The u23 team faces the last races of the Copa de España
The 2024 elite-u23 Copa de España raches its final races and the team will face this Sunday in Valencia the ninth round of this one. There will be only one weekend left with two days of competition in Galicia to finish the prestigious trophy. Gabriele Raccagni (12th) is the best rider of the team in the general classification. The team will fight for a victory that has been resisted with several riders in the top 5 and even the second place of Raccagni himself in Murcia.
The squad that the team will present to the race will combine the riders who last week competed on the Ronde de L’Isard and on the races of the Copa de España in the province of Gipuzkoa. Martín Barrero and Alex García arrive from the French stage race while the Bessega brothers, Pablo García, Gabriele Raccagni and Manuel Sanroma come from the Memorial Valenciaga.
The profile of the race will take the riders on a circuit with the ascent to the Puerto Sumacarcer (3rd) and the Tous reservoir dam as protagonists. Once this loop is finished, the cyclists will return to the start line following the route that led them to the circuit at the beginning of the race. The climbs will be selective, although the ascents themselves will not be too demanding. At the start of the second and fourth laps, the riders will have two special sprint in the town of Sumacarcer, which gives its name to the pass they climb.
Rafael Díaz Justo will be at the controls of the team in Valencia in a race that changed its route in 2023: “They have changed the format of the race, the new alternative is a circuit with 5 laps of a climb and a steep climb down to the Tous dam. We will take a team prepared for a possible sprit because last year a big group arrived together although I would like the race to be tough. Pablo, Alex and Martín are in good shape. The team is a combination of climbers and sprinters”.
Martín Barrero is one of the riders who is in good shape for the race: “I already know the race from last year when a big group of riders came together. Personally, I’m in good shape with a good pace on my legs from France, although if last year’s circumstances repite, we have very fast riders in the team who can do very well”, explains the rider from Asturias.
“Sunday’s race doesn’t have a very hard course, but after five laps of the climb it will be demanding. We have a good team, coming from Ronde de L’Isard and a block of competition in Spain. I feel good and I hope to get through the climb well”, says Italian Gabriele Raccagni, one of the team’s trump cards for the Momparler Memorial.
