebastian Boulevard.
Climb to the top of Miracruz
At the top of Miracruz he was slightly tired and looked back to see the distance to his pursuers, who were already more than a minute away.
Lachgar has arrived triumphantly at the San Sebastian Boulevard and has enjoyed that shower of affection. Of course, he has not stopped pushing and has become the first runner who manages to go under one hour in the final time of the test. 59 minutes and 56 seconds was the final time, with Zakariya El Boubekraoui in second place at one minute and 30 seconds, Nan Oliveras third at 2 minutes and Iraitz Arrospide fourth at 2.36.
The women’s race has been much more contested, with changes in the head of the race and a somewhat more relaxed pace in the first kilometers. Last year’s winner, Aroa Merino, took the first few meters in the lead, although she had ruled herself out of competing in the event and indicated that she was coming to compete.
As soon as the first changes of pace occurred, especially in Gaintxurizketa and from kilometer eight onwards, the leading group was reduced to four members, with Sara Villasante, Pilar Fernández, Helene Alberdi and Laura Rodríguez.
Pilar and Laura made a change of pace after kilometer 14 and both went for the txapela. It seemed that the 2023 winner was going to be between the two, but entering San Sebastián Sara Villasante has hooked the couple. At the curve of Avenida de la Zurriola, the Catalonia-based Cordoban Laura Rodríguez gained a few meters over the Guipuzcoan Sara Villasante when she was approaching the finish line, but nothing was decided. Before the Kursaal, Sara hooked up with Laura, who as soon as she saw that the Gipuzkoan was approaching, she made one last change of pace to raise her arms on the Boulevard. Laura Rodríguez’s final time was 1:14:20, with Sara Villasante at 3 seconds, Pilar Fernández at 14 seconds and Zumaia’s Helene Alberdi fourth at one minute and 10 seconds.
2023-11-12 13:42:55
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