Alex Díaz (Baqué) finished 36th in the Liège-Bastogne-Liège espoirs (under-23), 58 seconds behind the winner, Romain Gregorie (Groupama FDJ Continental). The 20-year-old from Urretxuarra remained in the leading group until the last slope, about three kilometers from the finish line. He finished satisfied: «I am looking forward to next year in this test, and for the races that come now. I feel good and I’m very happy with the experience.”
Díaz found differences with the usual calendar: «It runs more professional. In Euskadi we go to fire all the time and here in the first two hours we were quite slow. Then it got really tight and we went full throttle. There is a lot of difference racing with the Continental and WorldTour development teams.”
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Lieja-Bastogne-Lieja hopes (sub-23)
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1. R. Grégoire (Groupama) 4h21
15 -
2
Lennert van Eetvelt (Lotto) mt -
3
Gwen Leclainche (CC Étupes) m.t. -
4
Aloïs Charrin (Swiss) m.t. -
5
Mason Hollyman (Israel) m.t. -
36
Alex Diaz (Baque) at 58
Its director, the zizurkildarra Ander Altuna, confirmed that «it was a very tough race, much more than we thought it was going to be. It was a pickaxe for the Continental teams. We knew they were a level above us, but it broke more than we thought, and Alex made a run.” Only 56 cyclists finished.
