Chetout maintains Cope de España podium

Man of the moment Loïc Chetout maintained his third place overall in the Copa de España series by taking ninth in the GP Macario on Sunday.

The on-fire native of Bayonne, France, was not able to stop former Naturgas Energía rider Fernando Grijalba from taking the win in Alcalá de Henares just north of Madrid, with second going to Grijalba's Basque Caja Rural team-mate Ibai Salas and track specialist Sebastián Mora of Atika Sport taking third.

His ninth on the day was sufficient to maintain his third overall, though, as Grijalba assumed leadership ahead of Russia's Vadim Zhuravlev. Leader prior to the race, Pablo Lechuga of Cajamar, experienced an off-day and came in 39th. Chetout's Naturgas companion Imanol Estévez, lying in second going into the race, could only muster 47th.

Results (full results here):

• (1, Fernando Grijalba (Caja Rural), 3:44:00)
• 9, Loïc Chetout (Naturgas Energía), s.t.
• 47, Imanol Estévez (Naturgas Energía), 5:52
• 73, Noel Gil (Naturgas Energía), 5:59
• 74, Álvaro Trueba (Naturgas Energía), 6:03
• 82, Francisco Javier Martín (Naturgas Energía), 11:36
• 93, Alain González (Naturgas Energía), s.t.

The Fundación Euskadi's sub-23 outfit were also in action closer to home on Sunday, taking part in the Trofeo Lehendakari-ranked Memorial Cirilo Zunzarren in Estella, Navarra. 

The 120km race, with its finishing line right next to the famed Basílica del Puy, was taken out by another rider in green and white, this time the ever-consisten Miguel Ángel Benito. Lizarte's Antonio Pedrero came in second, pushing Gipuzkoa-Eki Sport's Beñat Txoperena down to third. 

Naturgas' protected rider for the race was Víctor Etxeberría, but the promising youngster was forced to abandon the race after having struggled with a cold all week, according to the team's website.

Photo: Pascal Baudron