Perez prevails in the hills

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Santi Pérez (La Loulé-Louletano) won the one-day Subida al Naranco race in the Northern Spain on Tuesday.

Defending champion Romain Sicard (Euskatel-Euskadi) showed his cards too early and found himself in one of the day's first breakaway, although it came to nothing.

Conversely, Perez got into a large move which proved to be the definitive escape and the he was one of the favourites to prevail in the absence of Sicard, Ezequiel Mosquera (Xacobeo Galicia) and Angel Vicioso (Andalucía Cajasur).

The nearly 30 riders quickly established a large lead, despite the efforts to reduce the advantage by Sicard's Euskatel-Euskadi teammates. The group was whittled down over the climbs as the race wore on and was reduced and to those who would fight for the win in Naranco.

As the race neared the finished it was Andrés A Antuña (Burgos 2016), Perez, Portuguese rider André Cardoso (Palmeiras), Colombian rider Luis Felipe Laverde (Colombia Es Pasion) and Italian Pasquale Muto (Miche). The last two were the first to attack although their efforts were countered by the men behind.

As Perez hit the final kilometre he hit out hard, building an eight-second lead and managing to overcome Antuña and Laverde in the final metres.

Perez finished second in the 2004 Vuelta a España, while riding for the Phonak team but later tested positive for blood doping along with teammate Tyler Hamilton and his name was removed from official results.

In 2006, he was also implicated in Operacion Puerto. After serving a ban, he returned to racing in 2007 and has since raced with small Portuguese teams.

Perez is from the Asturias region of Spain where the Subida al Naranco is held. He will now be the favourite for the five-day Vuelta Asturias stage race that begins on Wednesday.

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