Alejandro Ropero, at the Nationals in Jaén: “The wear and tear has taken its toll, but I’m left with the sensations”

Spanish Cycling Championship
Route: Úbeda-Baeza (185,1 km)

Alejandro Ropero from Granada, thirty-ninth, was the best classified in a very complex edition of the Spanish Championships due to the demanding orography of the route designed between Úbeda and Baeza. An edition in which Luis León Sánchez (Astana) from Murcia won the gold medal, curiously enough his first national road title. The cyclist from the Villa de Otura was able to ride among the thirty or so units that faced the last turn in the route of Jaén and even showed himself to be at the forefront of the group in the approach, full of alternatives and accelerations, to the last step of the climb to Mazuecos.

“The circuit of these Nationals was really demanding, very hard, worthy of world championship. For the last lap we made an important selection and we tried to be there, riding as far ahead as possible. We entered well in the last climb, among the top five or six of the group, but between the accumulated hardness and the heat I was already a little dry of strength and I stayed shortly after starting. The wear and tear has taken its toll. But I’m left with the sensations, which have been very good. And from now on I’m thinking about the next objectives of the team”, explains Ropero.

The Kometa-Xstra Cycling Team faced these Nationals with three of its four Spanish riders among the registered ones: the mentioned Ropero, the Madrilenian Diego Pablo Sevilla and the Andalusian Sergio García. The Spaniard suffered some intestinal problems already during the third lap of the circuit. The Spaniard, on the other hand, did not have his best sensations either.

“It wasn’t a good day, to be honest. At the beginning I felt good, but when I entered the circuit at the end I went all day with strange sensations, I don’t know if the heat affected me. I didn’t feel comfortable. After the descent, which was long, I had trouble finding sensations in the climb. Already in the penultimate climb I cut myself down and I was empty. One more experience. This squeeze will always come in handy. I always say that the worst race is better than the best training. Now let’s rest for what is to come”, Sevilla concludes.

? RFEC (1)

(automatic translation, sorry for mistakes)