Guerrero and Kortekaas win at the Škoda We Love Cycling

The Škoda We Love Cycling stage has been full of changes in the leadership and excitement. There has been only one constant: Pablo Guerrero has been in the lead in each and every one of the 98.6 kilometers.

At the start, from the Costa de Almería Circuit, he was already in command of the peloton with his Scott Cala Bandida teammate, Miquel Faus.

So both arrived at the base of the Škoda Challenge sector, in the town of Senés. From there started this timed climb to the Alto de Velefique, the great colossus of the edition.

Although Guerrero himself crossed in the leading group the arch that marked the end of the pass, he was not the fastest to complete the 18 kilometers time trial, that triumph belonged to his countryman from Malaga Luis Angel Maté.

El Lince gets the 60-second bonus that grants the Škoda Challenge, although it will not serve him to be leader. The time that the Marbella rider obtained on the climb was lost on the descent. There Guerrero, Fran Herrero and Miguel Muñoz arrived grouped together.

This trio arrived together in the last kilometers. There, a flat tire for the leader forced him and his teammate to slow down. Thus, the man who has been in the lead throughout the stage, Pablo Guerrero, achieved a more than deserved solo victory.

Herrero retains, indeed, the leader’s jersey and increases his gap over his pursuers. Everything ready for the first triumph in Titan World Series for the rider from Segovia.

KORTEKAAS, VIRTUAL WINNER

If Herrero maintains a comfortable advantage over his immediate pursuers, in the case of Tessa Kortekaas the advantage already seems overwhelming. The Dutchwoman adds her third victory, takes the Škoda Challenge and widens her gap with Ariadna Ródenas in the GC to 18 minutes.

On this occasion, Kortekaas had company until reaching Senés. That of Mónica Calderón her teammate, who held hand in hand with the leader until that climb to the Alto de Velefique. 

The Dutchwoman based in Lanzarote was the first to cross the arch that ended the Škoda Challenge. From there she also came out with the 60 seconds of bonus that gives this time trial climb. Another example of the excellent form and dominance of Kortekaas.

From there to the finish line she rode on her own. Calderón had a problem following the track that made her lose a lot of time and crossed the finish line in fifth position. Second came Ariadna Ródenas and in third place Pilar Fernández. The same order occupied by the three in the general classification.

All set for the celebration of Tessa Kortekaas who has already said that going out just to have fun does not go with her and that she can achieve a historic four out of four in this Škoda Titan Desert Almeria.