"It is really difficult specially when we race against riders like Remco" - Simone Velasco comes close to first victory in Italian tricolore at Figueira Champions Classic

The Figueira Champions Classic was a race headlined by Remco Evenepoel from start to finish, but behind some quality figures took the opportunity. Simone Velasco finished on the podium of the Portuguese classic and comes closer to his first win as the Italian national champion.

The Astana Qazaqstan Team rider was one of the riders who survived the many sharp and explosive climbs that the Portuguese race had to offer, managing to find himself in the chasing group behind Remco Evenepoel after the three laps that were raced around Figueira da Foz. Together with Christian Scaroni, the two riders from the Kazakh team worked together to find themselves in a position to fight for the podium - and ultimately, Velasco was only beaten by Vito Braet.

"Yeah I will try to take finally a win with this special jersey, but it is really difficult specially when we race against riders like Remco," Velasco said in words to CyclingUpToDate. "Today Remco was impressive, and we try to do our best and finally we took a podium that is good, it's good enough." With a smart ride, the 28-year old packed the necessary punch he needed for a sprint and a motivating trip to the podium.

With this result, he puts himself in a position of leadership into the Volta ao Algarve, where he will have opportunities to show his worth on the summit finishes to the Alto da Fóia and Alto do Malhão. "I have to wait to increase the shape, and I think we will try again to do something, something good," he concluded.

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