Alejandro Ropero culminates a festival of the Kometa Cycling Team at the ‘Feria de Agosto’ in Xátiva
31st Trofeo Fira d´Agost
Xátiva-Xativa (140 km)
Alejandro Ropero from Granada certified this Monday a great day for the Kometa Cycling Team in the demanding Trofeo Fira d´Agost of Xátiva, a test in which the rider from Otura obtained his third success of the season, the fifth of the year for the Madrid sub23 formation, after a sensational work of his teammates in one of the hardest races of the amateur panorama. In the finish Ropero beat Julio Alberto Amores (Electro Hiper Europe) and the Colombian Juan Belandria (Mutua Levante).
The riders of the Alberto Contador Foundation were always very attentive to all the race situations that took place during a very hard course, even more so because of the humidity conditions and the high temperatures, where the double pass over the top of Serragrosa and especially the chained Portitxol (km 73.6) and the tremendous El Campello (km 95.3), 2.3 kilometers at an average of 12%, are always very selective and leaves the dispute of the test in a matter between very few men.
The Italian Alessio Acco was very attentive to the movements generated in the early stages of the race. Álex Martín tried to reach the head of the race in the Portixol and was very close to achieving it. His work was finished off by Ropero himself, who was in charge of closing the gap and leading the race into a new phase in which the most important men emerged.
In the Campello, a great selection. It would end up forming a small group of seven units where the Kometa Cycling Team had the representation of four riders: Ropero, Álex Martín Carlos and Sergio García. A large presence that, at the same time, cemented the success of the training in the general teams of the test. In all the terrain behind the finish line, with several steep slopes and a new step by Serragrosa, Sergio García, Alex Martín and Carlos García multiplied in defense of the asset of the speed of Ropero. A masterful work that was rewarded. “When you have a very clear trick, as happened today, you have to go all to one. And so it was. A great day for everyone,” synthesizes Sergio García.
“In the end the goal was to continue to get the best and take advantage of this state of form. It’s a victory that brings us a lot of happiness for all the work that all my teammates have done throughout the day. A job of ten. Personally I am very happy to continue adding. All the guys have been ahead in the climbs, pending to get into the cuts. Carlos and Álex got into the good escape, while Sergio stayed with me and Iván Moreno. When El Campello was crowned it was a good race situation, but my teammates controlled the whole time. I couldn’t fail, I had to give them back that confidence. In the end I could put the icing on the cake, although Julio Alberto Amores is a very fast rider, with great experience on the track,” explains Alejandro Ropero.
Rafa Díaz Justo, director of the Kometa Cycling Team U23: “A great day, without a doubt. As a team the race that all the boys have done has been spectacular. It was not so easy to finish, because in the leading group there were two very tough rivals. Amores is a sprinter who has had a very good ride. But the great sacrifice of Alex and Sergio at the end, also of Carlos, have allowed this victory of Ropero”.
(automatic translation, sorry for mistakes)
