20th April 2018
Spanish sprinter gets through difficult, windy opener to Salamanca; dominates final sprint to claim ‘double 14’ of career pro wins and Movistar Team triumphs this season
Following six top-ten finishes in the early season -including a 2nd place on stage three of the Vuelta a Andalucía-, Carlos Barbero (Movistar Team) was finally able to raise his arms victorious in this 2018 season. The Burgos native grabbed a success near home, at a slightly uphill finish in Salamanca, to don the first leader’s jersey of a Vuelta a Castilla y León whose stage one (190km) from Alba de Tormes was strongly marked by crosswinds.
The bunch, which always kept under control an early, four-man move never gaining more than three minutes -with good work from Sütterlin, Bico and a strong Castrillo, pushing for nearly hundred kilometers-, split into several echelons after the last climb of the day, the Alto de Frades (Cat-3). Barely 27 riders were part of a top split -including Barbero himself, as well as team-mates Rosón, Fernández and Carretero- which gained almost a minute and a half over the second group. Only the insistence by those teams not having a rider into that break made possible for the two main group (nearly 60 riders) to get together just over 20km from the end.
At the final uphill in Salamanca, Barbero won with over a bike’s length over Euskadi-Murias duo Jon Aberasturi (2nd) and Eduard Prades (3rd). Carlos, who had already obtained a 3″ bonus at the last intermediate sprint, sits 7″ ahead (Movistar Team results) in the lead of the overall classification, with another flat day (182km) still coming up between Valladolid and Palencia on Sunday. For the time being, the Blue sprinter can already savour the 14th victory of his pro career, just as many wins as the Movistar Team has claimed with his in the early 2018 season.
