Michael Woods GC runner-up of the Gran Camiño
Derek Gee fifth in the concluding time trial
Michael Woods couldn’t hang on to the lead of the Gran Camiño stage race in Sunday’s concluding time trial, with seemingly ageless Alejandro Valverde taking the title. The day’s winner was Ukrainian Mark Padun of EF Education-Easypost, his time bouncing him onto the final podium.
Woods had only a 10-second gap over Valverde going into the 15.8 km chrono and at day’s end he would trail Movistar’s veteran Spain by 7 seconds after a 10th-place performance.
The course contained rollers and a steep climb to the finish in Sarria.
Derek Gee took the lead away from Nelson Oliviera (Portugal/Movistar) with a time of 20:30, but would be bumped from the hot seat by Jesus Herrada (Spain/Cofidis), six seconds faster. Derek Gee’s last two days saw him make big leaps of the GC. Saturday’s climbing performance vaulted him from 57th to 26th and then Sunday’s time of 20:30 brought him up to 23rd.
Padun was the sixth from last to start and he was a second off Herrada’s best intermediate time before stopping the clock at 20:19. Valverde started right before Woods and was rampaging on the course, although his teammate Ivan Sosa was losing his podium position.
After five kilometers, Woods had only lost four of his 10 seconds to Valverde. However, he could not keep his time gap and had to concede the yellow jersey. Woods was second in the mountains and points categories too. Currently, Woods has no races scheduled until Amstel Gold Race on April 10.
2022 Gran Camiño Stage 4
1) Mark Padun (Ukraine/EF Education-Easypost) 20:19
2) Jesus Herrada (Spain/Cofidis) +0:05
3) Alejandro Valverde (Spain/Movistar) +0:10
5) Derek Gee (Canada/Israel-Premier Tech) +0:11
10) Michael Woods (Canada/Israel-Premier Tech) +0:27
2022 Gran Camiño GC
1) Alejandro Valverde (Spain/Movistar) 12:35:55
2) Michael Woods (Canada/Israel-Premier Tech) +0:07
3) Mark Padun (Ukraine/EF Education-Easypost) +1:49
23) Derek Gee (Canada/Israel-Premier Tech) +7:32
