It was an impressive ride from Corbin Strong to finish 7th at the Gran Premio Miguel Indurain, who has shown some great form so far this season.
It was a true day of attrition, with attacks coming in thick and fast after they crossed the line to begin the final lap. Despite animating the race and chasing as hard as he could, Corbin could not catch the day’s eventual solo winner, Ion Izagirre, who won the race for a second time having attacked on the day’s steepest gradients towards the finish.
Corbin was nonetheless pleased with his performance.
“The team rode really well today. I had good legs and enjoyed racing an aggressive race. Unfortunately it didn’t come back together for a sprint but I’m satisfied with 7th today.”
The team worked very well together to keep Corbin in the right position at the key moments, and towards the sharp end of the race, having been protected throughout the day, he was able to keep up with all the attacks. Sports director, Oscar Guerrero, was happy that the team worked so well together.
“The race went as we expected, and everything went well for us, it was just about waiting for the key points, and we were where we needed to be during those moments. With EF setting a really strong pace, it was a fast race from about 70km to go. Nick Schultz wasn’t feeling 100%, so he sacrificed his chances for Corbin, and set him up nicely with 17km to go. Corbin managed to keep up with most of the favorites which was really good, but once Ion had gone we knew he would win it, but it’s great to see the team working together to get a result.”
Overall, Guerrero was pleased with the result, even if Corbin missed out on the podium.
“With Corbin finishing 7th, it’s a good performance, as those last two climbs were really about having the legs to go for it, and he was very good, despite the very hard pace, and he showed that even in these hard races with nearly 4000 meters of climbing he’s right up there, so we’ve got to be happy.”
