Caja Rural-Seguros RGA continues its winning streak thanks to Carlos Barbero’s victory in Philadelphia. It is a very important victory for the team as it is their US debut and, especially, as it is the location of the Fuji Bikes headquarters, an important team sponsor and the bicycle brand currently used by the team.

Amets Txurruka finished in 4th place after making it into the escape with Carlos Barbero.

With Carlos Barbero’s win, the Caja Rural-Seguros RGA team manages to match its highest victory tally since returning to the professional peloton in 2010, when it won 8 times in 2012.

Barbero, the winner in Philadelphia, was clearly “very happy with this win. It’s my second and it’s very special, as it’s the first in the US and also in the home of Fuji, who has treated us so well over the past few days. It is very satisfying to see how happy they are with our triumph, truly living it as if it were their own. It was a very fast race, full of attacks, and in the last kap 14 riders broke away, among which were Amets Txurruka and myself. There were several teams present, with two riders each, Amets did a great job leading us so that the escape could stay away. In the final descent, I was able to catch up to the one in the lead and, 150 metres from the finish-line, I rode it home. I knew what the finish would be like, similar to the one at Getxo (that is where the Burgos rider won in 2014) and I was able to win."

Barbero commented on the trip: “an incredible trip and an incredible experience. It is my first time in the US and I take home a truly unforgettable memory.  We visited the steps of the Rocky Balboa movie, which is another story, but I copied his gesture a little bit as I crossed the finish-line. That makes 2 triumphs for me in 2015, and 8 for the team, which is a very good overall balance that matches our best victory tally. We also managed to do this with 5 different riders, which is also impressive. So it’s time to celebrate, but also time to remember those of us who are injured, we know they are going through a tough time and we are waiting for them to join us once more, we are a team and they cannot be forgotten. Now let’s see if we can continue our winning streak in Canada."

Josemi Fernández, sporting director, admitted that “the experience is an unbeatable one, we came thanks to Fuji Bikes who were able to get us invited, and to come here and give them this victory is very important to us, important because we won in the US, and also because we were able to give them this triumph. It was a typical circuit race with many escapes, none of which were more than a minute away. We were present in every group that broke away, and in the last one we not only had two riders, but also our best shot, Barbero, who was perfectly suited to that finish. It is a great year for victories so far, we are obtaining results, hopefully this bad streak of injuries is now over and our injured riders can make a full recovery, for Omar [Fraile who broke his collarbone last Thursday] it is not the worst moment, although it always helps, let’s see if he can recover."

Milay Galvez, the Fuji Bikes Sponsorship Manager, was “proud and happy.  As you can imagine it’s a beautiful thing for us, Philadelphia is the Fuji Bikes headquarters in the US and the Philadelphia Classic is our home race, so for the team to win, especially in its debut, is fantastic news. It is incredible that it all went so well, I didn’t want to get my hopes up, but it really was incredible."