The Briton saved his overall victory for twelve seconds at the last minute by resisting as best he could to Spain’s Pablo Torres on the terrible Colle delle Fenestre.
A climber is born. Eighteen-year-old Spaniard Pablo Torres was it. He had already suggested that he was the best climber in this 60th edition of the Tour de l’Avenir by winning on Thursday in the resort of Les Karellis. He gave a dazzling demonstration of this on the terrible slopes of the Colle delle Fenestre, finishing in an almost unreal setting at the top of an 18 kilometre climb of exceptional difficulty, concluded by eight kilometres of gravel road.
A strategic error, combined with a certain weakness in the Spanish team, meant that he lost the yellow jersey, and seemingly any chance of success, on the Mont-Cenis stage on Friday, which turned everything upside down. But it was more than just a last-ditch effort by the young Spaniard on the Colle delle Finestre. He had nearly four minutes to make up on British yellow jersey Joseph Blackmore. He was only twelve seconds short at the finish line where the Briton, smoothing out his effort, saved the essential in a suspense at the top, so to speak.
Nonetheless, Pablo Torres put in a particularly impressive climbing performance, a real flight of fancy that will not go unnoticed.
In the meantime, Joseph Blackmore, who is three years older than Torres and is already competing at World Tour level with the Israel Premier Tech team, has confirmed his qualities as an all-terrain rider, as his victories in the Tour of Rwanda, the Circuit des Ardennes and even more so in Liège-Bastogne-Liège have already shown.
The Briton also remained under real threat from Dutch rider Tijmen Graat, who took 3rd place on the final podium at the expense of Frenchman Léo Bisiaux, who finished 4th, a very promising performance for a first year hopeful.
All in all, this 60th edition of the Tour de l’Avenir looks to be an excellent vintage, with a British rider winning for the first time and a Spanish climber who is as attractive as he is promising.
