Just after the start, Hermida realized his brakes were not working. He was able to ride as fast as the main riders in the uphill sections but descents were just impossible to be ridden. The rider from Puigcerdà, who spent the first half of the race between the sixth and 10th spot, stopped at the technical area and tightened the disc brake calipers. This adjustment gave the ideal performance to his brakes allowing him to ride two incredible last laps that not only took him to podium positions, but even to a second final spot. In the penultimate lap, Hermida did the second best time, while in the last lap, he was the fastest by more than 30 seconds, decreasing in 1:20 the gap between him and the the winner, Geoff Kabusch.

Hermida feels satisfied with the result and with the strategy he had to plan on the bike: “The circuit was tough and dangerous due to the heavy rain. It took me just a few meters of the first descent to realize that something was not OK. My brakes were not working and the downhill sections were a hell; I could just ride straight. After two crashes, I decided to stop in the technical area. It was a 30 seconds investment in order to be able to ride the rest of the race a few minutes faster. I thouht it was worth it. The last lap has been thrilling; it was now the time for me to go fast in the descents, while the other riders had ran out of brakes. What a feeling! My team mate Näf has been third and we have won the team classification, what is a great result for the Multivan-Merida team ”, explainsHermida.

With this second place, Hermida is now second in the World Cup overall standings. Moreover, this is the the last of a poker of great results achieved in the last 4 weekends: 2nd in the European Champs, victory in the Spanish National Championships and two second spots in a row in the last two World Cups. Not bad at all…