The Katusha team scored a double day on the eve of the Ronde van Vlaanderen, as Pavel Brutt’s victory in the Limburg Classic was followed moments later by Dani Moreno’s in the GP Miguel Indurain. Both victories came as a result of breakaways, as Brutt - escaping from the first kilometre - managed to outsprint a group of four riders that bridged up to him, at the race finish in Eijsden, to the south of Maastricht. Moreno too managed to sprint away from his breakaway companions, to take victory at the race’s uphill finish in Estella, in the Basque region.
"I'm very happy with this victory,” said Brutt. “I felt in a good shape, I was in a breakaway from the beginning and in the end I was able to hold off the group by eight seconds.”
Brutt had originally escaped along with Bert-Jan Lindeman (Vacansoleil-DCM), but when the Dutchnman was unable to stay with him he continued alone. Simon Geschke (Argos-Oil Shimano), Daniel Schorn (NetApp), Pieter Serry (Topsport Vlaanderen) and Marc De Maar (UnitedHealthCare) bridged across to the lone Russian, and they just managed to hold off the charging peloton at the end.
“Actually, I thought they could reach us in the final circuit,” explained Brutt, “but when I saw they didn't manage to, I tried to anticipate my sprint and luckily my rivals were surprised and they couldn't catch me.
“I'm very pleased with this victory and my shape,” he added. “I had to withdraw from Tirreno-Adriatico because of flu, so I had to stop some days in order to recover. Thanks to this win I could prove to myself that this little hindrance didn't prevent me from preparing well.”
Moreno meanwhile, was only just able to catch up with a twelve-man group that escaped inside the final three kilometres of the 179.3km race. Having caught up though, the Spanish rider was able to surprise the others, which included his own teammate Eduard Vorganov, and solo to the uphill finish.
“The team did a great work from the beginning to the end,” said Moreno. “So if I won I have to thank all my teammates. I think the crucial moment of this race was in Muru's uphill, when the group of 12 attacked; I couldn't stay with them, but in the following descent I did a good job and I recovered. Then, in El Puy, I put in a good jump and I won.”
The race was characterised by a long breakaway from Julian Sanchez Pimienta (Caja Rural), Haritz Urrutia (Orbea), Jose Luis Cano (Andalucia) and David Belda Garcia (Burgos-BH), who managed to open up a lead of eight minutes, but were pulled back with 40km to go.
Moreno’s victory is his second of the season, after a stage of the Vuelta a Andalucía, as the Russian team’s Spanish contingent continues to shine.
“I'm very happy, because I finished last year winning my first stage in the Vuelta a Espana and the Giro del Piemonte, and this season I began with some victories too,” he said. “That gives me strong motivations for keeping this good shape. We started this week of Spanish cycling really well; Vuelta al Pais Vasco is important for me, my teammate Joaquim Rodriguez and for the whole team, it's a good competition for our characteristics, so we want to reach some good results.”
Result Limburg Classic/Hel van het Mergelland
1. Pavel Brutt (Rus) Katusha Team
2. Simon Geschke (Ger) Argos-Oil Shimano
3. Daniel Schorn (Aut) Team NetApp
4. Pieter Serry (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator @ 4s
5. Marc De Maar (AHo) UnitedHealthCare Pro Cycling @ 5s
6. Rüdiger Selig (Ger) Katusha Team @ 8s
7. Pim Ligthart (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM
8. Alexei Tsatevich (Rus) Katusha Team
9. Sacha Modolo (Ita) Colnago-CSF Inox
10. Rafaâ Chtioui (Tun) Team Europcar
Result GP Miguel Indurain
1. Daniel Moreno (Spa) Katusha Team
2. Mikel Landa (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi @ 2s
3. Angel Madrazo (Spa) Movistar Team @ 7s
4. Rui Costa (Por) Movistar Team
5. Dominik Nerz (Ger) Liquigas-Cannondale @ 9s
6. Sergio Paulinho (Por) Saxo Bank @ 14s
7. Danail Petrov (Bul) Caja Rural @ 17s
8. Damiano Caruso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale @ 23s
9. David Zabriskie (USA) Garmin-Barracuda
10. Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Katusha Team