An Aiztondo Klasika with summit finish in Alkiza will test the good moment of the EOLO-KOMETA Cycling Team
XVIII Aiztondo Klasika
Larraul – Alkiza (139,5 km)
The Copa de España is up to cruising speed and faces this Sunday the third of its races on the roads of the Basque Country. The Aiztondo Klasika, the race that in 2021 circumstantially hosted the opening of the competition, returns to the stage with a new orographic proposal that this time features a hilly finish. The almost 4 kilometres of ascent to Alkiza, at an average of around 7%, will determine the winner of an edition in which it would not be unreasonable to think of a solo rider winning.
Before tackling the climb to the town of Tolosaldea, there will be more than 130 kilometres of not easy orographical terrain, which will be divided into two circuits. A first 58 km route between Larraul and Asteasu where the Altzo and Alkiza mountain prizes will begin to toughen up the race. Then, five laps of a 14.3-kilometre circuit through Villabona, Asteasu and Zizurkil where they will face five passes through the Aduna climb, a wall of just under one kilometre in length with an average gradient of over 8%.
The U23 team of the Contador Foundation travels to Gipuzkoa with the Italian Andrea Pietrobon in second place in the Spanish Cup, with 170 points and 70 points behind the Russian Gleb Syritsa, winner of the first two races. Pietrobon, however, leads the general classification in the elite category. In this edition of the Aiztondo Klasika Marcel Camprubí, Ramón Fernández, Antonio González, Fran Muñoz, Andrea Pietrobon, Davide Piganzoli and Fernando Tercero will start for the EOLO-KOMETA Cycling Team.
Ramón Fernández, Asturian rider of the EOLO-KOMETA U23: “I checked the weather these days and at the moment there was not much rain. The water is a determining factor in this race. In 2021 it rained a lot and we rode with an average temperature of 4 or 5 degrees. The course is tough and demanding, but it won’t completely break up the group. This makes the final climb even more decisive. I think this edition is for a pure climber. For our part, we’re going as we always do, race by race, without wasting the chances that come our way”.
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