A debut and a discovery in a Vuelta a Pamplona with more than 450 kilometres to cover
A first time is always special. And unforgettable. More than ten years after its creation, the youth structure of the Contador Foundation will discover in first person the Vuelta a Pamplona for the youth category. A first participation in a race with more than three and a half decades of existence. We would like to thank the Club Ciclista Ermitagaña for their invitation. The EOLO-KOMETA Cycling Team will ride with a sextet formed by Gerard Cano, Miguel Domínguez, Héctor García, Mario Gómez, Pablo Leno and Hugo Pradas.
Ahead, between Saturday and Tuesday, four stages in line that surpass in all the cases the hundred kilometres and that present hard and demanding terrain where multitude of offensives will take place. The total menu is more than 450 kilometres. The race, with the longest route in its history, will also be held under the Challenge formula.
“In the last Itzulia I ended up finding good legs after the slump that the Vuelta al Besaya meant for me. I felt comfortable again on the climbs”, says Gerard Cano. “This Tour will be very hard, no doubt, because every day there are mountain passes, one of the days we have to manage a ten-kilometre climb, and there are also very tough walls. In Pamplona there is always a high level, with a very different way of racing, and it is very satisfying to be able to be in this debut of the team in the race, we hope to do a good role. We are certainly looking forward to it”. “It is a race that can adapt very well to my characteristics”, adds Héctor García; “the fact that it is the first time that the team is taking part makes it even more special, we have to prove that we are worthy of this invitation and give the best of ourselves as a team and as people and show what we are capable of on the road”.
Miguel Domínguez, winner of the Vuellta Montaña Central Asturiana this season: “I’m looking forward to the start, as the fall in the last Spanish Championship forced me to rest a bit. I am fully recovered and with a lot of motivation. I think the second and third stages of the Vuelta are quite tough. We hope to be able to do a good and beautiful performance in this debut”. “I am also very motivated for this race, very excited. I have been feeling very good during the last few days of training, so I hope that these good feelings will continue in Pamplona and we will try to help as much as possible to have a good race”, says Pablo Leno. “It is special to be able to be present in a premiere like this one, for me it is special that the team has counted on me for this test and we are going to give everything, and more, to be at the height”, Hugo Pradas sentences.
Mario Gómez: “I’m really looking forward to it, I was left out of the Itzulia team because of two crashes in the last Spanish Championships and I was left with the feeling of having ridden in such a famous race. Cycling always gives you new opportunities and now it comes in a race of enormous prestige like the Vuelta a Pamplona. I’m really looking forward to racing, the route is quite good, especially the second stage. I think it has a pretty tough pass at the end. In general it’s going to be tough because none of the stages is less than 100 kilometres long and in the end there are four days that will be quite hard. Let’s hope that in this first participation we can fight for the victory, we have riders like Miguel or Gerard or any of us are ready. Personally, I’ve been feeling good these last two weeks after the fall and I’m looking forward to getting back on the road, to see how I really feel”.
The stages
22nd July | Stage 1: La Morea Shopping Centre – Mutilva (115 km).
23rd July | Stage 2: Ororbia – Ororbia (113 km).
24th July | Stage 3: Undiano – Undiano (109.5 km).
25th July | Stage 4: Pamplona – Pamplona (113.3 km).
[? Aroa Santamaría / Sociedad Ciclista Balmasedana]
