Alexey Lutsenko (Astana-Qazaqstan) attacked away from a six-man breakaway group to ride to solo victory at the 78th edition of the Circuito de Getxo-Memorial Hermanos Otxoa 2023, his 36th pro career victory.
With 16km of the race remaining Lutsenko attacked from the day’s main breakaway group containing Simone Velasco (Astana-Qazaqstan), Toms Skujiņš (Lidl-Trek), Tony Gallopin (Lidl-Trek), Eduard Prades (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA) and Matteo Trentin (UAE Team Emirates).
Lutsenko avoided disaster as he took the wrong turn at a roundabout with 12km remaining, losing at least 15 seconds of his advantage. However, he managed to navigate back to the course and hold onto his advantage entering the final 10km.
Lutsenko held his advantage and entered the aggressive final ramp of the course with an advantage of just over 30 seconds on the group of chasers, themselves fending off a chase from Trentin who had been dropped kilometres earlier.
From that group, Tony Gallopin attacked his breakaway companions to take second place, while Lutsenko’s teammate Velasco took third place in the Basque one-day 193.3km race that honours the memory of the Otxoa brothers.
After the finish, Lutsenko thanked his team for the support in the breakaway and control of the peloton.
Second place Gallopin also spoke after the finish. “I’ve only just finished the Tour de France and I’m tired," he said. "The team wanted me to ride at the front, and it was a big surprise for me, I wasn’t expecting to have a race like that - I was planning to work for the team and Tom Skujiņš.
“Lutsenko was the strongest, that's the point. When we came on the flat in the end we could see that we could not come back on him. So I said to Tom we have to be on the podium.
"To finish second here is a big emotion and big surprise... the best way I can go out of the País Vasco here," he added.
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