"I lost my stability and hit the barriers" - Sergio Higuita explains Itzulia Basque Country incident near finish
Cycling
Sergio Higuita had the strength yesterday in the third stage of the Itzulia Basque Country to have disputed the race with Jonas Vingegaard. He looked good in the final ultra-steep ramps of stage 3, but he had a mishap that made him stop and lost any chance of victory.
The key was that Higuita chose to go on the inside to overtake Juan Pedro Lopez who was a few meters ahead and was losing power. The Spanish rider was practically stopped due to the high gradient of the final climb and Higuita found himself without a gap between the Trek-Segafredo rider and the fences, which almost caused a crash and left the victory on a plate to Vingegaard. Higuita and then Richard Carapaz had to put a foot down, and Enric Mas was touched as well in the moment.
This is how the Colombian BORA - hansgrohe rider explained what happened after the stage: "I wanted to set the pace in the last 300 meters. So I tried to attack then and I moved on the right side to pass and then I lost my stability and hit the barriers. It was bad luck, it was a very good opportunity for us."
He finished the stage in 15th place 20 seconds down on Vingegaard, but remains an outsider for the overall classification.
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- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- What a race! I didn't expect Vanthourenhout to collapse like that, and Wyseure did take the fight to Nys, but there was no doubt at the end. I also wonder what Aubin Sparfel would be capable of were he to race in the elites now. In the U23 ranks he is making good work of Giel Lejeune, who himself is among the better riders in the elites, and a top 10 contender in the big races (3rd at Kleebergcross, 8th at Berencross and 5th at Heerderstrand). In the French Cup, Sparfel is significantly better than Romain Debord (8th at Koppenbergcross and 10th at the Euros) and Rémi Lelandais (12th at Koppenbergcross and 19th at the Euros).
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
- Thibau Nys does exactly what Iserbyt is calling forRafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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🇪🇸 #Itzulia2023 @HiguitSergio crosses the line in 16th place, 20 seconds behind the stage winner Vingegaard.
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