After finishing second 12 months ago, Ion Izagirre (Movistar) went one better to win the GP Miguel Indurain on Saturday, outsprinting Sergio Henao (Team Sky) at the top of the short, steep final climb.
The duo were part of a large select group that formed with over 50 kilometres to go in the hilly one-day race in the Navarre region of Spain, and it was Moreno Moser (Cannondale) who took third from the remnants of that group.
It was a strong move, containing many members of the bigger teams, including Sky’s Vasil Kiryineka and Sebastian Henao, Movistar's Giovanni Visconti and Gorka Izagirre, Katusha's Sergey Chernetskiy and Egor Silin, Pierre Rolland (Canndondale), and Pello Bilbao (Caja Rural). Orica-GreenEdge were forced to chase and Adam Yates forged clear on the steep gradients of the Ibarra to bridge across with Dani Moreno (Movistar).
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It was Visconti who sparked the winning move with an attack on the final categorised climb of Eraul, and Henao was the man to respond, dragging Izagirre with him. As the roads continued to undulate in the final 10km, the trio had an advantage of some 20 seconds, but rather than conserve their numerical advantage to the finishing town of Estella, Movistar soon attacked through Izagirre, with Visconti falling back to the chasing group.
Izagirre and Henao had to work to keep the chasers at bay but as the road kicked up in the final kilometre it was clear they'd be contesting the win. Izagirre led on the lower slopes and when Henao tried to come round him the final 100 metres, the Spaniard used his knowledge of the twisty finish to make sure he wasn't able to do so.
"It's difficult to win, even more so on home soil. It was a bit complicated at first with that break of 14 but we responded really well and in the final part we made a break with three from Sky, us three, and then in the end on the final climb I was able to fight for the win against Sergio," said Izagirre, who laid down an important marker ahead of the Vuelta al País Vasco
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