Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) sprinted his way to the victory
ahead of Team CSC Saxo Bank's Russian rider Alexander Kolobnev and Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner).
Kolobnev opened
up the fight during the decisive climb at Jaizkibel, but in spite of various attempts in the finale a group of 11
riders were left to sprint for the victory after the 239 kilometers with start and finish in the Basque coastal city.
Only 46 riders reached the finish. One of them was Damiano Cunego
(Lampre). The Basque classic was an important test to check Cunego's conditions in the first race after his crash in
the Tour de France.
”It was a great result by Alexander today because it was a
tough finale with all those strong profiles getting ready for the Olympics. He's extremely good at these tough finales and
he came very close to winning out there today. Already in Austria he demonstrated that he's ready for this part of the season
and I think we'll get to see a lot more of him over the coming months,” said CSC - Saxo Bank sports director Torsten
Schmidt after the race.
For a long time Cunego was part of the leading group, but he
could not follow his main rivals on the Jaizkibel, and finished 36th, 9:34 behind winner Valverde.
Cunego spoke about his injuries, which forced him to abandon from
the Tour de France. "The effects of the bad crash at the Tour didn't go away. During the race I had bad feelings when the course
became tough. When the effort was intense I felt the symptoms I had already felt during long training rides, those of respiratory
problems and headache."
After the race, Cunego talked to Italian national coach Franco Ballerini.
Ballerini and Cunego decided that Cunego won't take start at the Olympics. Cunego contacted Lampre's doctor
Guardascione. Cunego will undergo further medical checks to cure from his injuries and develope a programm for the last
part of the season.
