Ten riders for the premiere of the U23 season in the ‘Chineta’ Memorial in Burguillos de Toledo

I Julio López ‘Chineta’ Memorial
Burguillos de Toledo – Burguillos de Toledo, 118 km

Ten of the twelve riders of the staff will face this Saturday the first competitive commitment of the U23 team of the Alberto Contador Foundation. It will be in lands of Toledo, in a test of new stamp and tribute motivation. The Memorial Julio López de la Torre ‘Chineta’, in Burguillos de Toledo, is that race and was born with a vocation of continuity and desire to become a fundamental test in a calendar, the amateur field, which is losing many tests in recent years.

Edu Pérez-Landaluce, Yago Segovia, Edu Rodés, Arturo Grávalos, Mario Vilches, David Martín, Vicente Hernaiz, Fernando Tercero, the Italian Alessio Acco and the Czech David Andrle are the ten cyclists designated by Rafa Díaz Justo for this new race. “The preparation at home after the concentration in Oliva Nova has gone very, very well. Physically I feel good and motivated, much more so. I’m looking forward to wearing a bib. From what I have been able to study, this is a race that can be adjusted to my profile as a runner”, says David Martin, from Seville, one of the new faces of the team for this course.

The route of the Julio López Memorial invites us to think about a resolution to the sprint, at least a finish line that is not as massive as it could be, and a high average speed given its profile. There will be 1,400 metres of positive height difference over its 118 kilometres, a very deceptive accumulation due to the presence of several steep slopes and areas where wind action may appear. This is a compliment to the possibilities of Toledo’s orography, which includes a pass through the Imperial City.

Rafa Díaz Justo, director of the Kometa-Xstra U23: “This year we have introduced a small variation in the calendar starting a little earlier than usual in this new event. As it is the first one for us, it will be very good for us to start to take that competition rhythm so necessary to face bigger goals. In spite of being the first, we travel to Burguillos de Toledo with a team where there are very good riders and people with good speed. The route is deceptive, it is an area I know well and it is not as easy as it may seem a priori. We are going with the desire to be protagonists, but without losing sight that we are before our first race of the season”.

(automatic translation, sorry for mistakes)