Yesterday’s script repeats itself

The Škoda Titan Desert Almería 2025 entered cinematic territory today in the Tabernas area. Western and desert terrain. And if today’s stage was a sequel to yesterday’s, the script was certainly very similar on both days.

And yet today was a day that, in principle, had little to do with yesterday. The UNIVERSAE stage moved away from Cabo de Gata and the El Toyo wadis to enter the mountains and trial trails of Sierra de la Alhamilla.

But the stage unfolded and ended in the same way. Luis León Sánchez and Luis Ángel Maté, two former road professionals and good friends, led the race from start to finish, riding side by side all the way to the finish line. They were joined for many kilometers by Luisle’s teammate at Cleardent, Pablo Guerrero.

In the end, the winner was ‘El Lince’, whom Luis León let win without fighting the sprint. Maté acknowledged at the finish line that he saw the rider from Murcia as ‘very strong’ and that tomorrow his lead could be in jeopardy in the queen stage in Velefique.

However, KH7 rider continues to hold onto the ‘king of the mountain’ title, which accredits him as the fastest climber of the Almeria colossus. An achievement he accomplished last year and still holds today. He also retains the red jersey that establishes him as the leader of the race, four seconds ahead of ‘Luisle’, and which the rest of the cyclists will have to fight to take away from him.

And if the men’s script repeated the format, the women’s was no different. Natalia Fischer, calmer and more adapted to the race than yesterday, repeated her victory and further extended her lead over Pilar Fernández, her closest rival in the GC.

The Estepona native enjoyed herself today. In a stage of constant ups and downs, far from yesterday’s sandy terrain. She found her stride and rode in groups of cyclists who could keep up with her pace. And what a pace it was.

The Ecopilas Extremadura cyclist has once again entered the top 30 in the GC, over 20 minutes ahead of ‘Pili’. Her overall lead has increased to over 40 minutes.

Everything could be decided tomorrow, in the Škoda We Love Cycling stage that will pit Fischer against Velefique for the first time. It is a treacherous, extremely tough mountain pass that the Andalusian admits she has never climbed, even though it is quite close to her home.

It remains to be seen whether the queen stage will follow the same script as the first two or whether it will hold any surprises. In any case, it looks like Tabernas will once again deliver a trilogy for the history books.