April 17, 2007

SAUNIER DUVAL PRODIR wins Tour of Basque Country

Cobo takes SAUNIER DUVAL-PRODIR to the highest spot on the Basque podium!

Juanjo Cobo (SAUNIER DUVAL-PRODIR) has defended yesterday´s win in stage 6 of the 47th Vuelta al País Vasco in impressive fashion. Today, he clocked the third best time in the 14km individual time-trial with the start and the finish line in Oiartzun. Samuel Sánchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) crossed the line with the best time and took the stage, but the "red bird" man from Cantabria knew how to make the best of his battle against the clock: brilliantly showcasing his strength, Cobo finished just 4 seconds behind Sánchez, and gained 37 seconds over Ángel Vicioso (Relax-GAM), whom he led yesterday by just one second. This smart move secured the Basque Tour for SAUNIER DUVAL-PRODIR, who showed excellent teamwork throughout the week. The yellow festival in the individual classification was highlighted by the team finishing at the top of the leaderboard in the teams classification, with an advantage of more than 10 minutes over Caisse d´Épargne, in the runner-up spot.

"Winning this race is awesome!," exclaimed Cobo when the event was over. "I came here in good shape, thinking I would work for Marchante and Koldo Gil. But I took the lead on day one already and I felt I could make it. Earlier today, everybody was telling me I should take it easy, that I had already done enough. Winning the tour of the Basque Country, however, is quite something - it can be a turning point in a cyclist´s career. I believe I´ve shown I can win any one-week event in the future."