2023-08-14 20:05:29
Although the Tour of Portugal is a second level race on the international calendar, all cyclists know that it is actually an extremely tough test. For runners made. And this edition is catapulting the sporting career of Txomin Juaristi from Biscay, third at the top of Torre and also third in the general classification led by Galician Delio Fernández. The leader crossed the finish line of Torre with 6 seconds over the Swiss Colin Stussi and 19 over the Markina cyclist.
The fifth stage, between Maçao and Alto de Torre, made the first great selection. The last 20 kilometers, uphill, ordered the participants according to their strength. Delio Fernández, who is already 37 years old and has fought a thousand battles, stayed with Juaristi, Stussi and Jesús del Pino. Behind them, they were followed by a group that included Mikel Iturria, Juaristi’s teammate at Euskaltel.
Two kilometers from the finish line, Fernández pushed. Juaristi, who had been second in the opening time trial of this round, tried to keep up. He could not. He wore himself out in the chase and then saw how Stussi also finished him off at the smell of the banner. The ‘orange’ cyclist, trained at Baqué and now a solid value at Euskaltel, squeezed himself. He knew that he was the highest ranked of the three. He could be a leader. But Fernández and Stussi took enough advantage of him to separate him from that prize. The Galician is the leader with 5 seconds over the Swiss and 10 ahead of the Biscayan, third in the Tour of Portugal, a race that, cyclists know, crushes the legs.
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