The guy of La Mancha Fernando Tercero finishes sixth in the demanding time trial of the Jaen Nationals

Spanish Cycling Championships
Individual Time Trial: Cazorla-La Iruela (26.3 km ITT)

Four riders of the Kometa-Xstra Cycling Team U23 took part this Friday in the time trial, which was a very hard time commitment, and which clarified the identity of the new national champion of the specialty in this category. Fernando Tercero from La Mancha was the best classified, sixth, in a race where the gold medal went to a former member of the junior staff of the Contador Foundation, Raul García Pierna from Madrid.

The cyclist from Valdepeñas, the fourth rider to begin his participation in the time trial, set a record of 40:05 with which he remained at the head of the provisional classification until the Asturian Pelayo Sánchez crossed the finish line. In the end, third place was 1:15 of the time established (30:50) by Raúl García, former third place teammate in 2019 in the junior team and also before his first year in the category.

“I finished very happy, the truth, although it was a pity that in the first part I had enough time. At the beginning the terrain was much more suitable for the riders and it was a bit difficult for me to warm up, but after passing through Peal del Becerro, facing the hardest part, I felt very good and kept my legs fresh and agile. The end was really hard and the last kilometer was very, very long”, explains Tercero.

The Balearic Joan Martín Bennassar, who won bronze in the last two editions, finally finished eleventh in a very demanding final that did not match his great rolling skills. Bennassar managed to set the best time at the halfway point, kilometre 13, by just a few hundredths of a second compared to Raúl García, but the climb up to La Iruela, with steep sections over those final three kilometres, prevented him from being in the fight for the medals. “I did a good first part, but from the turn I didn’t find any sensations and it was difficult to get into the rhythm and launch the bike. A bad day. Although it does not remain another one that to follow and to insist “.

Eduardo Pérez-Landaluce, from Asturias, finished seventeenth, 2:53 from the winner. “The truth is that I didn’t have the best sensations and the result reflects that, but we have a new opportunity ahead of us”. For his part, Arturo Grávalos, from La Rioja, could not finish due to a breakdown in his bike, which he chose to abandon. “I had a mechanical problem in the cranks, luckily I wasn’t on my feet at the time because I could have fallen. The sensations were good, which is the important thing, so now it’s time to think about the route”, concluded the rider from La Rioja.

📷 @PhotoGomezSport / RFEC.

(automatic translation, sorry for mistakes)