Jose has spent the whole week in German field, after racing in the Bundesliga held at Heubach last weekend, where he was third. The Multivan-Merida rider was defending the leader jersey and the number 1 in his bike in Offenburg, although he was aware that this was going to be a very complicated race. “There has been a lot of psychological war. We all knew that the rider winning here would become the leader. Or to say in another way, that any rider who wanted to rule the overall would need to win today, as the differences in the classification were really small. And winning is not easy at all, in a group of riders with such a big level”, commented Jose after the race.

Jose has spent the race in the chasing group, with Absalon and Schurter, riding in front. In the last two laps, the Catalan rider has lost contact with that group and has battled to get as many points as possible. “I have not had a good day. Absalon was unreachable and I did not have the punch I had at Houffalize. I have suffered a lot. In lap 4, I have gone through a crisis, thinking that I was losing the leadership, but I have had to recover from those thoughts and repeated to me that there are still three races left. I am still alive in the overall. Moreover, we are leading in the team classification”, explained the brave rider.

Thus, Jose has ended the first part of the season, in which he has won the Houffalize World Cup and a stage in the Cape Epic. Now it is time to recover and regenerate, after having achieved the first peak of the seson.