Purito, the people's champion

Continued from Romain Bardet, a future champion

Long after the race was over, I was still there, hanging around this bus...

Katusha Team bus

The reason was to try to catch he who is probably one of the most popular cyclists in Spain, he whose custom saddle bears the image of his nickname.

Little cigar

If you still haven't guessed, it's Joaquim "Purito" Rodríguez - "purito" means little cigar - the 35-year-old who seems to have always missed out on the big ones. He finished third in this race, but this wasn't very important for him, his main objective for the season being the Vuelta a España. I wonder how many people have noticed that his bike has "Joaquin" with an "n" instead of an "m" (Joaquim is more a Catalan/Portuguese name while Joaquin is more Spanish).

Another take of his amazing saddle

Purito's bike

When Purito appeared, we were probably somewhere else. When we rushed back, he'd already gone into the bus. He never came out and some of his entourage said he wouldn't. But, every time we chased another cyclist, he reappeared.

Purito looked frightened

Looking for help, then promptly disappeared back into the bus!

Look, over there! He's coming! Up there! They were referring to the winner, Alejandro Valverde. This "fan" acted as though he'd known him all his life! May probably be the case, too!

Fan with Alejandro Valverde, the eventual winner

Back there! Back there! Purito took the appearance of Valverde as an opportunity to reappear briefly to please the waiting fans, especially the younger ones, who had been hanging around patiently, convinced that he would show himself again and they were right! Although  an aide was saying, that's it, that's it, he's going to miss his flight!

Two happy fans! Purito looked less happy, though!

I also managed to shoot some photos of Bauke Mollema, the runner-up, but they were not up to scratch. This one of Tanel Kangert, who came in 16th, is a little better.

Tanel Kangert (16th) with this fan again!

That's it for an exciting day of pro cycling, lots of hanging around, lots of photos, some good, a lot of bad ones, hehe. Perhaps I'll get another camera in the future as I'm experiencing certain limitations with this one. Oh, to be in a situation where I can spend money on what I want!