Days of heat and struggle in Sevillian lands
XIII Challenge Vuelta a la Provincia de Sevilla
From 21 to 22 July
Loaded with competitions for all the structures supported by the Alberto Contador Foundation, the month of July has been especially intense for the U23 squad. The team led by Rafa Diaz Justo continues with its commitments, although it changes latitudes. After their last appearances in Castilian-Leonese soil, where they will be back in a few days to compete in the laps of Ávila and Zamora, the Polartec-Kometa is now travelling to Andalusia. Next stop, not being precise, the Vuelta a Sevilla.
And the fact is that, in terms of ownership, we refer to the Vuelta a Sevilla as the Vuelta a Sevilla Challenge, because these are two independent races that end up feeding a joint classification. On Saturday, the Santa Ana Classic will be held in the town of Dos Hermanas, which has already held fifteen editions. And on Sunday, the Classic Velá de Triana, with start and finish in the capital of Seville.
The Club Deportivo Antonio Gómez del Moral, a leading institution in the Andalusian and Sevillian cycling scene, has been in charge of promoting this Challenge since 2006, when it came to pick up the baton for the old Tour of the Province of Seville that had been organised for the first time in 1939 and, after not a few organisational breaks, it ceased to be held in the 1990s. Although the Challenge had four races, the economic crisis reduced it to the two that have been held without major changes since 2012.
Highly exposed to high temperatures, it is not a particularly complex test in terms of orography, although some dimensions mark the outlines of both tests. On Saturday it will be the climb up to Montellano that will harden the track. For Sunday, Castilblanco de los Arroyos and La Media Fanega. The teams of the Contador Foundation have obtained some remarkable results. In 2014, Juan Antonio López Cózar from Granada won the general standings and the following year, 2015, when they each won the two trophies, Juan Camacho and Cristian Torres finished second and third in the overall final.
The Italian Daniele Cantoni, José Antonio García, Joan Martí Bennassar, the Dutchman Wesley Mol, the Colombian John Stiven Ramírez, Alejandro Ropero and Hugo Sampedro make up the Polartec-Kometa that goes to Seville.
The stages.
Saturday 21st: XVI Classic of Santa Ana, Two Sisters-Two Sisters (131.2 km).
Sunday 22: 18th Classic Velá de Triana, Seville-Seville (111.5 km).
