Andrea Montoli, Fran Muñoz and Andrea Pietrobon, EOLO-KOMETA Cycling Team “stagiaires” for the second part of the season.

Just like last season, when three riders faced several races with the ProTeam between August and October, for this 2022 also three riders of the U23 team are going to be able to compete with the EOLO-KOMETA Cycling Team as ‘stagiaires’. Andrea Montoli, Fran Muñoz and Andrea Pietrobon are the three riders selected by the coaching staff this time.

Andrea Pietrobon is the veteran of the U23 squad, the only elite member of it, and comes from competing throughout the season in a Spanish calendar in which he has achieved good results. Provisional leader of the Spanish Cup in its first third, Pietrobon has had a strong presence in the recent Vuelta a Navarra, Vuelta a Extremadura and Loinatz Proba.

“It makes me very happy to be stagiaire with the pro team,” Pietrobon notes. “I hope they will select me for many races, I feel very good physically and I think I can help the team a lot and improve myself as a rider. I don’t know yet for which races they will count on me, but I will be ready when the time comes.”

Fran Muñoz has become one of the pleasant surprises of the season, backed by his victory in the final overall of the Elite-U23 Spanish Cup, a tournament where he has shown great consistency and in which he signed a victory in Ontur and another podium in Valladolid, in addition to a fourth place in Padrón. The Catalan from Mataró with Asturian roots has emerged as a rider with a lot of power, tenacious and brave.

“When I was told about this possibility I was very excited, but it was just a possibility. And the goal this year is to do the best job possible, learn a lot and continue to take steps forward. Now the news is confirmed and I can’t hide the fact that it makes me very happy, in the end it’s a bit of a consequence of what I’ve done so far. It is a sign that we are on the right track. One step closer to the goal,” says Muñoz.

Andrea Montoli is one of the veterans of the revamped U23 squad, to which he adapted very quickly from the very first moment after having been Italian national youth champion in 2020. This 2022, his second year in the category, Andrea has concretized a step forward in both strength and racing presence. Although his palmarès does not boast as many results as his teammates, Montoli has been a protagonist in several races on the Italian calendar, where he has made some very important offensive moves. Perhaps the most important is the one signed in the GP Palio del Recioto or in the Coppa Caduti Nervianesi.

“The first thing I felt was disbelief. Is it possible? In the end I’m not a cyclist with a lot of results behind me, but the team is always behind me, giving opportunities and help. I’m very grateful. My dream since I started competing in cycling was to get to do it with professionals and now it’s going to come true. I’m very happy and I hope to take advantage of this super experience, learning from the veterans and giving the best of me in the hope of being of much help to my teammates.”

Fran Contador, general manager of the EOLO-KOMETA Cycling Team and the U23 and junior structures of the Contador Foundation: “Very nice days are coming for the riders, there comes a time of the season when they can race with the ProTeam and know first hand how is the competitive atmosphere of the professionalism for which they work so hard every day”.

“The three of them, Montoli, Muñoz and Pietrobon, are three very solid and regular riders who during this 2022 have played a great role,” adds Contador. “Pietrobon, who we had been following for a few years, wanted to face one more year in the category after not having an easy 2021 in its second part. Montoli has grown a lot this year, with great performances in the Spanish and Italian calendar. And Muñoz, reigning champion of the Spanish Cup, an unprecedented success for our structure that has come from the hand of a very promising rider”.