German Powerslide Matter World Team skater FELIX RIJHNEN and Spanish Agrupación Deportiva San Juan skater MAITE ANCÍN were the winners of the first stage of the P2P 2019, the Zubiri - Pamplona.
After 21.7 kilometers of race both victories were decided by sprint at the finish line of the Avenida Carlos III in Pamplona. By only three thousandths of a second, the recently proclaimed European Marathon Champion Felix Rijhnen beat Patxi Peula from Vitoria in a finish 500 meters before, on the Cuesta del Labrit, by the Spanish skater. Third was the French runner Elton De Souza just one meter behind the first two.
The women's sprint took place just two minutes after the boys and was launched at the same point as in the men's category, in the long climb of the last kilometer entering the city of Pamplona at the foot of its centenary walls. In the last left turn just 30 meters before the finish line, a slip by the Colombian Aura Quintana prevented her from disputing the final sprint with the Navarrese Maite Ancín, who won ahead of Quintana and the European Marathon champion, her teammate Maialen Oñate.
The race was vibrant, with a peloton of 30 skaters ahead in which the French Timothy Loubineaud and Felix Rijhnen, teammates, alternated breakaway attempts neutralized by the large group. In the flying finish of Zabaldica the first place went to Patxi Peula in a very tight intermediate sprint. The victory in the women's category went to Maite Ancín.
The second peloton of the race included all the favorites for the win, skidding about a kilometer behind the first race group. Ahead the peloton was given a few kilometers of respite as it crossed Huarte and Villava, a point that French rider Thibaut Fauconnet took advantage of to try to get a breakaway that would thwart the final sprint. This was not the case despite the effort of the Indian rider Amitesh Mishra two kilometers from the finish line. Finally, in the last kilometer, the sprint was launched and elucidated in the photo finish with victory for Rijhnen ahead of Peula and De Souza.
The group of skaters reached the Cuesta del Labrit, where Maite Ancín set a steady pace to the finish line and took the victory.