Another important level test on the roads of Burgos
40ª Vuelta Ciclista a Burgos
From 7 to 11 August 2018
Born in the mid-1940s, when two editions were held, but recovered in the early 1980s by the always remembered Gregorio Moreno, the Tour of Burgos has become one of the great events of the summer cycling season between the Tour and the Vuelta. And for the whims and peculiarities of the calendar, also in the penultimate race of a Spanish cycling calendar that closes the Spanish three weeks round.
By dates and by route, the Vuelta a Burgos, one of the most highly rated races by the International Cycling Union each year, has come to occupy the role of the Tour of Romandie for Giro de Italia or the Criterium Dauphiné for the Tour of France. Although Burgos is much more than a test and, making the provincial tourist slogan good, and paraphrasing it, the Tour of Burgos is origin and destination.
Polartec-Kometa, in its first year of continental life, will be one of the teams taking part in this even more special edition, even more so if it is possible to reach the forty editions. Alejandro Ropero from Granada makes his stagiaire debut in a team that features climber Juan Pedro López, sprinters Matteo Moschetti and Michele Gazzoli, the very powerful Juan Camacho and the versatile Patrick Gamper and Diego Pablo Sevilla.
Ahead of them, five stages in which the mountain has a great protagonism in both the classic final in the Lagunas de Neila, where the race will conclude on Saturday, and in the novel Picón Blanco on Thursday, which already made its debut in 2017 and is shaping up to be the future finish line for the Vuelta a España. The first day, a complicated finish on the slope of the Alto del Castillo in the capital of Burgos. And on Friday, in the penultimate stage, that arrival in Clunia that presents another steep slope in its vicinity.
“In the races we do with WorldTour we have to change the chip completely. It is a race that many teams use to prepare for the Vuelta a España. We have two sprinters, and the two days of sprinting we have to be careful so that both Gazzoli and Moschetti can at least have the chance to compete in the stage and the rest of the days, we go with Juanpe, but we also have to be realistic: we are with WorldTour teams. We have to let ourselves be seen, be the protagonists, take the breaks and have a presence in the race”, says the director Jesús Hernández.
Hernández refers to the presence of Movistar, Sky, Astana and Dimension Data, four WorldTour formations to which are added the professional continentals Burgos-BH, Euskadi-Murias, Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, Androni-Sidermec, Delko-Marsella, Direct Energie, Fortuneo-Samsic, Nippo-Vini Fantini and Willier Triestina. The Euskadi Foundation and the Polartec-Kometa are the continental formations invited.
The stages.
7 August: Burgos-Burgos (157 km).
8 August: Belorado-Castrojeriz (163 km).
9 August: Sedano-Picón Blanco (149 km).
10 August: Monastery of San Pedro Cardeña-Ciudad Romana de Clunia (165 km).
11th August: Salas de los Infantes-Lagunas de Neila (141 km).
(automatic translation, sorry for mistakes)
