Since the times of the Second Punic War when the most powerful Rome had to fight against the ferocious Cartago, Sagunto hadn’t seen such battles in its fertile fields as the ones we could watch take place in the Valencian region of El camp de Morvedre these last days.
  Sagunto, well known for its historic beauty washed by the waters of the river Palancia, as well as for the strong character of its inhabitants, was the starting point for this exciting new tour of the Top Division of OCM, where 20 of the best teams of the division showed their strength and, more than once, their weaknesses too. The hardship of these 6 stages has been felt by riders, coaches and the public that dared to show up at the Spanish roads. One of the best examples of the pain felt by the peloton is Yoaquin Sporleda, the great sprinter from Costa Rica, who has finished the tour despite riding with an injury from the beginning. Usually, only winners receive media attention and the public support, but today we want to congratulate him for his efforts and for being able to finish ahead three riders in the last stage.
  
  But let's see how things went on the top of the table. If we look at the Spanish press, Belgium has won. And although that’s not exactly true, obviously, we can’t deny that they have some reason to feel this way. The Belgian Wit Feaux from IGF, proud and happy first winner of La Vuelta de los Castillos, not only has won the General Classification with a fantastic advantage of 1’18’’ to the next rider (his fellow countryman Chris Bauwens of Team Crazy Downhillers), but he is also the winner of the Sprinting Classification (with more than 50 points of difference with the second, Winfried Reinhold of Equipo Easy On).
  His dominance is also reflected in the stages individual results. Only once he has fallen to be among the top five, but this well balanced rider (who entered the race on top form too) has managed to be fighting for each point and each second at every moment of each stage. He has suffered most in Morella’s hilly stage, and he fell until the 7th place while Winfried Reinhold (EEO) scored a well deserved win ahead of Conrado Fraga (Team Trilla) and the young revelation of the tour, Chris Bauwens (TCD). But with his victory in the second stage and his more than decent performance at the ITT stage that finished the tour, he secured his first position to win the first edition of this tour.
  
  At the same time, another Belgian rider, Chris Bauwens (TCD) has managed to become the first among the youngest, as many had predicted, with almost 10

minutes of difference with Marijn Molhoek of Yuri SuperTeam. Clearly, Bauwens’ triumph amongst the youngest added to the scoring of a very important second place in the GC, shows this rider will probably bring us some great races in the future. He has shown his teeth to the peloton and never more he will be considered a young rascal anymore.
  
  More riders deserve to be mentioned in this review, as they will be remembered for ever in the region that many centuries ago saw a brave soldier conquer its capital from the enemy. In the same way that El Cid fought tirelessly, they have ridden their bikes through the hard Valencia’s terrain, and OCM should pay tribute to them too.
  In the first stage, Avery Nijholt of Greenride savored the sweet taste of victory, as he triumphed over the other riders in this atypical sprinting stage. Rytis Kondrotas, the Lithuanian rider of Red Star, was second and Wit Feaux (IGF) already showed his strength securing the third position, while Jacenty Kaczmarczyk (The Killers) and Garcia Dabino (Legia) finished closest to the podium.
  
  After the hard cobbled first stage that brought the race to Sagunto’s Castel, place of hard fought battles that the race brought back to us, the second stage with its hard hills, climbs and downhills, tempted the peloton to give up and go back home before arriving to the Castle of Villamalefa. But Wit Feaux (IGF) showed his winner face, as well as the other riders who fought for a good position in the classification: Chris Bauwens (TCD) was second, Zack Davie (NECFTW) third, Joop Daems (Yuri Super Team) fourth, and Garcia Dabino the rider of the Balearic Islands of Legia, who would later get injured, finished fifth.
  The fight continued next day with the 194 kilometers of flat roads best suited for the Sprinting kings of the peloton that brought the Tour from Villamalefa to Castellón. Jens Waesbergen (The Killers) won a stage with glory taste for his team, but Wit Feaux (IGF) wasn’t intimidated at all and arrived shortly after. Winfried Reinhold (EEO) also showed his strength securing the last position of the podium, while Riel Benet, the Colombian rider from canutes, and Spiridon Apetri (Equipe Hollandia), our favorite Romanian bald rider of the peloton, finished fourth and fifth, very close to the touch of glory.
  Next day, when the 203 km between La Vall d’Uixó and Morella, started to show its climbs, many riders felt they shouldn’t be there. The three first mountains were passed without much pain, but when the fourth arrived, the peloton wanted to be over with it already. The whole peloton? Surely not, as a selected group of

strong climbers where having the greatest of the times climbing the steep and hard climbs of the stage, to later descend at incredible speed the crazy downhills of the stage. With almost no flat roads, the weakest started to fall behind, and when the riders arrived to the finishing climb, only the best of the best managed to survive. Yes, the King Stage is hard and the victory here has a better taste than anywhere else. It’s only necessary to watch the faces of the winning trio of that day to understand it. Zack Davie (NECFTW), the Aussie with the craziest hairdo, reached the top of the podium. Behind fall Desmond Ledgerwood from Luveaucek and Chris Bauwens (TCD). This three names are already engraved in the memory of those roads. Wit Feaux (IGF) and Joop Daems, of Yuri Super Team, almost tasted the sweet taste of glory, but they should be happy with their 4th and 5th places too.
  On a small note about the end of the classification, Yoaquin Sporleda (The Killers) managed to advance 5 other riders and finished 115th of the peloton. When many thought of giving up, he set his own pace despite his injury and left behind other riders who, clearly, didn’t have his strength of mind.
  After all the pain caused by the King Stage, the Morella-Morella stage felt as relief for most riders. Winfried Reinhold (EEO), Conrado Fraga (Team Trilla) and Chris Bauwens (TCD), again, got to the podium while most riders used the opportunity given by the flat roads to recover from their wounds. Borys Bednarski from Kremer and Joos Valkenaers from Team Unibet weren’t among those, and their fight gave them the closest spots to the podium.
  And finally the Vinaròs - Castillo de Peñíscola ITT arrived. Jammy Verbeeck (IGF) won ahead of other riders who some could have considered favorites, but his balanced stats and his never ending stamina gave him this victory in the last stage of the Tour. Elton Lonergan of Johny2 and Wit Feaux (IGF) completed the podium, while Joop Daems (Yuri Super Team) and Conrado Fraga (Team Trilla) didn’t manage to reach it this time.
  
  
  The hardship of the race has shown the best and the worst from the peloton, and has given glory to some chosen by the gods of cycling. But most are left to lick their wounds on their own while the season continues and their teams want them to start riding very soon. Even if fans of OCM will only remember the name of those chosen, mountains, valleys and stones of Spain will remember forever those brave riders who dared to ride through its roads. And that kind of glory lasts forever.
  
  Written by pundit Blanca from Mandragora to OCM Magazine