The U19 Spanish Cup closes at the Peñafiel Castle

Finally postponed to 2022, the celebration of the Peñafiel City Hall Trophy returns this first Sunday of August with an edition that increases its mileage maintaining some of the identity signs of the event and closing again, as in other occasions, the Spanish Cup of the category. An edition of the event in which there are no ‘blue’ contenders for the final title, so the partial victory emerges as an objective per se.

In this sense, the scenic start is maintained from the incomparable setting of the Plaza del Coso in the town of Puebla. And the finish returns to the surroundings of its majestic castle, almost a kilometre and a half of ascent at an average gradient of 6%.

Between one point and another, areas exposed to the action of the wind and the rigours of the summer sun and the occasional steep slope that can provide selection to the development of the race due to the particularity that after reaching the top, the race faces moorland and plains where it is more difficult to recover.

Sergio Calvo, Miguel Domínguez, Samuel Flórez, Héctor García, Pablo Leno, Iván Polo and Hugo Pradas are the seven cyclists who have been selected by the management of the junior team of the Contador Foundation. “We hope to be able to bring toughness to the race”, says Isaac Cantón, who will lead the team in the race. “We have to see how the wind is on Sunday, if it blows or not, which can generate many race situations. And of course, we hope to be able to be in the final climb with options to compete in the race”.

Iván Polo, born in Valladolid, is familiar with some of the course.”The first third is much more recurrent and well known. The second part is further away, but in short, it’s a leg-breaking area.There are short climbs, followed by stretches of moorland and small descents, in a succession that in the end doesn’t leave a moment’s respite. The penultimate climb is expected to be at a very fast pace. And on the subsequent moorland, if the wind blows, the race could break up and the final climb to the castle could be very tight”.