21 year old emerges from large break to win solo
The 21 year old rider Victor Cabedo of the modest Orbea Continental team took his first ever professional victory today in brilliant solo fashion in Oviedo.
The young Spaniard was part of the day’s nine man break that formed only ten kilometers into today’s penultimate stage of the Vuelta Asturias.
The break consisted of two Movistar riders Jose Ivan Gutierrez and Francisco Iriarte, and one each from the following teams: Ruben Perez (Euskaltel), Antonio Piedra (Andalucia), David Belda (Burgos 2016), Victor Cabedo (Orbea), Antonio Amori (Barbot), Rafael Infantino (EPM), and Rory Sutherland (UnitedHealthcare).
The large group was kept in check by the Caja Rural team of race leader Javier Moreno (pictured) and never got more than four minutes. The Caja Rural’s efforts at the front were not enough to bring back the break in the closing moments of the stage though, so the nine hard working escapees were given a chance to settle the score amongst themselves.
It was young Cabedo who made the right move with UnitedHealthcare’s Rory Sutherland in the finale, and it was Cabedo who followed that first effort with the race winning effort not long afterward. Jose Ivan Gutierrez followed over half a minute behind the two.
While Cabedo might not be a well known name in professional cycling, his 2011 season has already offered up its share of quiet success. Cabedo managed a fourth place in the mountains competition at the Ruta del Sol earlier this year along with a 5th place at the Klasika Primavera.
Tomorrow’s final stage of the Vuelta Asturias will see riders over an arduous route – a familiar one at that. The concluding fifth stage follows the same course as the Subida al Naranco one day race, which wasn’t able to find suitable funding to be run in 2011. Instead of fading into history, however, the organizers of the Subida al Naranco and the Vuelta Asturias found a solution in adding an extra day on to the Tour of Asturias.
It will certainly guarantee a fantastic final day in this year’s 2.1 ranked event.