Juan José Lobato (Movistar) continued his fine start to the new season as he scorched to stage victory on the closing day of the 2015 Vuelta a Andalucia (Ruta Del Sol), while Chris Froome (Team Sky) safely negotiated the technical finale at Alhaurín de la Torre (2015 Ruta Del Sol) to seal the overall win, two seconds clear of his great rival Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo).
When the lurid yellow jerseys of Tinkoff-Saxo swarmed towards the front of the peloton in the closing kilometres, Contador seemed poised to attempt one of his famous ambushes in a bid to reverse his defeat to Froome atop the Alto de Allanadas the previous day.
In the event, however, Froome seemed as comfortable as it was possible to be in such nervous circumstances and he avoided any late surprises. He kept Contador within sight through the procession of roundabouts and road furniture on the run-in and stayed close, too, when the road kicked upwards in the final 1500 metres. For good measure, he finished the stage three places ahead of Contador in sixth.
The fireworks in the finale were instead provided by the irrepressible Lobato, who landed his second stage win of the race in the most emphatic of fashions by claiming the scalp of John Degenkolb (Giant-Alpecin) and underscoring his status as a dark horse contender for Milan-San Remo.
With 1200 metres remaining, just as the road began to ramp up towards the line, the young Belgian talent Edward Theuns (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise) zipped off the front of the peloton with a canny finisseur’s move, and he stoutly defended his advantage deep into the final 500 metres of the stage.
Rather than stand on ceremony, however, Lobato took matters in hand with almost 400 metres remaining, as he ripped clear of the bunch and set off in pursuit of Theuns. He swooped upon the youngster shortly before the crown of the final bend and then swept right by him to open a decisive lead.
Behind, Degenkolb was the only man with the wherewithal to come close to Lobato but he had simply left himself with far too much ground to make up. He finished in second place, but the gap was such that the timekeepers judged he had crossed the line with a deficit of one second to Lobato.
"You can never say you took an easy win, but to be honest, my team-mates made things quite easier for me this team," Lobato said. "Especially since they started to push, as well Javi as José, to keep things calmed down into the bunch and not to let the break go away much, and into the final kilometers, with Gorka keeping me in good position.
"There was some crosswind in the finale and, together with all nerves up and the fight for position... it all made the finish quite difficult. Still, I was telling Gorka to keep going until where he could, to stay calm, because I would look for my distance and give it the final shot."
2015 Ruta Del Sol
