Aiztondo, another challenge in u23 Copa de España

Copa de España continues it’s way and reaches it’s third stop in the Basque Country, specifically in the XIX Aiztondo Klasika Txomin Perurena – Patxi Alkorta Memoriala. To the Basque race Gabriele Raccagni arrives leader of the U23 classification after finishing second in the last Trofeo Guerrita, which added to his fifth place in Don Benito, was enough to be credited as the most regular U23 rider so far in the competition.

The race, which did not take place in 2023, has Fernando Tercero as its last winner who, after being part of the Polti Kometa development team, is now part of the professional squad.

The route, which varies from other editions, will be the shortest to date in the Copa de España races, but it will also be the one with the highest number of mountain passes. The cyclists will have to face a total of 11 climbs, nine of which will count towards the mountain classification. Of the nine climbs for the mountain classification, eight will be the usual Aduna climb (0.8km-7%) and one of them will be the well-known climb to village of Alkiza (4.5km-5.6%). Finally, and to add up the 11 climbs, in the last 30 kilometres of the race, the riders will have to climb Mendigain (3.2km-5.5%) on two occasions, the last climbs top being only 4 kilometres from the finish line.

Rafael Diaz, sports director of the under-23 team explains how the team faces the Aiztondo Klasika: “The script has changed from what we had in mind for the start of the season. For Raccagni, this Sunday’s race is very demanding so, counting with his great form, we will try to get him as far as possible. On the other hand, we have other riders who can try to fight for winning the race. For each race of the Copa de España we have a rider to compete. Aiztondo is a very complicated race in which luck will also be key”:

Line-up: Gerad Cano, Pablo García, Dario Giuliano, Antonio González, Gabriele Raccagni, Manuel Sanroma and Daniel Tenorio.

Zizurkil – Asteasu (139,2km)