The Copa de España reaches its halfway point for the under-23 team
The elite-under-23 Copa de España will be held for the third week in a row. After Ontur and Valladolid, the competition will reach Torredonjimeno, Jaén, for the XL Clásica Ciudad de Torredonjimeno. Gabriele Raccagni in ninth position is the best placed rider of the team in the general classification after the first 5 races.
The under-23 team arrives with a variation on the block that competed in the two previous events, with a more comfortable profile and favorable for the mass sprint finish. The team will be looking to find its best version after the bad luck in Ontur and the 11th place achieved by Tommaso Bessega in Valladolid.
The ‘Clasica Torredonjimeno’ will be a test of endurance. With a distance of over 160 kilometres and a profile that will take them up and down from 300 meters to over 1000 meters at the highest point of the day, the riders’ energy will gradually disappear. With a start that will maintain the mentioned script of constant climbing with brief rest areas, the peloton will reach kilometre 95, where the ascent to the Puerto de Locubín (1st) will begin. Once the top is reached and completed its subsequent descent, the Alto de Valdepeñas (2nd) will begin. The cyclists will have several kilometres until the actual descent of the Alto de Valdepeñas to reach the second special sprint of the day in Los Villares. From this town to the finish line there will be 30 kilometres with several steep climbs and the second intermediate sprint of the day in Jaén. The toughness of the route will reduce the peloton, which will make it difficult to control the race.
Rafael Díaz Justo will be in charge of the team in the Andalusian race with a view to the next few weeks with a lot of competition for the team: “We are going into a very important block of competition with back-to-back races and a double front. We are going to Torredonjimeno with a very strong team. Although it’s not too hard, the riders have to have a lot of speed, as there is usually a group of about 25 riders reaching the finish line together. We would like to change the script of the competition established until now”.
Antonio González will return to competition after two weeks of short rest after his participation in the Italian classics and some races for cyclists with a different profile: “I am very motivated for what is coming. Both for this race in Torredonjimeno and for the next few months. It’s not a race with big climbs, but it ends up being hard because there’s not a single flat metre. We will have to be attentive to the final cuts, where the race is usually made. We have a good team with us and the feeling is good”.
Line-up: Martín Barrero, Pablo García, Dario Giuliano, Antonio González, Samuel Novak, Gabriele Raccagni and Manuel Sanroma.
Torredonjimeno – Torredonjimeno (165km)
