Another fun first of May thanks to the toughness of the dean Santikutz Klasika and the points at stake for the Cup

88º Santikutz Klasika
Legazpi – Legazpi (154,1 km)

Catalan Fran Muñoz returns to the Basque Country this weekend to wear his Cup leader’s jersey in the U23 category in one of the biggest events on the Spanish calendar in terms of history, tradition and organisation. The Santikutz Klasika in Legazpi, a race that dates back to 1929 and which for many years allowed professional cyclists to compete, brings new and valuable points into play in a competition that is led by Andoni López de Abetxuko, with the Mataró rider just 17 points behind.

With Muñoz, two riders who are completing the whole Cup at an exceptional level such as Ramón Fernández and Andrea Pietrobon. Davide Piganzoli, Javi Serrano and Fernando Tercero reinforce the power of a team completed, in his debut on Spanish roads, by Gabriele Raccagni. “The leadership is great, it’s very nice and a great honour, but the idea remains the same: we go race by race, without thinking about an all-out defence. The objective is every single race. Anything that comes after that will be a gift, a consequence of the work done”, considers director Rafa Díaz Justo.

The route of the Santikutz Klasika introduces some changes in its course due to the existence of works in the road section between Urretxu and Azkoitia, but in essence it is still a saw tooth that makes the oldest race of the Spanish Cup (present in all the editions since the creation of the tournament in 1999) very special. Udana, in the first third of the route, begins to toughen up a race that is then peppered with several passes through Eizaga, Aztiria and Liernia before the final, definitive chain of climbs to Gabiria and Aztiria via Las Minas (5.7 km at 6.1%) very close to the finish line.

1 May: Santikutz Klasika (Legazpi-Legazpi, 154,1 km).