For the second time in three days, Ion Izagirre and Alejandro Valverde made it a 1-2 for Movistar in a Spanish championships race when they ended a strong display by their team in today's road race. Having been off in a lone attack, Izagirre got company by his team leader in the finale and was allowed to take the win after the latter had helped him stay away to the finish.

Ion Izagirre and Alejandro Valverde joined again on the podium of Ponferrada to celebrate one of the most crafted, imposing victories by the Movistar Team in the 2014 season. The two riders from the telephone squad celebrated their one-two in the capital of the Bierzo region in northern León, a result that certifies the telephone squad's prominent position - four 'rojigualda' jerseys in as many years with its curent sponsor - on the Spanish road road Championships, held over 11 laps (200km) of the circuit that will hold the Worlds in late September.

The main race of the Nationals was a monologue by the Blues: the likes of Plaza, Gutiérrez, Antón, Sanz, Ventoso, Gorka Izagirre and Castroviejo always kept always a long, 10-man breakaway under control and they never reached more than three-and-a-half minutes' advantage. Split by the hardness of the circuit and pressure increased by the Movistar Team, the peloton shrunk to about fourty riders with two laps two go, and attacks followed one by one: firstly Valverde, on the third-to-last ascent; then, Erviti, who reached a gap of almost 20" in the last lap; and finally, after the Navarran was caught, Ion Izagirre, who was only caught by a splendid Valverde on the last climb, the duo taking turns in absolute harmony to reach the finish together.

It's Izagirre's 3rd victory as pro - after consecutive success in the Vuelta a Asturias and the Giro d'Italia, back in 2012 - and the 22nd in the 2014 season for the Movistar Team - Adriano Malori conquered the Italian time trial Championship just minutes later -, the Blues coming into the most prestigious stage race of the calendar, the Tour de France  with at least three national titles on their account.

"We had a very strong block and we controlled the race well, though you can never relax, because it's not easy at all to win," Izagirre said. "Things turned out well in the finale and Alejandro and I could take another turn on the podium after our one-two in the TT.

"With one and a half lap to go, Erviti tried it solo, but Euskadi reacted from the pack and they caught him - that's when I decided to attack. With around 6km to go, Alejandro attacked from behind, and to be honest, he gave me wings, because I was starting to struggle a lot.

"Eventually, this circuit was really hard. It seems comfortable in the opening laps, but when you start to get closer to the end, the transit through the city being so fast and making the bunch strung out - the circuit doesn't offer you many possibilities to recover, have some food, drink... That makes some impact. The race will be even harder in the Worlds - the longer distance will make people suffer much.

"Of course I'd like to be at the Worlds, but I don't know if I'll be part of the team; it's not a choice I can do by myself. I'm really happy with my season - I only lacked a victory and I got it today. I want to dedicate one to some of the people who left us way before they should: Rufino Murguía, Víctor Cabedo and Urtzi Gurrutxaga - this is for them."

"I think I attacked at the right place," Valverde said "In the final lap, I jumped away from a low point of the climb to test myself, and it became clear to me that the best place to give it a try was with 50 or 100 meters before the top of the ascent. I saw Ion was really close and chose to attack, catch him and take some turns together to the finish, just like we did.

"It's a parcours where you can never leave the first 30 positions of the bunch, because, except for the first climb, the other roads are covered in a long line. It's really fast, dangerous... We usually see these Worlds circuits getting harder from the 200km mark and it was demanding already before that, so it will be more difficult in September. Even more with rain..."