After a very long night we got up to a cloudy and partly rainy day. Two cars joined us in our pull-out spot. I took a walk down to the bottom of the hill and the parking area there was completely full.
I believe they are mostly hikers rather than cycling fans as this seems to be an area that’s part of a system with many walking trails.
We spent a quiet morning waiting for the race to arrive for the first pass.
A couple of motorcycles joined our group at the side of the road, and the race arrived for the first time just after lunch around 2:14.
The breakaway was fairly large, with Remco tucked in the middle.
The peloton arrived about 5 minutes later with Jumbo at the front.
More fans arrived as we waited for the second pass.
We once again saw our ‘hairy friend’ (as we call him) on his photo-moto just before the breakaway arrived for the second time.
We’ve met him several times now over the last years, starting at the Tour of Burgos in 2018. We’ve seen him at the world championship in Harrogate, and several other times since, sometimes having brief conversations or at least a quick wave as he goes by.
After the breakaway and the peloton had gone by for the second time we took down the flags and got on our way. We weren’t slowed down much by the ‘after race’ traffic and made it to a nice aire in the town of Valdepeñas for the night. Coincidentally it was the same town that we stopped at on the way north to get some groceries.
An early start the next morning allowed us to get home in the early afternoon in time for lunch – it’s great to be home!
Oh – Jumbo Visma swept the podium in the end, with Sepp Kuss taking the top spot (well deserved) and his teammates Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic joining him. Jumbo have won all three grand tours this year – a major feat.
Sally McKenzie's European Adventures 
Looks like a great race and a fun time!
LikeLike