Santa Cruz, a monument where we can continue to maintain our regularity
85ª Santikutz Klasika
Legazpi-Legazpi (147 km)
No less than 85 editions of the Santa Cruz Classic will be held on Tuesday, 1 May, in Gipuzkoa, on the occasion of the Santikutz Klasika. Undoubtedly, the sporting heritage that was born in 1929 on the same date that, year after year, has been celebrated. The KlasiKa is the race of May 1st. An indisputable truth. And immovable. In addition, the Santa Cruz is one of the four events that have been present in all the editions of the Spanish Cycling Cup since this tournament was launched in the late 20th century (1999). Such a frame, pure history, pure tradition, is the new challenge of the Polartec-Kometa U23.
After the great performance at the Memorial Momparler, where only the cherry on the cake of the victory was missing, the U23 team from the Fundación Contador will be attending the Basque event, the seventh round of the 2018 Spanish Cup, with renewed ambitions of protagonism. The premise is very clear: to achieve victory is never easy, but it will not stop you from fighting collectively and individually. Italy’s Daniele Cantoni, José Antonio García, Carlos García, Juan Pedro López, Jorge Pastor, Alejandro Regueiro and Portugal’s Daniel Viegas represent Polartec-Kometa.
Deskarga, with its summit six and a half kilometres from the end, will once again be the decisive point for the resolution of a race which, however, is not without its harshness with its 147 kilometres and a total of eight scoring mountain passes. “Although there is terrain for it before, it is very possible that it is there where the race will take place”, explains Juan Pedro López, fourth at the overall of the Cup. “It’s not that it’s a particularly tough port on its own, but at those heights, with all it has before and at the speed it’s going to take, it’s going to be tremendous. Every race is a world. I think the Cup is still wide open. We have to remain, as we have done up to now, very regular, because winning is another story. Winning is always about winning, but it’s very difficult. Santa Cruz is going to clear up the fight for the general classification a lot and we’ll see what happens later”.
The Andalusian has been one of the main protagonists of the recent Momparler Memorial. “It was a very crazy race, with a very demanding course. Between climbs, descents, narrow stretches, winding terrain…. You could hardly let go of your hands at any time,” he recalls. “I’m feeling good, I’m being regular; and the team is doing well. Pastor, Joselillo,… And Ropero. Ropero is also doing very well, it’s going to get better, it’s tuning up”.
