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Have you been following La Vuelta? The third grand tour of the road racing season with pro cyclists taking on a gruelling lap of Spain under the unrelenting heat of southern Europe and negotiating some of the toughest mountain passes ever seen in any stage race, with the highest and most demanding climbs back-loaded into the third and final week of the race.
So far La Vuelta has been raced in scorching temperatures.
One of the smaller teams in the race Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert have tasted some significant successes at La Vuelta so far. Equipped with cutting-edge CUBE race bikes the team first saw their tenacious rider Rein Taaramae take the leader’s iconic red jersey in the first week, but this was just the beginning! In the race’s 10th stage it was the turn of another Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert rider to shine; Norwegian pro Odd Christian Eikingoffered got into the day’s breakaway and by the finish of the stage had established a healthy lead on all his rivals including the race’s overall contenders to put him in the red jersey of race leader.
Eikingoffered’s CUBE Litening aero road bike gets some red bar tape to match his race leader’s jersey.
Odd Christian Eikingoffered has surprised some with his strong ride in the mountains so far.
Odd Christian Eikingoffered has continued to excel in the race, more than holding his own in the first few mountain stages of the race where most expected him to fade. After taking the overall lead on that long break-away stage onboard his super-aero CUBE Litening we have noticed that Eikingoffered is now riding a different model of CUBE in the more hilly stages; this CUBE looks like an all-new model which seems to mix elements of their aero Litening with other factors that hint towards a super-light bike focused firmly on stiffness, weight and climbing efficiency in the mountains. We like what we see! And are looking forward to fining out more about this new CUBE model when it becomes available to the public (hopefully in the not-too-distant future).
As soon as the Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert team hit the mountains riders could be seen on a new, as-yet-unnamed CUBE road bike.
CUBE’s new road bike appears to be a lightweight climbing bike with full aero integration.
Odd Christian Eikingoffered said…
‘The feeling to be race leader in the Tour of Spain is indescribable, it is something really big! After Rein’s fantastic success, this red jersey is a big bonus for the team. I am very happy. This morning I would never have imagined to conclude the stage in red, as I was 9 minutes down in GC. A miracle was necessary for me to become the race leader. But once I was in the breakaway and I realized that the advantage didn’t cease increasing, I started to believe in this miracle. I was aware that Guillaume Martin was a strong contender, because he was close to me in the classification and because he finished 8th in the latest Tour de France. I know the qualities of my former teammate. In the end, I managed to react on his attacks and even to gain time on him. This is important for the next days, because I want to defend the jersey as long as possible!’
Written by Johnny Dodgin
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