A revamped GP Miguel Indurain for long-awaited returns and long-awaited recoveries
22nd Gran Premio Miguel Indurain
Estella/Lizarra – Estella/Lizarra (203 km)
After few italians event during March, a commitment in Spain. The Foral Community of Navarre awaits the EOLO-KOMETA Cycling Team with a new edition of the Gran Premio Miguel Indurain that premieres category and will gather a great participation for this debut. The race, that grows to 203 kilometres, enters in the ProSeries category with 19 participating teams of which nine will be WorldTour structures.
The ProTeam structure of the Contador Foundation comes with six cyclists: Vincenzo Albanese, Francesco Gavazzi, Arturo Grávalos, Diego Pablo Sevilla, Daniel Viegas and Luca Wackermann. A team with some debutants and several returnees.
The Gran Premio Miguel Indurain will be the return of Gavazzi after his crash, and forced abandonment, in the Trofeo Laigueglia. But it will also be the debut for Luca Wackermann. It will be the first bib for the Italian rider since he had to abandon the Giro d’Italia in the final metres of the fifth stage after being hit by a finish area fence driven by the air current generated by the low-flying helicopter.
“At last! In a few days I’ll be able to race again. I can’t wait to put on a bib again. I would have liked to do it sooner, but I had a small problem with my knee, which is still a result of the after-effects of the accident at the Giro d’Italia. I’m now fully recovered and I’m looking forward to it. I’m in very good shape. The team will be going all out for this race, we are a very good group”, Wackermann adds.
Racing in Estella will also be very special for the neo-professional Arturo Grávalos. The Riojan has grown up in the Navarrese junior calendar and during his youth he has been able to run in several races in this town. “For me Estella is like a third home”, he smiles, “I had a lot of good times there when I was a junior, we competed many times and fought to win in the Paseo de la Inmaculada. Coming back now as a professional is an incentive to do very well. The course is not easy, it’s much harder than it looks”.
Grávalos emphasises the winding terrain beyond the climbs, with many steep slopes and areas where the wind can blow. But it will be in the final part with the chain of Lezáun, Guirguillano, the two passes over the Ibarra climb and the climb to Erául where the race will be resolved. From Eraul to the finish line there are ten kilometres to go and, in between, a passage over the Ibarra climb, a kilometre with double digits.
