David Domínguez: “I would love to be able to compete in stage races with varied orography”

The 2022 season brings with it for the EOLO-KOMETA Cycling Team U23 squad several Catalan riders and David Domínguez Vílchez (28 July 2000) is another of the exponents of the emerging sweet moment that is living in Catalonia with an important generation of talents and a high level calendar. The rider from Sabadell says: “I am a complete rider. I’ve always defined myself as a climber, but over the years I’ve realised that long, steep climbs can be difficult for me and that in small groups I can be in a position to compete”.

As in so many other cases, mountain biking was the first cycling activity in which this Catalan from Sabadell took his first steps. David started competing early, practically at the age of five, when he had his first cycling experiences. And he stayed in fat tyres world until he was eleven years old, while combining it with other sports, such as football, swimming or athletics… Although not basketball, a sport in which his father, Joaquín, competed for many years, especially in Catalonia. His family has become passionate about this sport and accompany David to many events. Far from Lourdes’ maternal reticence, the photos of the amateur peloton taken by his sister Ana campaign after campaign throughout the Iberian geography are an institution and the father, with cycling events such as Terra de Remences or Quebrantahuesos in his legs, has also taken a level III cycling director’s course. Agnes, his girlfriend, has joined the caravan of fans who accompany him to many races. Enjoying cycling live, on the roadside, is also a passion that is not broken either by the kilometres or the logistics.

Domínguez, good friend of the EOLO-KOMETA Cycling Team rider Alejandro Ropero, began to focus on cycling in the cadet category, with the Penya Ciclista Nicky’s of Terrassa, an institution with an enormous tradition through which have passed, among others, Joaquín ‘Purito’ Rodríguez or Airán Fernández. In the youth category, several teams from Terrassa joined forces to compete under the same name. From this period, David highlights, the Genésis Cycling Training Center of Juan José Méndez had a great influence on him. “They helped me a lot to progress. Adrián Merino, my coach during those years, was very important. And also Bernat Moreno, who was the person who directed the project: he changed my way of training and, in short, of racing. And as a person he made me improve”, recalls the new rider of the Alberto Contador Foundation U23 team.

As a result of that work, the Barcelona native had a great season in his second year in the youth category. “With a view to the jump to the next category, I had agreed to join Aldro Cantabria, but the project ended up closing and in November I was practically without a team. They helped us a lot to find a new place. That’s how I made the leap with Rias Baixas and, after a year with them, I signed for Globalia de Salamanca. With Iván Rodríguez as director, I’ve had some great moments and I’ve learned a lot. It’s a small team, not as big as others, but it’s also a family and the human factor is wonderful. Iván has taught me everything about how to handle myself in the races. I was a bit more lost and he has guided me and made me evolve”, he points out. His sister’s boyfriend, Valverde Terra Fecundis rider Álex Ruiz, has also been an important support in this cycle.

His arrival to the 2022 EOLO-KOMETA Cycling Team U23 project was forged after the last Vuelta a Madrid, when he received a call from Rafa Díaz Justo. “Two or three weeks later it was clear to me that it was the moment. Some previous season I had had some more informal conversations, but at that moment I considered that it was too soon and too young. These first training camps, both in Pinto and now in Oliva Nova, are very productive. And we experience how we are part of a very big project, very professionalised at all levels”.

Domínguez finished high school in science and combined his studies with some jobs. He then focused on competition. “These last two seasons I have been more focused on cycling to fight to make the jump to the professional ranks. I would love to be able to compete in stage races with varied orography. A Volta a Catalunya would be a dream, also for racing at home. In the amateur field there are several races that I like a lot, but perhaps the Memorial Valenciaga is the one that attracts me the most”.