Gerard Cano

Gerard Cano is one of the four riders promoted from the youth structure to the U23 team for the 2024 season. The rider from Girona, resident at the foot of the Pyrenees, was one of the most outstanding riders of the last season with the junior squad. The cyclist from Campdevànol has a privileged environment to train. “I have several climbs that reach 2,000 metres close to home. Vallter 2000, La Creueta, Pal, Les Barraques… This area is wonderful. We have a route that is a bit of a tradition in which in 70 kilometres, or less, we climb Pardines, Brugeres, Queralbs and Campelles and we manage around 2,000 metres of positive difference in altitude”. However, the Catalan does not define himself as a pure climber: “I’m good at climbing, I like climbing, and I also think that I descend well. So far my experiences with time trials have been good and in the past I have done a lot of track and I became Catalan champion in all modalities. I’m in a training phase, but for the moment I’m very versatile and complete, so we’ll see where we go”. The Pyrenees are a cradle for the love of cycling beyond the personal: it also comes from the family. “My grandfather Alfons Cano already raced bikes, he was a fan of the sport. He ended up passing this hobby on to my father, Josep, who came to compete in the amateur field and was in the PDM. They both told me stories and stories and I became more and more curious. My parents warned me that it was very demanding and very demanding, but I wanted to try it. I think I was about 13 years old when I touched the bike for the first time, we did a 40 kilometre route and I ended up at home knackered, unable to get up. But far from stopping, I kept on cycling”, he explains. The young Gerard, who comes to the Foundation from the Unión Ciclista Vilanova, after a previous career at the Olot Cycling School, is studying an intermediate degree in Guiding at the Mendio Natural and Leisure Time and hopes to continue studying higher education, delving deeper into the field of nutrition. He is also an admirer of a very young cyclist, former rider of the same structure in which he will compete in 2023: Carlos Rodríguez. “He is a great rider, he has everything. He can do a stage in a one-week tour, he’s in the fight in a three-week tour, he can set up a sprinter for the volley… And he’s winning a career while competing at the highest level”.