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2023 Vuelta a Asturias (2.1), Spain

65th edition: April 28 - 30, 2023

Vuelta a Asturias podium history | 2022 edition | 2024 edition
Stage 1 | Stage 2 | Stage 3

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Sunday April 30: 3rd & Final stage, Cangas del Narcea - Oviedo, 146.5 km

Pelayo Sanchez takes the third stage. Photo: Sprint Cycling

Les Woodland's book Tour of Flanders: The Inside Story - The rocky roads of the Ronde van Vlaanderen is available in print, Kindle eBook and audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Weather at the finish city of Oviedo at 3:10 PM, local time: 19C (66F), mostly cloudy, with the wind from the northeast at 13 km/hr (8 mph). There is just a 6% chance of rain.

The race: Here's the report from GC winner Lorenzo Fortunato's Team Eolo Kometa.

Lorenzo Fortunato and EOLO KOMETA won the overall victory in the Vuelta a Asturias, with a very fast final stage in which the favourites moved around looking to unseat the leader. Supported by an exceptional team, without losing the concentration, Fortunato consolidated the final victory while Vincenzo Albanese was second at the finish line.

The morale is high and the Giro d’Italia is in full swing. This is how EOLO KOMETA leaves the Vuelta a Asturias, after winning the queen stage with Lorenzo Fortunato, wearing the leader’s jersey and defending it perfectly today on the final day. In addition, Vincenzo Albanese has two second places that confirm his speed and strength for the first Grand Tour of the season.

This last stage featured a breakaway of 12 riders that took almost an hour to set up. With no danger for the general classification, EOLO KOMETA controlled the peloton with a gap that never exceeded 2 minutes. Ahead, all the components of the breakaway were losing contact with the exception of Pelayo Sánchez (BBH) who managed to resist and take the victory. In the main group, the adversaries tried to attack in the final part but Fortunato showed a tremendous solidity and withstood these movements. Finally, Albanese was able to return to the main group and win the bunch sprint.

On the final podium of the Vuelta a Asturias were Lorenzo Fortunato as winner of the general classification and Vincenzo Albanese as winner of the regularity. Fernando Tercero also won the classification for the best young rider of the race. A triple joy that shows the enormous level of EOLO KOMETA in Asturias, of the whole team that took part in the competition.

Lorenzo Fortunato: “I am very happy to have been able to confirm the victory in the general classification. The squad worked very well, so that there were no setbacks, and then I defended the jersey when the favourites moved in the final part. I’m really happy. Now I’m looking forward to the Giro d’Italia, where I’m sure we’ll do very well”.

Jesús Hernández, sport director: “From the first day to the last we have maintained the same philosophy and way of racing: we have done our race regardless of what the others wanted. Controlling the race and doing what we thought was in our best interests. The main objective today was to defend the overall, the breakaway of 12 seemed under control but in the end the winner came out of it. We finished second with Albanese and closed a very nice race, in which the team has shown ideas, attitude and performance at the level of the greatest. First victory of the season, first overall win, and the whole EOLO KOMETA team taking control of the race without any weakness at any time. Bravo to all of them”.

Complete results:

146.5 kilometers raced at an average speed of 42.419 km/hr

1	Pelayo Sanchez	Burgos-BH	3hr 27min 13sec
2	Vincenzo Albanese	EOLO-Kometa	@ 17sec
3	Steff Cras	TotalEnergies	s.t.
4	Orluis Aular	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	s.t.
5	Gianluca Brambilla	Q36.5 Pro Cycling	s.t.
6	Joan Bou	Euskaltel-Euskadi	s.t.
7	Alan Jousseaume	TotalEnergies	s.t.
8	Jesus Del Pino	Aviludo-Louletano	s.t.
9	Einer Rubio	Movistar	s.t.
10	Damien Howson	Q36.5 Pro Cycling	s.t.
11	Abner González	Movistar	s.t.
12	Jon Barrenetxea	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	s.t.
13	Félix Parra José	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
14	Jordi Lopez Caravaca	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
15	Jose Manuel Diaz	Burgos-BH	s.t.
16	Txomin Juaristi	Euskaltel-Euskadi	s.t.
17	Antonio Pedrero	Movistar	s.t.
18	Ivan Moreno	Global 6 Cycling	s.t.
19	Roger Adriá	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
20	Luis Angel Mate	Euskaltel-Euskadi	s.t.
21	Lorenzo Fortunato	EOLO-Kometa	s.t.
22	Ivan Sosa	Movistar	s.t.
23	Abel Balderstone	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	s.t.
24	Joaquim Silva	Efapel Cycling	s.t.
25	Fernando Tercero	EOLO-Kometa	s.t.
26	Mikel Bizkarra	Euskaltel-Euskadi	s.t.
27	Mulu Hailemichael	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	s.t.
28	Marcel Camprubí	Q36.5 Pro Cycling	0:34
29	Julen Amezqueta	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	1:47
30	Pablo Castrillo	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
31	Julien Simon	TotalEnergies	2:27
32	Ander Okamika	Burgos-BH	s.t.
33	Ibai Azurmendi	Euskaltel-Euskadi	s.t.
34	Fernando Barceló	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	2:30
35	Francisco Guerreiro	Efapel Cycling	2:53
36	Emanuel Duarte	Efapel Cycling	3:40
37	Jose Maria Garcia	Electro Hiper Europa	s.t.
38	Jose Mendes	NSJBI Victoria Sports	s.t.
39	Jose Luis Faura	Electro Hiper Europa	s.t.
40	Fabio Christen	Q36.5 Pro Cycling	s.t.
41	Keegan Swirbul	Efapel Cycling	s.t.
42	Carl Fredrik Hagen	Q36.5 Pro Cycling	s.t.
43	Alejandro Ropero	Electro Hiper Europa	s.t.
44	David Lozano	Team Novo Nordisk	s.t.
45	Peter Kusztor	Team Novo Nordisk	s.t.
46	Lluis Mas	Movistar	s.t.
47	Angel Madrazo	Burgos-BH	s.t.
48	Fabien Grellier	TotalEnergies	s.t.
49	Vicente Garcia	Aviludo-Louletano	s.t.
50	Jon Agirre	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
51	Xavier Cañellas	Electro Hiper Europa	s.t.
52	Mark Stewart	Bolton Equities-Black Spoke	s.t.
53	Carlos Oyarzun	Aviludo-Louletano	4:58
54	Daniel Viegas	Aviludo-Louletano	s.t.
55	Iker Ballarin	Euskaltel-Euskadi	6:42
56	Henrique Casimiro	Efapel Cycling	s.t.
57	Mattéo Vercher	TotalEnergies	7:31
58	Ollie Jones	Bolton Equities-Black Spoke	s.t.
59	Josh Kench	Bolton Equities-Black Spoke	s.t.
60	James Oram	Bolton Equities-Black Spoke	9:35
61	Albert Torres	Movistar	s.t.
62	Vinicius Rangel	Movistar	s.t.
63	Nuno Meireles	Aviludo-Louletano	s.t.
64	Jacob Scott	Bolton Equities-Black Spoke	s.t.
65	Aleksandr Grigoriev	Efapel Cycling	s.t.
66	Nicolas Sessler	Global 6 Cycling	s.t.
67	Alex Molenaar	Electro Hiper Europa	s.t.
68	Paul Wright	Bolton Equities-Black Spoke	s.t.
69	Andrea Peron	Team Novo Nordisk	13:50
70	Charles Planet	Team Novo Nordisk	s.t.
71	Eugenio Sanchez	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
72	Hector Carretero	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
73	Alessandro Fancellu	EOLO-Kometa	s.t.
74	Francesco Gavazzi	EOLO-Kometa	s.t.
75	Diego Sevilla	EOLO-Kometa	s.t.
76	Antonio Puppio	Q36.5 Pro Cycling	s.t.
77	Joseba Lopez	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	s.t.
78	Alex Martin	EOLO-Kometa	s.t.
79	Pedro Pinto	Efapel Cycling	s.t.
80	Alejandro Franco	Burgos-BH	s.t.
81	Rodrigo Álvarez	Burgos-BH	s.t.
82	Victor Martinez	Electro Hiper Europa	22:37
83	Sam Brand	Team Novo Nordisk	s.t.
84	Joonas Henttala	Team Novo Nordisk	s.t.
85	Marcio Barbosa	NSJBI Victoria Sports	s.t.
86	Jan Dunnewind	Team Novo Nordisk	s.t.
87	Gabriel Muller	Global 6 Cycling	s.t.
88	Daniel Cariño	NSJBI Victoria Sports	s.t.
89	Jose Maria Martin	Electro Hiper Europa	22:40

 

Final GC after stage 3:

1. GC winner: Lorenzo Fortunato (EOLO-Kometa)
2. Mountains classification winner: Ollie Jones (Bolton Equities-Black Spoke)
3. Points classification winner: Vincenzo Albanese (EOLO-Kometa)
4. Best young rider: Fernando Tercero (EOLO-Kometa)
5. Teams classification winner: Euskaltel-Euskadi

511.1 kilometers raced at an average speed of 40.215 km/hr

1	Lorenzo Fortunato	EOLO-Kometa	12hr 42min 33sec
2	Einer Rubio	Movistar	@ 31sec
3	Ivan Sosa	Movistar	0:33
4	Damien Howson	Q36.5 Pro Cycling	0:34
5	Steff Cras	TotalEnergies	0:44
6	Roger Adriá	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
7	Gianluca Brambilla	Q36.5 Pro Cycling	0:48
8	Joaquim Silva	Efapel Cycling	s.t.
9	Mikel Bizkarra	Euskaltel-Euskadi	s.t.
10	Fernando Tercero	EOLO-Kometa	0:59
11	Manuel Diaz Jose	Burgos-BH	1:05
12	Joan Bou	Euskaltel-Euskadi	1:52
13	Pelayo Sanchez	Burgos-BH	2:51
14	Luis Angel Mate	Euskaltel-Euskadi	3:14
15	Txomin Juaristi	Euskaltel-Euskadi	3:47
16	José Félix Parra	Equipo Kern Pharma	4:45
17	Ander Okamika	Burgos-BH	5:12
18	Abel Balderstone	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	6:01
19	Jon Agirre	Equipo Kern Pharma	6:42
20	Jesus Del Pino	Aviludo-Louletano	8:11
21	Antonio Pedrero	Movistar	8:42
22	Ivan Moreno	Global 6 Cycling	8:53
23	Orluis Aular	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	10:32
24	Ibai Azurmendi	Euskaltel-Euskadi	11:30
25	Pablo Castrillo	Equipo Kern Pharma	12:40
26	Jose Luis Faura	Electro Hiper Europa	12:44
27	Marcel Camprubí	Q36.5 Pro Cycling	14:06
28	Vincenzo Albanese	EOLO-Kometa	14:33
29	Julen Amezqueta	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	15:14
30	Jon Barrenetxea	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	15:19
31	Emanuel Duarte	Efapel Cycling	17:07
32	Peter Kusztor	Team Novo Nordisk	s.t.
33	Alan Jousseaume	TotalEnergies	18:08
34	Fabio Christen	Q36.5 Pro Cycling	18:46
35	Angel Madrazo	Burgos-BH	s.t.
36	Henrique Casimiro	Efapel Cycling	20:09
37	Julien Simon	TotalEnergies	20:53
38	Jose Maria Garcia	Electro Hiper Europa	s.t.
39	Daniel Viegas	Aviludo-Louletano	21:16
40	Fabien Grellier	TotalEnergies	24:25
41	Mulu Hailemichael	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	24:43
42	Jose Mendes	NSJBI Victoria Sports	26:16
43	Fernando Barceló	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	26:57
44	Jordi Lopez Caravaca	Equipo Kern Pharma	27:00
45	Alejandro Ropero	Electro Hiper Europa	27:05
46	Alex Martin	EOLO-Kometa	27:17
47	Vicente Garcia	Aviludo-Louletano	27:58
48	David Lozano	Team Novo Nordisk	28:07
49	Pedro Pinto	Efapel Cycling	28:56
50	Carl Fredrik Hagen	Q36.5 Pro Cycling	s.t.
51	Aleksandr Grigoriev	Efapel Cycling	31:38
52	Mattéo Vercher	TotalEnergies	s.t.
53	Francisco Guerreiro	Efapel Cycling	33:06
54	Josh Kench	Bolton Equities-Black Spoke	33:20
56	Francesco Gavazzi	EOLO-Kometa	33:25
57	Ollie Jones	Bolton Equities-Black Spoke	34:09
57	Mark Stewart	Bolton Equities-Black Spoke	33:53
58	Joseba Lopez	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	35:33
59	Abner González	Movistar	37:16
60	Nuno Meireles	Aviludo-Louletano	38:17
61	Alejandro Franco	Burgos-BH	39:12
62	Lluis Mas	Movistar	39:34
63	Xavier Cañellas	Electro Hiper Europa	s.t.
64	Keegan Swirbul	Efapel Cycling	s.t.
65	Alex Molenaar	Electro Hiper Europa	39:48
66	Carlos Oyarzun	Aviludo-Louletano	40:52
67	Jacob Scott	Bolton Equities-Black Spoke	42:23
68	Iker Ballarin	Euskaltel-Euskadi	42:36
69	Vinicius Rangel	Movistar	45:29
70	Andrea Peron	Team Novo Nordisk	46:43
71	Charles Planet	Team Novo Nordisk	46:47
72	Alessandro Fancellu	EOLO-Kometa	49:44
73	Diego Sevilla	EOLO-Kometa	s.t.
74	Nicolas Sessler	Global 6 Cycling	53:00
75	James Oram	Bolton Equities-Black Spoke	53:04
76	Paul Wright	Bolton Equities-Black Spoke	s.t.
77	Albert Torres	Movistar	53:07
78	Sam Brand	Team Novo Nordisk	55:30
79	Eugenio Sanchez	Equipo Kern Pharma	57:19
80	Hector Carretero	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
81	Antonio Puppio	Q36.5 Pro Cycling	s.t.
82	Rodrigo Álvarez	Burgos-BH	s.t.
83	Jan Dunnewind	Team Novo Nordisk	1:01:15
84	Victor Martinez	Electro Hiper Europa	1:05:51
85	Jose Maria Martin	Electro Hiper Europa	1:06:09
86	Daniel Cariño	NSJBI Victoria Sports	1:14:09
87	Marcio Barbosa	NSJBI Victoria Sports	s.t.
88	Joonas Henttala	Team Novo Nordisk	1:15:14
89	Gabriel Muller	Global 6 Cycling	1:15:28

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Saturday, April 29: Stage 2, Candas - Cangas de Narcea, 182.6 km

Lorenzo Fortunato wins the stage and takes over the GC lead. Photo: Sprint Cycling

Les Woodland's book Cycling's World Championships: The Inside Story is available in print, Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Weather at the finish city of Cangas de Narcea at 3:00 PM, local time: 22C (71F), mostly cloudy, with the wind from the north at 6 km/hr (4 mph). There is a 24% chance of rain.

The race: Here's the report from stage winner & new GC leader Lorenzo Fortunato's Team EOLO-Kometa.

The long-awaited and hard-earned first victory of the season came for EOLO KOMETA with Lorenzo Fortunato in the Asturian mountains. Alone, attacking on the ascent to the Alto del Acebo, he got enough time to enjoy the victory in Cangas del Narcea and wear the jersey as the new leader of the Vuelta a Asturias.

The week before the start of the Giro d’Italia has brought the best possible news to EOLO KOMETA. A high level victory, thanks to all teamwork and with the name of Lorenzo Fortunato. After controlling the race throughout the day, the main peloton was selected in the decisive mountain climbs. It was already in the Acebo where Fortu attacked, first with Rubio (Movistar) and then alone. Looking to get a big win.

Soon came the reference of 45 seconds that gave wings to the adventure of Lorenzo Fortunato. Undoubtedly, an interesting gap but that had to be managed in the descent towards the finish line. Confident and skilful, the cyclist managed to reach the finish line with 30 seconds to savour the triumph. To raise his arms and shout with emotion: Victory!

Rounding off a spectacular day for EOLO KOMETA, Fernando Tercero held on in the group of favourites and was able to finish 10th. He was also the best young rider of the race in his first season as a professional cyclist and with a promising future.

Lorenzo Fortunato: “I’m really happy. On the last climb I tried to go flat out to leave everyone behind and not have to take risks on the descent, because the Giro is coming and I want to do well there. I managed to go alone and win, it was incredible. Now it’s time to defend the overall lead, but I’m very confident because all my team-mates have shown to be very strong”.

Jesús Hernández, sports director: “The team work was impeccable. We took responsibility from the first kilometres of the lead as we did yesterday. Today we were able to get the victory and it is undoubtedly a tremendous satisfaction because it rewards all the effort of the team”.

Complete results:

182.6 kilometers raced at an average speed of 39.813 km/hr

GC after stage 2:

364.6 kilometers raced at an average speed of 39.413 km/hr

Friday, April 29: Stage 1, Oviedo - Pola de Lena, 182 km

Damien Howson takes the first stage and the GC lead. Photo: Sprint Cycling

Stoic philosopher Epictetus' Golden Sayings is available in both audiobook & Kindle eBook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

The race: Here's the report from second-place Vincenzo Albanese's Tea, EOLO-Kometa:

Second position for Vincenzo Albanese in Pola de Lena, where he concluded an initial day of the Vuelta a Asturias that controlled the EOLO KOMETA. The team looked for his options and played outstanding protagonism so much to throw down the breakway as in the ascent of Carabanzo, where Lorenzo Fortunato tried to attack.

The team, which came close to victory in the first stage of the Vuelta a Asturias, was once again left wanting more. It was a day of working together, trying to reach the finish with the best possible chances, and where the planned role was fulfilled. The breakaway made its way for more than 120 kilometres, always with the EOLO KOMETA blues controlling a gap that did not reach 4 minutes.

Already in the decisive part, with the climbs of the day, the breakaway was neutralised and the team placed Lorenzo Fortunato, Vincenzo Albanese and the young Fernando Tercero in the 25 cyclists at the head of the race. The movements on the climb to Carabanzo did not manage to break the main group, which headed at full speed to the finish line in Pola de Lena with EOLO KOMETA in control.

However, the lack of collaboration gave way to several attack attempts, with Howson (Q36.5) succeeding to get ahead of the group. Vincenzo Albanese showed once again his enormous level in this type of finishes to win the sprint in the bunch of favourites and take second place. He occupies the same position in the overall, with Fortunato also in the best times before tomorrow’s queen stage of the Vuelta a Asturias.

Vincenzo Albanese: “Once the selection was made, there were only a few riders left and with the attack of the winner we couldn’t react. It’s a pity because I was feeling good and at least I was able to come second (again). I hope to get the win in the opportunities that we have left in the race”.

Jesús Hernández: “The team rode very well, taking responsibility from the start, always thinking about Albanese’s chances in the sprint finish. With 2 kilometres to go, after the last climb, we had three riders in the front group. I want to highlight the work of Tercero to maintain a high pace and avoid attacks, but Howson’s attack caught the team with no breath, unable to react, and we are left with this bittersweet result: second position for Albanese”.

Complete results:

182 kilometers raced at an average speed of 39.005 km/hr

GC after stage 1: