Andrew L’Esperance and Sean Fincham finished their week at Andalucia Bike Race with their best day of the week. The Maxxis Factory Racing teammates sailed to a stage win on the sixth and final day of XCM stage racing in Spain. That result bumps the pair up to fourth overall in the UCI HC-ranked cross country marathon stage race.
The Maxxis duo rode consistently all week, finishing just off the podium for the first five days. Slowly, that strategy started to pay off. By the end of Stage 5, L’Esperance and Fincham were fifth overall.
On Saturday, in the final stage, the pair vaulted up the rankings to take a stage win on the sixth and final day of racing. Their winning time of 1:12:02 was just one second faster than Buff Megamo’s Hans Becking an Wout Alleman. That win, though,moved the Maxxis teammates into fourth overall. It’s an impressive finish for the duo, racing XCM together against a stacked field of endurance veterans. It was also the pair’s first week on new bikes with the team switching to Rocky Mountain and its Element XC bike.
Fabio Rabensteiner (Willier Vittoria) repeats as Andalucia Bike Race champion, reclaiming his title from 2023. This time with fellow Italian Samuele Porro as a teammate. Two more teams of Cape Epic veterans rounded out the overall podium ahead of the Canadians. Canyon Sidi’s Andreas Seewald and Marc Stutzman finish second with Buff Megamo’s Becking and Alleman taking bronze.
Maxxis Factory Racing’s thrid rider, 2023 BC Bike Race winner Eva Poidevin, finished as the top woman in the open category. Poidevin was originally scheduled to pair up with guest rider Ruby West. West was forced to drop out of the event at the last minute, leaving Poidevin racing in the non-UCI category.
You can re-watch the final stage of the 2024 Andalucia Bike Race, but its a team time trial, so don’t expect a sprint finish:
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