When Sebastián Mora climbed to the third drawer of the podium at the Feria velodrome, he made an unequivocal gesture with his finger. With a smile from ear to ear, the pistard from Vila-real stared at the area where his team were and pointed to his broken collarbone last June in Singen (Germany). The unfortunate fall had put his participation in the European Championships in Munich in jeopardy, but two months later, and with hardly any time to prepare, Mora hung up a bronze medal that he knows was gold.
The Spanish cyclist did it this Monday in the Bavarian capital by finishing third in the Omnium mode with 146 points, only behind Donovan Grondin (150) and Simone Consonni (148). The ending was heart-stopping. Before the last sprint and doubling the group with the French and Italian, the three were tied on 124 points, with the Dutchman Philip Heijnen lurking, just one point behind.
The final pedal strokes were not enough to savor a major prize, but the feat is already enormous. The blind faith of Félix García Casas -father of the also cyclists García Pierna of Kern Pharma- in his pupil to take him to Munich despite the little training in his legs has served for Spain to add a metal in track cycling. Mora restored the coach's confidence in the best way, with a miracle.
The man from Castellón faced the fourth and last discipline of the Ómnium as the first classified. The last 120 laps would decide the medalists and the pressure did not weigh him down. He was attentive at all times to the movements of his pursuers, pulling strategy and selecting attacks consciously to stay in the top positions before the last laps.
Every ten laps there was a sprint and Mora was always there, without lowering the bar, adding a point. In the final stretch he tried to double to secure the podium and he succeeded, but in that adventure forward he was accompanied by the French and the Italian, who were fresher in the last meters.
Mora is not satisfied. On the last day of the Europeans on Tuesday, he will give it his all together with his partner Albert Torres to give another Spanish joy at the velodrome in the Madison mode. The success in the Ómnium will serve to boost his morale ahead of the World Cups in France next October, without losing sight of his great challenge: the dream of a medal in Paris 2024. It would be the culmination of a career full of successes for the Former Movistar cyclist (with road experience) 34 years old.
