Alex Aranburu climbs to strong fifth place on tough Tirreno – Adriatico stage 2
A punchy uphill finish saw Alex Aranburu finish amongst stage winner and World Champion Julian Alaphilippe and other favourites, with the young Basque rider taking an impressive fifth place on the Chiusdino after a long day in the saddle.
Today´s 200km stage at the race of the two seas saw another strong ride from Aranburu, who already showed his early season form at the Opening Weekend in Belgium.
The peloton caught the breakaway as the race approached the final 30 kilometres of the day, setting the stage for a thrilling finale. Astana – Premier Tech stayed in a good position at the front of the peloton, protecting Aranburu and Jakob Fuglsang.
Several attacks were launched but in the final metres up to the finish line, it all came back together. After a strong lead out from Fabio Felline, Aranburu was a little bit boxed in on the last corner and could not launch a clear sprint to the line, but still managed to take a great fifth place behind stage winner Alaphilippe.
“It was a pretty fast race but I was feeling good and my legs were good. Three or four riders were ahead but behind, I was still controlling a little and really, I was not expecting the sprint. I thought Almeida would reach the finish line but I told Fabio to go full throttle, which really helped me stay up there. Then with 500 metres to go, I was a bit too far ahead. I decided to wait for the sprint and when they passed me, I was a bit closed in on the left in the corner. A fifth place is a bit disappointing because I think I had a good day and had great legs. But we’ll definitely keep trying.” – said Alex Aranburu
“We can be really happy with Alex´s performance and result today. Looking at the names who were ahead of him, we can be more than happy. All in all, the team did a great job today, they stayed all together during the race and on the final stretch up to the finish line they worked really hard to bring Alex into position. Unfortunately, he was a little bit boxed in at the end but nevertheless taking fifth place here shows he is in great shape already.” – said Sports Director Giuseppe Martinelli
Race Profile
Tirreno – Adriatico
Stage 2: Camaiore > Chiusdino (202km)
Top 3: 1. Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck – QuickStep), 2. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin – Fenix), 3. Wout Van Aert (Team Jumbo Visma)
Astana – Premier Tech top 3: 5. Alex Aranburu, 20. Jakob Fuglsang, 31. Gorka Izagirre