Jose is not in his best form. This is how it has to be according to the planning that tha Catalan rider has designed. His most important goals in the season are still a few weeks away and nobody can be in top form the whole year. However, Jose is one of the favourite riders in any competition he takes part in, regardless of what his objectives are. Thus, Jose was one of the main riders in Haifa.

The start of the race was good, with Hermida comfortably positioned in the top ten in the first meters of the start loop, which featured a squared format with a roundabout in each of its corners. But in the first of those roundabouts, something happened: “we were leading and we started ride the roundabout to the right, riding the whole circumference, in the direction a car would. Suddenly we have seen that the rest of the peloton were cutting the circle riding to the left, with many less meters to ride. After that, we were the last riders, and I mean really the last”.

Jose has not tried to use that as an excuse and he has been critical with himself. “A rider with my experience cannot make mistakes like that. I am really upset with myself”, admitted the rider from Puigcerdà.

After finding himself in the last positions, Hermida has been pushing dramatically to get to the front group, being in 13th position after the first lap, almost a minute behind the race leaders. However, he has gone through some critical moments caused by that effort. He has had to slow down his pace: “I was dead and it has taken me more than a lap to recover from that crazy first lap. I have thought of quitting the race, but the guys I was riding with were not faster, so I decided to wait and see if the sensations were getting better”.

And they have been better. In the last 3 laps, Hermida has been riding at the same pace as the leaders and has been passing riders until he has got to the top 5. In fact, all the time he has lost in the race has been in the first two laps, due to the roundabout mistake and the later crisis. After that, Jose has taken the best in him and has prooved why he has been Elite European Champion 3 times and why he won the silver medal last year.

The Multivan-Merida rider made a comparison between his season and the Tour de France. “In the Tour they always say that there is still a long way until getting to Paris. And then I say that there is still a long way to Canada and the Worlds. I will really be 100% there”, states the Spanish team leader..

Next week, Hermida will be at the Nationals in Barcelona, where he will defend the Spanish Champion jersey he won last year in the same circuit.