16 Oct 2024

Summary of the junior team’s 2024 season

The 2024 season of the Team Polti Kometa junior team started with 13 cyclists, five first-year and eight second-year riders in the category. The team participated in the best races of the national calendar as well as in UCI category races that included a competition in Portugal, always with the aim of offering the best experiences to the cyclists and to be an active part in their formation process, not only as riders but also as people, seeking to nurture the rest of the structure of the Foundation. The team brought the curtain down on a campaign with eight victories and more than 50 top-10 finishes between stages, one-day races and general classifications, in addition to placing two riders in the top-10 of the general classification of the Copa de España and being the second best team of the same.

Iván Loaisa, Óscar Orts, Eleazar Jiménez and Miguel Moreira have achieved some of the most outstanding results of the squad during the campaign. Loaisa led in the Vuelta a Valladolid an authentic exhibition in the first stage, which would ultimately serve to complete the top three places in the overall classification of the race by Team Polti Kometa riders. The Andalusian took advantage of his great form to raise his arms shortly after in Benágeber. Óscar Orts was very regular during his first year in the category and managed to finish in the top five of the Copa de España, highlighting his fourth place in the Trofeu 15 d’Abril. Both Eleazar Jiménez and Miguel Moreira were close to victory on several occasions during the season, being great protagonists in the races. The rider from Madrid managed to surprise the bunch with his teammate Pablo Leno in a very fast stage and was inches away from victory on the first day of the Vuelta a la Montaña Central. Miguel Moreira also came very close to victory several times: the Portuguese rider was unable to take first place in a demanding Clasica de Navarra where the team was very active. In addition, Eleazar Jiménez himself took second place in the Spanish Championship. The red and yellow jersey was very close to fall to a team rider with Óscar Orts finishing fourth and Iker Díaz eighth.

Beyond the results, the team stood out throughout the season for its great perseverance, courage and work for the common good. The team’s combativeness led the team to be very close to achieving great victories that only narrowly escaped, but which demonstrated that the average level of the team was very high, as described by Isaac Cantón, director of the junior squad: “The balance of the season is positive because the average level of the team has been high. We have fought in each and every one of the races in which we have participated, which was the main objective. We have achieved eight victories, but we have made fifteen second and third places with several different riders. All the riders have had their chances, although it is often not easy to choose which riders to take to the races for sports directors and trainers”.

The great combativeness of the cyclists has led to achieve good results also in races with individual participation where Pablo Leno stood out as Extremadura Champion in individual time trial, or Iker Diaz who temporarily led the Astur-Cantabrian tournament. The way of racing based on the training received is another of the aspects that Cantón highlights of a very successful season: “I have felt very privileged to share this season with great cyclists and people. They have grasped well what the team wanted to teach them and once the season started they did everything on autopilot. They are still young riders, but sometimes just by their attitude, it seemed like they were professionals.”

“It has been a very nice year with the team, I could not have imagined all that I have learned. Since I joined the team they have treated me very well. I have a lot to thank them for everything they have given me, leaving in a different way that I entered,” explains Eleazar Jiménez after finishing his junior stage. “With my teammates we have made a very good team. That has been the key to our performance. We have respected each other and worked for each other. Isaac has given me a lot of values and a lot of confidence and has given me many opportunities to compete in the best way”, analyzes the young rider from Madrid. “In my first year in the category I was not such an outstanding cyclist and what I have achieved this season was unimaginable, although I set higher goals because I like to push myself. It has been a very nice year and I can only thank Team Polti Kometa for everything they have done for me. In addition, maybe elsewhere they would not have given me the experience I had with the under-23 team and it is something for which I am very grateful because I am much more prepared for next season”, he finishes.

Hugo Pradas completed this year his cycle as a junior cyclist in the team after two seasons of learning where he gave everything for the good work of the team, both in and out of the races. Hugo internalized from the first moment all the concepts and teachings of the directors and was able to demonstrate his potential, proclaiming himself Champion of Madrid in the Memorial Antonio Suarez. This is how Hugo himself summarizes his experience: “They have been two very nice years with many experiences and learning. We have always felt in good hands with the staff that makes up the team, from directors to mechanics, as well as with the rest of the departments. I have done everything that was asked of me in the races, being willing to do anything to help my teammates so that they could compete in the races. I will miss these two years”.

The good performance throughout the campaign meant that both Eleazar Jimenez and the Portuguese José Miguel Moreira could compete with the under-23 team in several races during the end of the season. Óscar Orts was rewarded for his great form by representing the Spanish national team in the Hungarian Nations Cup and the European Championship, collaborating in the great results of his teammate Hector Alvarez and shining with his own light in the Hungarian event. Miguel Moreira was also able to represent his country, Portugal, on several occasions during the season, as did Robinson Rincón with the Colombian national team. The young Casanareño managed to revalidate his title of Pan American individual time trial champion for another season.

During the year, continuing the good relationship between the Alberto Contador Foundation and the Bustese Olonia, Santiago Basso was able to participate on loan in two races with the team. The young transalpine competed in the Volta ao Concelho de Loulé and the demanding Vuelta al Besaya where he also signed a fifth place in the overall classification.

Nacho Sánchez could not join his teammates until August due to health problems. Even so, he competed in several races in the last two months of competition.

Outstanding results: