Barbero surprises in Castilla y León finale

While Rubén Plaza came away with the stage and the overall win on the final day of the Vuelta a Castilla y León on Sunday, it was a young Basque from Equipo Euskadi who surprised everyone with a third place atop the climb of Parador.

Carlos Barbero came across the line only seven seconds down on the Movistar veteran, beating experienced campaigners like José Joaquin Rojas and Euskaltel's Pablo Urtasun in the process. Third place on the stage was enough to net him a noteworthy fifth overall at the race - a placing sure to grab the attention of Igor González de Galdeano.

Despite the best efforts of his team-mates, Pablo Urtasun wasn't able to hold on to his overall podium placing, finishing fourth at 11 seconds. Missing out on a podium wasn't enough to dent DS Álvaro González de Galdeano, though.

"Overall, we're very pleased with the race", he said. "Before coming here, we'd have signed for two stage wins. We got rewarded for our efforts with that pair of wins. We didn't reach our goals on this third leg, but the balance sheet is positive. We return home with two triumphs and the tranquility of having gotten results on board".

Results (full results here):

• (1, Rubén Plaza (Movistar), 4:30:36)
• 3, Carlos Barbero (Euskadi), 0:06
• 5, Pablo Urtasun, 0:11
• 16, Aritz Bagües (Euskadi), 0:20
• 20, Gorka Verdugo, s.t.
• 29, Mikel Bizkarra (Euskadi), 0:45
• 44, Jorge Azanza, 1:11
• 48, Igor Merino (Euskadi), 1:36
• 53, Haritz Orbe (Euskadi), 2:10
• 70, Robert Vrecer, 4:36
• 75, Mikel Nieve, 5:45
• 80, Ricardo Mestre, 8:08
• 84, Jon Larrinaga (Euskadi), 8:26
• 86, Mikel Iturria (Euskadi), 8:33
• 101, Juan José Lobato, 16:51
• 104, Jon Aberasturi, s.t.

Final general classification:

• (1, Rubén Plaza (Movistar), 12:35:03)
• 4, Pablo Urtasun, 0:11
• 5, Carlos Barbero (Euskadi), 0:13
• 17, Aritz Bagües (Euskadi), 0:30
• 18, Gorka Verdugo, s.t.
• 34, Jorge Azanza, 1:21
• 59, Mikel Nieve, 6:10
• 61, Robert Vrecer, 7:15
• 69, Haritz Orbe (Euskadi), 8:10
• 70, Igor Merino (Euskadi), 8:18
• 76, Mikel Iturria (Euskadi), 9:26
• 83, Mikel Bizkarra (Euskadi), 14:48
• 86, Ricardo Mestre, 15:11
• 89, Juan José Lobato, 16:51
• 99, Jon Larrinaga (Euskadi), 22:18
• 109, Jon Aberasturi, 34:32