Seewald and Stosek, first leaders of the GARMIN Andalucía Bike Race. Ariane Lüthi and Amy Wakefield, take the victory in the women's category and wear the first white jersey.
The duo made up of Wout Alleman and Fabian Rabensteiner took second place, just seconds from the lead.
The first of the six stages of the 12th edition of the Andalucía Bike Race by GARMIN took place in Jaén and at the Olivo Arena. A journey of just over 60 km, but with 2.729 m, marked by the high temperatures and spectacular views that surround Jaén.
The first few sequences were frantic at the head of the race to the climb commonly known as El Pincho. “The start was crazy, but we did it well. We took the lead at “El Pincho” and in the middle of the climb we managed to gain some margin. From there we cycled alone, without taking many risks to get to the finish line. Overall, we had good sensations throughout the stage ", Seewald said after arriving at the finish.
Behind them, Wout Alleman and Fabien Rabensteiner (WILIER-PIRELLI FACTORY TEAM MX) managed to finish second only 1 minute and 40 minutes later and Martin Frey and Simon Stiebjahn (Singer Racing Team) climbed to the third podium, after one very tight sprint against José Días and Hans Becking (BUFF Megamo Team).
"We made an excellent first stop. We immediately managed to stay in the leading group and keep the pace, finishing close to the front, but above all we know that the race is still long and we have many stages ahead of us. Today's route was very hard with a lot of climbing, but also technical downhill trails, which allowed us to have a lot of fun riding our Wilier Triestina URTA SLR". - Wout Alleman
"Today Wout was really strong, he was always pushing and I found the right leg to keep up with him. My form is growing and I am very confident for the next stages, it will be a good race". - Fabian Rabensteiner.
With a script very similar to that of Seewald and Stosek, Lüthi and Wakefield covered the last part of the stage alone, arriving at the finish line with a 10-minute lead over their rivals Stefanie Dohrn and Lejla Tanovic, second in this stage. Behind them, Irina Lützelschwab and Janine Schneider completed the podium in third place.
STAGE RANKING AND GENERAL RANKING - MEN'S CATEGORY
Andreas Seewald - Martin Stosek CANYON NORTHWAVE MTB TEAM 02:43:20
Wout Alleman - Fabien Rabensteiner WILIER-PIRELLI FACTORY TEAM MX 02:45:00
Martin Frey - Simon Stiebjahn Singer Racing Team 02:48:31
STAGE RANKING AND GENERAL RANKING - WOMEN CATEGORY
Amy Wakefield - Ariane Lüthi Symbtech / Pump for Peace 03:35:24
Stefanie Dohrn - Lejla Tanovic Canyon Northwave - Allebike Team 03:44:20
Irina Lützelschwab - Janine Schneider Team BULLS / doc.oliday.com 02:44:31
