Manuel Peñalver, a sprinter for the EOLO KOMETA team
The sprinter from Alicante signs for EOLO KOMETA to reinforce this facet of the team next season. His growth and maturity ensure great results in the volatas, where he has always been measured against the great international sprinters. He comes from Burgos BH, with whom he has raced since his professional debut in 2018.
Meticulous, concerned about nutrition and training, Manuel Peñalver spends long periods concentrated at altitude before his big goals. Trying to ensure that all the planning is fulfilled and that the results can come. Among other qualities, the team’s sports management has considered the rider’s professionalism and attitude as great reasons to incorporate him into the squad.
In addition to the victory in the Tour of China in his first season as a professional, he has always achieved great sprint results, such as second place in the stage of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana that finished in his native Torrevieja, third place in Pays de la Loire, sixth in GP Plumelec and several top-10 finishes in the Challenge de Mallorca. For 2024, Peñalver hopes to “achieve as many successes as possible, to achieve a victory to pay back the confidence and the opportunity they have given to me”.
His constant improvement and self-sacrificing work seeks to complete the speed in the final metres with the ability to overcome the mountain peaks and arrive in better conditions to the sprints. An ability that is increasingly necessary to compete and aspire to victory in mass finishes. “I would love to win one of the Italian classics, even a stage of the Giro. For me, facing a new calendar is also something nice, full of opportunities and that pushes me to keep working hard”, says Peñalver.
The art of sprinting is not for everyone. “You have to be brave, very regular, fight every day and be there. You never know when the opportunity might come and you have to fight every day”, says a rider who is used to compete against the best sprinters in the world. It is also special to be part of this project from 2024 onwards: “Being in Alberto Contador’s team is something really special. Feeling his confidence, Fran’s and the rest of the team’s, of course, motivates me to fight to return that confidence. He is a cyclist who has always been a reference”, says the Alicante-born rider.
Fran Contador, general manager of EOLO KOMETA, values Peñalver as “an excellent signing to reinforce the team in the sprints, to try to add more and better results in this type of finishes. He will be a key player, he has a lot of potential, I think he has not shown it yet and with his meticulous training rutine, with the dedication and motivation he has, we are sure that he will take a steep forward to finish exploding as a sprinter”.
