The health situation lead to several changes in the dates for junior cycling calendar
The 2021 season for junior cycling has not yet started but the current health situation, the COVID-19 pandemic that disrupted the development of last season, continues to cause some changes. The main one comes from the Trofeo Víctor Cabedo, whose organisation has confirmed that it will be moved from its usual dates to be held in September, and the Copa de España, which saw its first two races postponed.
The Trofeo Víctor Cabedo is a special race that over two weekends, under the Challenge format, brings together the main teams and riders of the junior scene. It is a very special race for the Fundación Contador, whose junior team has always had great performances in it since the first edition, in 2013, when the Balearic rider Enric Mas won the final overall. Fernando Barceló (2014), Guillem Cassú (2015), Tomeu Gelabert (2016), Carlos García (2017), Álex Martín (2018) and Javi Serrano (2019) have been other cyclists of the junior project who have won in the final classification.
The Trofeo Víctor Cabedo, which remembers the late rider from Castellón who died in a tragic accident while training, brings together under the same final classification four races held in Segorbe, Onda and Vila-Real. The Trofeo Entrada de Toros y Caballos, the Trofeo Castillo de Onda, the Memorial Joan Bautista Llorens and a team time trial at Vila-Real are the four events that make it up. The Memorial Joan Bautista Llorens, at the same time, has been one of the first events of the Copa de España of the category in recent years. The new dates the organisers are working on are the last two weekends of September: 18th and 19th, on the one hand, and 25th and 26th, on the other.
As for the Copa de España for the junior category, both the Circuito del Guadiana and the Trofeu Falles de Xátiva, the two inaugural races of the tournament, have also had to be postponed. The Extremaduran event, scheduled for Saturday 27th, has been initially programmed for July 3rd. The Valencian race, promoted by the Club Ciclista Bicicletas Sanchís, does not have a new date for the moment.
“The most important thing is health and the situation at the moment invites us to take this kind of decision. A postponement will always be much better than a definitive suspension. The lads are aware of the current situation, they have matured a lot in this sense and they know that this is something that can happen until the day to day doesn’t improve. They will continue to train with the same enthusiasm as before, that won’t change”, summarises Guillermo Gutiérrez, director of the Foundation’s junior squad.
[📷 PhotoGomezSport]
