Six new faces for the 2020 project of the Kometa Cycling Team U23
The Catalan Eduardo Rodes, the Valladolid Vicente Hernáiz and the Andalusians David Martín and Mario Vilches will run next season in a sub23 team of the Alberto Contador Foundation that also incorporates the Czech David Andrle and the Manchego Fernando Tercero, who promotes from the junior team. Six new faces for the seventh adventure of the Alberto Contador Foundation in the national amateur field, a seventh year that will start after having given the alternative in professionalism to three of its cyclists (the Italian Alessandro Fancellu and the Spagnolo Sergio García and Alejandro Ropero). Again, with the highest aspirations and with the first objective of continuing to form riders.
The six reinforcements join a team in which follow, with respect to this campaign, the Balearic Joan Martín Bennassar, the Catalan Álex Martín, the Rioja Arturo Grávalos, the Asturians Edu Pérez-Landaluce and Yago Segovia; and also the Italian Alessio Acco and the Colombian John Stiven Ramírez. A block of thirteen riders that will be under the direction of Rafa Díaz Justo and that will count on the preparation of Carlos Barredo. “The team has been strengthened a lot,” advances its director, Rafa Diaz Justo. “Facing 2020 there are many changes in the category, several are the cyclists who jump to professionalism, but we want to be the second or third in discord, give war throughout the course. In the team we have a certain base and a certain seniority. We have riders who I think can take a giant leap, as may be the case of Alex Martin or the Colombian John Stiven Ramírez, without ignoring Arturo Grávalos or Edu Pérez-Landaluce.
Of all, Fernando Tercero (Valdepeñas, Ciudad Real; December 28, 2001) is the one who knows the Foundation best; Tercero has competed this year in his junior team after being elected, in September 2017, in the Selection Campus La Mafia se sienta a la mesa in Zaragoza. Eduardo Rodes (Barcelona, April 8, 1998) comes from Team Compak, while Vicente Hernáiz (Valladolid, November 28, 1998) has been enrolled in the ranks of Eiser-Hirumet.
“Fernando, among the six new faces, is one of the two with a clearly climbing profile. He is a cyclist that we have been following very closely throughout this year and we believe he can progress a lot. Looking ahead to 2020 is going to go relatively quiet, without haste, but also without pause, a little as happened this year with Alex Martin. Eduardo is a veteran rider in the category, 2020 is going to be his fourth year; he is an all-terrain cyclist, with a lot of presence in the race and that is something that, as director, gives you a lot of peace of mind and gives you many guarantees. I think that in the team he can make a giant leap in his career; he already made a lot of progress in the Aldro Team and in this year that perhaps has been a bit of transition for him he has also made very nice races. Vicente is a very fast cyclist who also climbs very well; this season he has had good races in the Spanish Cup. His is a profile of cyclist that perhaps goes more unnoticed, because they do not accumulate many victories, but they can have a lot of route,” explains Rafa Diaz Justo.
Both David Martín (Seville, 19 February 1999) and Mario Vilches (Quesada, Jaén; 26 August 1998) come to the Foundation from Team Extremadura. The Czech David Andrle (Hradec Králové, Czech Republic; 26 October 2000), for his part, comes from the Czech Topforex-Lapierre.
“David Martín has a profile similar to that of Vicente Hernáiz, he is a cyclist with a great top speed that can pass the mountain. He is a pure sprinter who can gain a lot if he improves a little his performance in the climbs. We are convinced that it will give us a lot of game in the races, because it is very fast and is not of that profile of sprinter that, to understand us, suffers in the slightest climb. In the case of Mario, what can we say? Possibly we are in front of one of the four or five best climbers in the amateur field in Spain. He comes from great performances in Team Extremadura. We think he can make an important leap forward. With him, with Álex Martín, with Jhon Stiven Ramírez we have three very strong climbers, and we must not lose sight of Fernando or Edu Pérez-Landaluce. Andrle is perhaps the least known of the six reinforcements, but he is a cyclist who can help us a lot on any terrain, as well as Acco. Both can give us a plus”, concludes Díaz Justo.
(automatic translation, sorry for mistakes)
