ANDhe Tour is already underway. This Thursday afternoon the official presentation of the teams that will take part in the 110 edition of the race in a Bilbao with overcast skies and the thermometer hovering around 22 degrees. After a day in which the teams rolled through different sections of the first stages that make up the Grand Dpart in the Basque Country, the afternoon was left for the first great act of this Tour 2023.
The presentation ceremony was held on the Guggenheim esplanade, with a limited space for just over 3,000 people. The capacity was covered quickly. The place gave for more, but taking into account that the cyclists made a tour around it, it was necessary to preserve safety zones. Between Euskalduna and Arenal, where the Fan Park will be open until Saturday, they settled four giant screens so that fans unable to enter the limited area could follow the show.
luxury groomsmen
Julin Gorospe was one of the ex-cyclists who guided the teams in the presentation.EFE
Each of the teams was preceded by a captain, with which they made the tour between the Euskalduna Palace and the Guggenheim Museum, which is where the stage was installed. The captain fell on Basque cyclists who have had a relationship with the Tour as protagonists of the squad. The chosen ones were Joane Somarriba, Agurtzane Elorriaga, Miguel Mari Lasa, David Etxebarria, Abraham Olano, Marino Lejarreta, Iban Mayo, Roberto Laiseka, Julian Gorospe, Juan Manuel Garate, Fede Etxabe, Javier Murgialdai, Jose Nazabal, Igor Gonzalez Galdeano, Haimar Zubeldia , Amets Txurruka, Igor Anton, Iker Camao, Unai Osa, Beat Intxausti, Jon Unzaga and Iaki Gaston.
He Bahrain of Mikel Landa and Pello Bilbao was the first squad to appear on stage. They did it with a lump in their throats because the Tour offered a heartfelt tribute to Gino Mder, died in an accident in the last edition of the Tour of Switzerland. Most of the cyclists from the 22 Tour line-ups – the fewest wore the team’s promotional visor – made the presentation wearing txapelas. “We are going to try for the podium and from the first day we will go to the top”, launched Landa to warm up an audience that was beginning to get wet from the rain.
Challenge for Van der Poel
Mathieu Van der Poel comes down from the stage with the rest of his team.PA
The Bahrain opened a path that the rest of the teams followed for an hour. Were several cyclists who did not miss the opportunity and recorded the last meters of the ride and the presentation with their mobile phones. Xabier Usabiaga, journalist presenting the event and professional excicist, was in charge of engaging in conversation with the participants. Also to challenge them. TO Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin) reminded him that his father and grandfather won stages in races that ended in Vitoria and San Sebastián. The third in the saga, who has never raced in the Basque Country, picked up the glove with a smile.
The cyclists appreciated the support of the fans, even more so for enduring in the rain, and they also provided surprises for those who were waiting. The American Lawson Craddock dared with an irrintzi -ancestral cry that is now common in celebrations and traditions- and is Slovenian peter saga he put the public in his pocket by accessing the stage doing the wheelie.
The Basques and the duel Pogacar-Vingegaard
Vingegaard greets his Jumbo teammates before taking the floor.
The The cheeriest cyclists were the seven Basques who are part of the squad of 176 runners who will start the race on Monday. in Bilbao: Mikel Landa and Pello Bilbao (Bahrain), Jonathan Castroviejo and Omar Fraile (Ineos), Ion Izagirre (Cofidis), Gorka Izagirre and Alex Aranburu (Movistar). But among the fans there was expectation to set their eyes on Pogacar (UAE) and Vingegaard (Jumbo), the last to complete the presentation.
The applause, however, was widely distributed. Egan Bernal (Ineos) had them in all colors after greeting in Basque and assuring that the Basque “is the most beautiful fans”. pogacar, who in the UAE, is surrounded by a large group of Basque coaches and assistants, started with a “aupa Bilbao, aupa Athletic and gora Euskadi”. The Tour, just as he had done at the beginning of the act with Gino Mder, recalled at the end of the presentation to Txomin Perurenapassed away on June 8.
on the route of captains who preceded in the teams did not participate Miguel Indurain who had a special section just before the presentation of the Jumbo. The Navarrese, winner of 5 French rounds, stressed that “it is a pleasure to be in Bilbao. That the Tour comes to our doorstep will surely encourage many to ride a bicycle”, he stressed. The one from Villaba, who recognized that he already only has one of those lions that they give away on the podium, the one you saw as a leader because he gave them to the people who helped him get them, spoke of favorites: “Vingegaard won last year and he is the one who He has more options, but of those I’ve seen around here there are many runners who look very good”, he commented.
vingegaard I accepted the teacher’s theory. “It was very special to achieve that victory and it is just as special to start defending that jersey in front of such incredible fans”, whom he knows well since he is the last winner of the Tour of the Basque Country.
