23 Jul 2024

5 more opportunities in Castilla y León for the under-23 team

After five days in the Vuelta Zamora the team will continue with the competition in the community of Castilla y León. From Wednesday to Sunday they will face five very diverse stages. The team, with six riders, will be composed of part of the cyclists who competed in Zamora, others who arrive from the Giro del Valle de Aosta and others who have recovered from injuries.

Riccardo Archetti arrives from the Italian stage race after gaining important international experience. Gerard Cano returns to competition after a week of rest after his great performance in the Vuelta a Madrid with a third place in the third stage. Bálint Feldhoffer will return to the team following the same schedule as Gerard, ready to give 100% once again. Samuel Novak will repeat in the line-up one week after finishing in the top15 of the Zamora race. Manuel Sanroma will be in his third week of competition, recovering his rhythm after his injury. Finally, Pablo García will return to competition after his fall suffered in the Spanish Championships when he was on his way to raise his arms in the Elite category, which made him go to the hospital.

The first day of the race will run between the provinces of Segovia and Ávila with an expected sprint finish after 139 kilometers. The Mirador de Zuloaga (3rd) will be the only mountainous difficulty to overcome at the start of the stage. The second stage will have a greater presence of mountains, although far from the finish line, with the climbs of Puerto de Valero (1st) and Los Pajares (2nd) as outstanding climbs. The 116-kilometer stage will run through the province of Salamanca. The third stage will have a good chance of being a sprint, but the large number of small climbs, known as ‘cotas’, and the limited number of riders will mean that there could be a surprise. It will be the longest stage with 166 kilometres between Fuentesauco in the province of Zamora and La Bañeza in León.

The fourth stage will be the ‘queen’ day of the race. The 154-kilometer stage between Aguilar de Campoo and the only top mountain finish of the race in La Collada (1st) in the town of Brañosera, will probably decide the final winner of the general classification. The last stage will be in the province of Valladolid and will be 124 kilometers long with a more than likely sprint finish and an influence of the wind that could alter the plans of some of the cyclists.

“It’s a new race with five days of competition and that’s a good thing. There are three days with danger of wind and possible sprints, one day of medium mountains and a top mountain finish. The teams are made up of only six riders and if you have a leader, it’s always up to the same three or four riders to do the work, so it’s not easy to keep the situation under control. We have a well-balanced team for all terrains, but we would like to see how Pablo is after his injury. He has been working at home for a month, he still has a good level, but we will have to see how he does in the first few days. Riccardo comes from competing in Aosta and will be in good shape. We are expecting an extreme heat wave and that will also affect the development of the race’, explains Rafael Díaz Justo, director of the under-23 team ahead of the race.

Pablo García will be wearing a bib again after the operation for his broken collarbone: ‘I feel fine, I’m fit to compete, although I don’t know if I can be competitive. I’ve had a lack of competition so the idea is to get back into the swing of things and help the team. It’s a race to get back to competition and to add some quality kilometres and give the team everything I can’.

Stage 1: Riaza – Arévalo (139km)