The hilly landscapes of Jaén examine options and Optimism
XXXV Clásica Ciudad de Torredonjimeno
Torredonjimeno-Torredonjimeno (160 km)
His third final place in the Memorial Pascual Momparler, and his consequent 85 points, have allowed the Granadino Alejandro Ropero to consolidate in the sixth place of the provisional classification of the elite Spanish Cup and U23. With 251 points, the cyclist from Otura is 109 points away from the leader held by the Catalan Roger Adriá (Lizarte), spearhead of an ointment where also are his partner Francisco Galván, Gerard Armillas (Compak), Angel Fuentes (Gomur) or Joel Nicolau (Caja Rural).
Between Ropero and Miguel Ángel Ballesteros (Valverde), former guy of the continental Kometa Cycling Team and currently seventh, a jump of almost 100 points already appears. And yet, nothing is absolute. A good example is the Argentine Nahuel Omar D´Aquila (Mutua Levante), perched in tenth place in the classification with a jump of no less than 222 positions after his victory in Ontur.
The Cup is still very open past its equator and this coming Sunday faces the sixth of its nine component tests in a complicated terrain, complex and not without hardness. The Classic of Torredonjimeno arrives. In this phase of the calendar the Cup celebrates its most demanding tests in a continuous way. The appointment jienense is the only Andalusian test that scores in the Cup of Spain and in that sense it can be said that Ropero runs at home. The Kometa Cycling Team directed by Rafa Díaz Justo faces the competition in third place in the general standings by squads, with 176 points, 64 from the leadership of Lizarte Navarra and 24 from the Caja Rural-Seguros RGA. The incentives are multiple.
The Kometa Cycling Team travels to Torredonjimeno, an enclave where it has never been able to raise its arms, reinforced by the good group performance deployed in the Momparler. His best trumps in the classification, Alejandro Ropero and Carlos García Pierna (20º, 78 points), lead a team where also two incombustibles will take part, the Asturian Eduardo Pérez-Landaluce and the Andalusian Sergio García, two riders that are completing a sensational Cup of Spain of abnegated and dark work, always far from the media headlines and burdened in the case of García for his tremendous fall in the Trofeo Guerrita that made him miss the Aiztondo Klasika. The Colombian Jhon Stiven Ramírez, the Balearic Joan Martí Bennassar and the Catalan Álex Martín, the latter two returning to the team, complete the ‘seven’.
On the menu of Torredonjimeno, a route of great difficulty due to the particularities of the orography of Jaén. A route that invites escape and friction. Last year a solo breakaway triumphed; two years ago, success was born in a group of six units. A race with a mountain soul that hardens in its equator with more than one non-scoring climb, such as the approach to Alcaudete, and the passage through two great mountain prizes such as the Alto de Locubín, with more than eight kilometres of slopes around 5% and maximum ramps of 11%, and the Alto de Valdepeñas, 3.5 kilometres at 6.5% and ramps of 9%.
(automatic translation, sorry mistakes)
