Ramón Fernández Cuesta: “If you tell me where I would like to win, Monte Naranco would be the place”

“We all have that great dream of becoming professionals”. Ramón Fernández is one of the additions to the U23 structure of the Contador Foundation for the 2022 season. A resident of Oviedo, in love with his Monte Naranco, he joins Rafa Díaz Justo and Dario Andriotto’s team from the Galician Froiz cycling team.

Fernández (8 July 2001) was promoted to the U23 category by Evaristo Portela after his formative years in the Club Ciclista Colloto and the Escuela de Ciclismo Viella and, as a cadet and junior, in the MMR Academy. “He is a fighter, a combative cyclist who is very good in the mountains”, Portela presented him at the time of that jump, back in 2019. In 2021 he has had some very important performances. In the Volta a Castellón he finished fifth after being one of the protagonists in the queen stage. In the Memorial Valenciaga, at Eibar, he finished an interesting ninth place. In the very tough Spanish Championships held in Alicante he finished fifth.

The Asturian rider likes the mountains and enjoys the climbs on the peaks of the Montaña Central. “It’s my usual training area. El Cordal, Cobertoria, Cuchu Puerco, even Angliru or Gamoniteiro… Although my favourite climb will always be the Naranco. It’s just five minutes from my house and I often go up there. If one day I have a four-hour training session, I organise it to climb it last in the day…”, he explains.

Demanding training sessions in the usual areas for the Vuelta a España. But with the Naranco, a special place for this lover of the motor world. “If you tell me where I would like to win, the Naranco would be the place. Of course to win, of course; but the Naranco is part of my home. Many stages of the Vuelta are on my usual routes. It would also be very nice to win a stage of the Vuelta in Asturias. And the home race, of course, to win the Vuelta a Asturias”.

In his category, the Oviedo-born rider is opting for two big events. “I don’t have a favourite race as such, I like the ones that best suit my characteristics. The Memorial Valenciaga is a reference. Or the Spanish Championships”.

Fernández got into cycling thanks to one of his grandfathers: Pepe, José Manuel Fernández. “He was an amateur rider who competed in the area, but he never became a professional. When I was a kid I tried other sports, but I also cycled with my grandfather and I liked it more and more. When I was six years old I signed up for the Colloto”, he recalls. And what about free time? “The little free time I have, I like to enjoy my lifelong friends”.