Las Dunas complex of Oliva Nova Beach & Golf Resort hosts the junior squad training camp

The facilities of Oliva Nova Beach & Golf Resort, specifically the residential complex Las Dunas, and the roads of the regions of La Safor and La Marina Alta have hosted between Friday and Sunday the pre-season training camp of the Alberto Contador Foundation junior team.

After the meetings that took place during the final months of 2021, and after an adaptation of dates to reduce the uncertainties arising from the health situation due to the COVID-19, the second weekend of February has brought with it the always essential concurrence of the fifteen riders and staff members to lay the final foundations for the development of the season. A meeting that, before its official start, required the generation of a security bubble both with a negative test 24 hours before travelling and another one, for antigens, at the moment of arrival at the venue.

During the three days of demanding training in ideal weather conditions. “It’s the first time that I’ve cycled in this area in a training camp of these characteristics and the truth is that everything went very, very well”, said Nil Aguilera, a second year cyclist in the category. “It’s been a lot of fun, three very full days. Intense, but complete”, adds Héctor García, a first year junior from Murcia. The meeting was also attended by the general manager of the Foundation’s sports structures, Fran Contador.

Only the Hungarian Balász Pollner, who suffered a fracture in his right arm a few weeks before the meeting, did not exercise with the rest of his teammates on the bike, but he accompanied them from the car, worked in the gym, did some work on the roller and participated in the meetings and meetings with directors and trainers and in the relevant photo sessions. “I still have to spend three more weeks with the immobilised area, I just have to be patient and think about working well to come back in the best possible way”.

Guillermo Gutiérrez, sport director of the EOLO-KOMETA Cycling Team junior: “A concentration of these characteristics is fundamental to be able to begin the season in the best form. This will be the tenth adventure of the Foundation in the category and if there is something that has not changed since the first day is the illusion of wanting to do things well and to contribute a grain of sand in the career of the boys in the fight for the achievement of their dreams. Of course, this is not something exclusive to this team, nor does it make us the bearers of an absolute truth; on the contrary, it seeks to add to a wonderful sport where there are many projects and many people who work very hard, day after day, with the same eagerness. And that is what is important. That cycling grows. Seeing the desire, enthusiasm and impetus of the kids is wonderful, it’s contagious”.

Javier Cebolla, coach of the junior team of the Contador Foundation: “This meeting has helped us above all to work on things that they can’t work on individually at home, because in the end each one comes from a specific geographical location either at national level or in Hungary, work that can only be done if the whole team is together. And of course, which is always important, to form a group. The coexistence has been great and all the guys are looking forward to start competing. These days we have been able to see very interesting things in the kids and we have been able to get infected by their desire, their desires and their dedication”.

The junior squad of the EOLO-KOMETA Cycling Team will be composed by fifteen riders, three Hungarians and twelve Spaniards. Of the fifteen cyclists, four continue after arriving in 2021: the Catalan Joel Díaz, the Riojan Lucas Guillermo, the Cantabrian David Puente and the Hungarian Gergo Magyar. In 2022, the Valladolid-born Iván Polo, Manuel Sanroma from La Mancha, Alem Hernaiz from Madrid, the Catalans Nil Aguilera, Álex García and Joan Cadena, the Murcian Pedro and Héctor García, and César Pérez, the Hungarians Bálint Feldhoffer and Balász Pollner will join the team. The competitive debut of the junior team will take place on Saturday 26th in the Circuito del Guadiana, the first race of the Spanish Cup in Extremadura. In the coming weeks, the technical management will finalise the final composition of the team that will compete in Don Benito.