The Asturian town of Avilés opened the Spanish national mountain bike calendar with the first Superprestigio Massi cross country event. It rained on Sunday morning before the race, and the elite women, masters and juniors started in wet conditions that would turn into mud for the rest of the day.
World champion Marga Fullana won the elite women's race convincingly. "I did not know how I would be physically, but I went better than expected," she said after the race.
"The Avilés circuit is always tough, but today it was even more so. I knew I might run into mechanical trouble by changing gears, so once my position was well established in the lead, I tried to take no risks."
Over the first few kilometers, Fullana distanced herself from her rivals and opened a gap of more than one minute over teammate Anna Villar, who finished a comfortable second place. After the second lap, Villar suffered a mechanical that would force her to drop to fourth place. Sandra Santanyes (Cemelorca-Trek) finished second while Cristina Mascarreras (Conor- La Siesta) was third.
In the men's race, a group of six riders formed the lead group after the first two laps. Sergio Mantecon (Cemelorca-Trek) attacked this bunch and rode his own rhythm to a win. Carlos Coloma (MSC Bikes) and Iñaki Lejarreta (Orbea) completed the podium.
Sue George is an editor at Cyclingnews. She coordinates all of the site's mountain bike race coverage and assists with the road, 'cross and track coverage.
