On Sunday O Gran Camiño organisers handed a third flower bouquet as stage winner and a final yellow jersey as GC winner to Jonas Vingegaard, but they could only dish out 125 UCI points to the Visma-Lease a Bike rider for the overall win and 42 more for three stage wins. In the season-long hunt for World rankings, race director Ezequiel Mosquera knows his race will only grow if it is permitted to upgrade to the next level where points, not cash, are king.
In just a third year as a UCI 2.1-rated stage race, Mosquera admitted he was frustrated and wanted the event to move to the ProSeries. That ‘want’ is probably out of reach, however, because of UCI rules and not because of effort.
“I want to go to that ProSeries. Above all, we want to organize a competition at a high level and become more important because of the number of points to be earned,” Mosquera told Wielerflits.
Along with Visma-Lease a Bike, Ineos Grenadiers and Groupama-FDJ each had a rider on the final GC podium - Lenny Martinez in second for Groupama and Egan Bernal for Ineos in third alongside winner Vingegaard. The additional WorldTour squads in the mix were Arkéa - B&B Hotels, Movistar and EF Education-EasyPost.
At a ProSeries level, Vingegaard would have earned another 75 points for the GC win, and another 18 points for his trio of stage wins. While not staggering like 110 points for each stage win at the Tour de France or 1300 for the overall at a Grand Tour, points make a difference in how teams plan their calendars.
In the same week as O Gran Camiño, which took place from February 22 to 25, there were 125 points available at each Pro-level one-day race, three in all, and 40 points each day, plus 300 for the GC, at the WorldTour-level UAE Tour. Mosquera said more WorldTour teams would come if there were more points on offer.
“Look at the UCI points you can win this period. In the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 300 UCI points, in Kuurne 200 UCI points, just like in the Ardèche Classic and the Drôme Classic. Much more in the UAE Tour. And with us? 14 UCI points if you win a stage and 125 points for the overall victory,” he said to Wielerflits.
“I have the media attention, I have the money, I have a large region behind me with Galicia and I have the capabilities with my company for a good organization. But I also need UCI points. Only then will it become interesting for more teams.”
Located in the north-western corner of Spain, O Gran Camiño has generated much interest as an early season tune-up race in Europe, positioned after the 2.Pro offerings of Volta a Valenciana and Ruta del Sol as well as the 1.Pro Clasica de Almeria. There lies the main issue - the Pro series in Spain is full and Gran Camiño must be patient.
Along with the two ProSeries stage races in early February, there is also Vuelta a Burgos in August. The UCI has specified that a single country may only register a maximum of three stage races at the UCI ProSeries level each season.
Even if one of those races moved a notch lower or higher to open a spot for a 2.Pro event in Spain, there could be a traffic jam on the calendar to exclude O Gran Camiño from gaining higher designation. The UCI does not allow a new race to be added if “it overlaps with more than three WorldTour or ProSeries races”. The traditional late February date already overlaps two WorldTour races and three 1.Pro events in France and Belgium.
Despite harsh weather conditions for a second straight year, O Gran Camiño attracted a solid field of Grand Tour competitors. Those big-name riders, like Vingegaard, Bernal and Martinez, as well as Hugh Carthy (EF Education-EasyPost), Ivan Sosa (Movistar) and Cian Uijtdebroeks making his first appearance in the new Visma-Lease a Bike kit, attracted global media attention and high interest from local crowds.
“That's why I'm grateful for teams like Visma-Lease a Bike, INEOS Grenadiers and those other WorldTeams, because they come here without thinking about those UCI points. But that doesn't make it any less important to us,” he added.
