科爾蒂納衝出職業生涯首勝

西班牙小將在美國最高級別的環加州如願以償

在篩選過後的小集團當中，具備速度優勢的科爾蒂納(Iván García Cortina)，把握了小集團衝刺的機會。決勝時刻，他修正過去的缺失，掌握終點前的決定性攻擊，全力輸出的西班牙小將，果真在加州如願以償。他的個人職業生涯首勝，就是一座世巡賽冠軍！

   「很高興車隊對我有十足的信心，在最後50公里為我領騎，當時我想著自己在這個賽段，很有機會拿下一座單站冠軍。」

  「因為我總是在衝刺時犯錯誤，像是提前幾百公尺就發起攻擊，我感覺在今天的最後階段更有耐心，設定正確的時間點，盡可能在最後一刻啟動。」

 「看到比賽剩下200公尺，我心想，這就是機會到來的時刻，於是我咬住里切茲(Maximiliano Richeze)的後輪，並且在最後的100公尺毫無保留！」

環加州第5站，是長達219公里的長距離賽段，且途中設有5座登山點，包含賽中的一級坡(5.9公里/6.8%)，對集團當中的速度好手構成考驗。本站的突圍集團聲勢浩大，在登山點的競逐後，主車群步步進逼，前線的攻勢一直延續到無名坡前，也就是終點前5公里左右才宣告終結。

然而，這座無名短坡(900公尺/9%)才是決勝的關鍵所在，先是斯蒂巴(zdenek štybar)發動進攻，接著伊基塔(Sergio Higuita)和本內特(George Bennett)在坡頂的出擊，一度跑出一個堅強的雙人小組，後方的大集團也在接連的攻勢後重組，一直到終點前，才陸續趕上他們的行列。

身著阿根廷國家冠軍衫，里切茲(Maximiliano Richeze)試圖在決勝時刻為阿斯格林(Kasper Asgreen)領騎，但當中的銜結並不順利，我們的科爾蒂納(Iván García Cortina)抓住機會，在關鍵時刻跟上老將的後輪，選定時機出擊的他，一舉衝下值得紀念的生涯首勝！

在加盟巴林美利達的第3年拿下首勝，無疑增添了他的信心，他也再次感謝隊友、家人和車迷朋友的支持，陪他走過選手生活的酸甜苦辣。對於像他這樣的非典型衝刺手而言，想要在賽場上發光並不容易，只有抓住艱難賽段的機會，才有機會在速度好手面前一展長才。

追尋偶像車手弗萊查(Juan Antonio Flecha)的腳步，本季的科爾蒂納，設定古典賽為最大目標，在接續的賽程中，他也將繼續全力為車隊付出，並且在重要的環賽中尋求機會，如同他在環加州做的一樣。本來就很喜歡加州的他，能在這裡拿下值得紀念的首勝，對他來說，是職業生涯意義重大的一刻。

原文：

After having scored podium results at the Vuelta a España and Paris-Nice, BAHRAIN MERIDA PRO CYCLING TEAM’s Ivan Cortina got to celebrate his first pro win at the end of the 5th stage of the Tour of California.

For the first time ever the BAHRAIN MERIDA PRO CYCLING TEAM sent a selection of six riders to the Tour of California as the only World Tour stage race held in the United States. Phil Bauhaus sprinted to two top10 finishes in those two early stages that were decided in bunch sprints with an 8th and a 7th place, both Rohan Dennis and Hermann Pernsteiner lost a bit of time to the strongest overall contenders in the more mountainous stages. With an overall distance of 218.5 kiometers, stage 5 leading from Pismo Beach to Ventura was not just a long ride, but also too demanding for pure sprinters. As a consequence, some sprinters tried their luck by joining a strong lead group that never got more than two and a half minutes advantage from the peloton. In this peloton the riders in red, gold and dark blue took over the responsibility to keep the group in check: Marcel Sieberg, Heinrich Haussler and Hermann Pernsteiner kept the speed up to make sure that the early attackers could be caught in the finale. And at first the gap between the lead group and the peloton came down as planned on the way to the finish in Ventura.

But then Tim Declerq as one of the biggest engines of that lead group decided to give it one last go, attacking on his own. But the final, tough climb into Ventura proved to be too much for the tall Belgian, and the following counter attacks from the likes of Zdenek Stybar, Rigoberto Uran and George Bennett got neutralized as well. On the other hand Ivan Cortina gave two hundred percents to keep himself in contention, supported by BAHRAIN MERIDA PRO CYCLING TEAM. He made it over the final climb, avoided any mistakes in the ensuing, twisting and technical descent to and kept his cool on the finish straight. With a perfect timing, he got out of the slip stream of Argentina’s Max Richeze as late as possible and put two bike lengths between him and his closest rival in the sprint. Thus the 23 sear-old from the Asturias region got to celebrate his first pro win in Ventura, having already missed out on a victory narrowly last fall and this spring repeatedly. Seen Ivan Cortina’s qualities this is likely a first win of many more to come. For his team it was the third victory of the season and the second in the World Tour after Jan Tratnik’s win in the prologue of the Tour de Romandie.

As for the 102nd edition of the Giro d’Italia, the BAHRAIN MERIDA PRO CYCLING TEAM has managed to protect Vincenzo Nibali perfectly thus far. Throughout a first week that saw a lot of rainy and cold days, the riders in red, gold and dark blue were often seen riding in the front of the pack in the finale in order to keep its captain out of harm’s way and crashes. This worked out as planned. Even when a crash far up front in the peloton brough down many overall contenders at the end of the 4th stage, Vincenzo Nibali managed to stay upright. Still he could not avoid losing 16 seconds to Primoz Roglic. Thanks to a very strong performance in the opening time trial in Bologna where Vincenzo Nibali surprised friend and foe by finishing in 3rd and leaving a lot of strong time trialists behind, the captain of the team is perfectly on schedule to contend for one of the podium spots in this year’s Giro d’Italia.

14TH TOUR OF CALIFORNIA, STAGE 5: PISMO BEACH - VENTURA, 218.5KM
1. Ivan Cortina, ESP/BAHRAIN MERIDA PRO CYCLING TEAM, in 4:56.11 hours
2. Max Richeze, ARG, st
3. Sergio Higuita, COL, st

102ND GIRO D’ITALIA, STAGE 1: BOLOGNA - MADONNA DI SAN LUCA, 8KM (ITT)
1. Primoz Roglic, SVN, in 12.54 minutes
2. Simon Yates, GBR, + 0.19
3. Vincenzo Nibali, ITA/BAHRAIN MERIDA PRO CYCLING TEAM, + 0.23