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David de la Cruz Secures 2nd Overall at Giro d’Abruzzo
David de la Cruz held on to his second place on the final day with Sjoerd Bax sprinting to a second place in the final stage.
18 April 2025
The Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team lined up for a hard, second edition of the Giro d’Abruzzo, a four-day stage race in Italy with David de la Cruz, Damien Howson, Walter Calzoni, Sjoerd Bax, Nicoló Parisini and Harm Vanhoucke. The goal was to go for a result in the general classification and with David de la Cruz coming second, this objective was met.
“It’s nice to be back on the podium,” David says after the ceremony finished. “But when you are in second place you always want to be first. It was close in time and I think I left it on the opening stage where I had to leave a small gap in the final kilometer. I just came down from altitude so the first day is always a hard one but during the race it got better.
It's nice to be on the podium but when you are in second place you always think about the win too.
“In the queen stage there was rain and it was brutally cold at only two degrees. Everyone in the peloton struggled, incIuding me but in the end I was fine. I was in a good position to beat Zimmermann but we had headwind on that climb that day so it was hard to get the seconds back I lost on Tuesday. All-in all it was a good race where the team was very committed. It was a tough race with lots of elevation and the numbers we pushed were high. It was a good week and enough to build on for the next races.”
Next to the second place in the general classification, and a third place on stage three for De la Cruz, Sjoerd Bax also earned himself a trip to the podium. He was one of the riders initiating the day’s breakaway and attacked in the final. Only Ivo Oliveira joined him and beat him in the sprint.
“If Oliveira would not have joined me I would not have made it to the finish line,” Bax analyses. “I know him well because we were teammates last year. He is fast and it would always be hard to beat him. He has the form because he already won a stage two days ago. Funny thing is we were in the grupetto together yesterday and at the front today.”
Having Bax at the front meant the team could stay around De La Cruz in the peloton, and it meant Bax didn’t have to do the lion’s share in the break.
“On the descent I got a little gap and then continued my attack,” he says of the decisive moment when the break split and he was left at the front with Oliveira. “My teammates did great work in the bunch disrputing that chase. To be honest I didn’t expect to race for the win today because I still felt yesterday’s cold and rain in the body. I am also still not a 100% back after that hip injury, and the crash on that hip in Hellas Tour, but I am getting there. There is a few percent missing. This second place gives me confidence for the races to come.”
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