Oier Lazkano from Vitoria exhibits himself and is proclaimed champion of Spain on the road

2023-06-25 14:28:17

The Movistar Team rider, Oier Lazkano, has shed the label of promise at once. The man from Vitoria, only 23 years old, was proclaimed Spanish road champion this afternoon in Madrid after taking advantage of a breakaway and escaping alone 25 kilometers from the finish line. With his arms raised and totally exhausted after crowning San Lorenzo del Escorial, Lazkano thus succeeds the Ineos Grenadiers cyclist, Carlos Rodríguez, winner in the last edition held in Palma de Mallorca.

The challenge was not easy. The man from Alava had to suffer in a test that was held on a demanding 186.1-kilometre route and more than 3,000 meters of accumulated positive elevation gain under intense heat, a setback that the telephone team knew how to manage well, attentive to each exit and very strong when it comes to cutting distance on the escapees.

This is his greatest achievement as a professional cyclist and further enhances a record that, at his age, consolidates him as one of the greatest talents on the national scene. After proclaiming himself runner-up for the second consecutive year in the Spanish Time Trial Championship and winning the Boucles de la Mayenne a month ago in the French city of Laval, the man from Alava ended up finishing a race that began very hectic from the first kilometers with the initial breakaway Promoted by Carlos Verona (Movistar) and Javier Romo (Astana), who came to take a minute and a half of rent over the group of great favorites.

With 42 kilometers to go to reach the finish line, they were neutralized by a large group in which Lazkano and De La Parte started as visible leaders of the breakaway along with Gonzalo Serrano, Raúl García and Balderstone. With Juan Ayuso in the middle of a fight to close the distance to the escapees, Lazkano took advantage of the moment of stoppage and confusion among the cyclists to go alone and face San Lorenzo del Escorial with up to a minute to spare. His explosiveness and his mischief when it comes to taking advantage of the rival’s slightest mistake has already been seen on more than one occasion since his arrival on the telephone table, something that also happened in Through Flanders last March, after reaping a commendable second place, just behind the Jumbo-Visma rider, Christophe Laporte.

“It’s a very special win”

With half a kilometer to go in the race, Luis León Sánchez, Romo and Verona tried to surprise, but the Movistar Team man, very confident and measuring his advantage very well, managed to take the victory that allows him, in this way, portal the dorsal as champion of Spain for a full season. «Anyone from Movistar could have won, really, but I won. I knew I had to give it my all, especially in the last stage, I was getting cramps, but I wanted to win to end that pain. It has been a super special victory, both I and the whole team are very happy”, he commented as soon as he caught a breath at the finish line.