Juanpe López celebrated his first major victory in a professional career this Friday in the Tour of the Alps. It was the boost that the Lebrija cyclist needed, who will arrive with maximum ambition at the Giro d’Italia (from May 4 to 26). The 26-year-old Andalusian defended his lead in a fifth stage of 118 kilometers beginning and ending in Levico Terme. He started the decisive day with a margin of 38 seconds over Ben O’Connor (AG2R) and despite the French team’s attempts he had no problems defending his privileged position.
The work of his Lidl Trek team in the peloton allowed the escape attempts to be neutralized. Luis Ángel Maté (Euskaltel-Euskadi) tried, also Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) and, above all, Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious), who accumulated up to 30 seconds of advantage over the peloton before being caught. Romain Bardet (DSM) also embarked on the adventure, with seven kilometers remaining, but O’Connor, Tiberi and López stepped up to quell the escape and form a group of eight contenders for the stage victory that Aurélien claimed. Paret-Peintre (Dectahlon AG2R La Mondiale). Ninth in the stage, López secured victory with a margin of 38 seconds over O’Connor and 42 seconds over Tiberi, second and third overall, respectively.
Juanpe López’s great triumph was forged last Wednesday, when in the third stage (127 kilometers, starting and finishing in the Austrian city of Schwaz), the Lebrija native attacked to first catch up with the Italian Giulio Pellizzari and in the last climb, Pillberg, going for his first victory as a professional and taking the lead in the general classification. Juanpe had to suffer in the queen stage, 141 kilometers between Leifers and Borgo Valsugana with a lot of accumulated unevenness. That’s where his defense of the leadership began. And the man from Lebrija, excellent at reading the race, resisted all the attacks and extinguished all the threats. There were numerous attacks, led by Harper, O’Connor, Poels and Tiberi, but at the end of the stage, which Simon Carr scored, he still maintained a more than prudent lead for the last day. 38 seconds on O’Connor and 48 on Tiberi, Poels and Bardet.
An income that this Friday allowed him to take over from Mikel Landa, who had won this test, when it was called Giro del Trentino, in 2016. In this way, the Andalusian recovers the good performance of 2022, when he wore the Giro del Trentino for ten days. Pink jersey from the Giro d’Italia. Then the problems piled up. A fall in the 2023 preseason that resulted in a broken collarbone opened the box of insecurities and fears. López returned to the peloton with fear of descents and even riding in a group, so he had to put himself in the hands of a psychologist to help him overcome that problem. Step by step, Juanpe has been recovering his condition and in 2024 he is ready for anything, as he has demonstrated in the Alps.
2024-04-19 18:33:01
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