4 Jun 2024

The under-23 team travels to Castellón for another stage race

Volta a Castelló

From 5th to 8th of June

Once the Copa de España is over, the calendar changes its tendency and stage races for the under-23 team start to accumulate. The Volta Castelló will be the first race of this type for the team in June.

The squad arrives in a very good dynamic after the victories in the Volta a Portugal do Futuro and Clásica La Rioja in a very emotional day. Among the riders who participated in the mentioned race, Riccardo Archetti, Gabriele Bessega, Bálint Feldhoffer and Daniel Tenorio will repeat in the line-up. In addition, the Catalans Gerard Cano and Álex García will join the list.

The route of the Volta Castelló will be very demanding with two stages with more than 3,000 meters of positive ascent. The first day of four from Wednesday to Saturday will start in Almazora and finish in Villafamés. The 152 kilometres between the start and finish will have an irregular profile and 2330 meters of positive ascent. The cyclists will pass the Alto de Culla (2nd) and the Alto de la Infantería (2nd) less than 8 kilometres from the finish. The second stage will have four mountain passes and a summit finish to complete 137.7 kilometres and accumulate 3040 meters of positive ascent. La Artejuela and Salto del Caballo (1st) as well as the Alto del Remolcador (2nd) and the double ascent to the Castillo de Villamalefa (2nd) will be the protagonists of the stage. The finish line will be located on the second ascent to the Castillo.

The third stage of the race will be the most demanding in terms of its profile. The route that will connect Sant Jordi and Cinctorres after 157 kilometres will have 3180 meters of positive ascent. The Alto de Villabona (1st), the Muro de la Parera (3rd), the Creu del Gelat (1st) and the Alto de Sant Pere (3rd) will be the climbs to be overcome by the cyclists on the day that follows the hardness of the race. The fourth and final stage will be the shortest of the race with the Alto de la Coma (3rd) at the start of the day and the well-known Desierto de las Palmas (2nd) in the last 25 kilometres.

Álex García, who was part of the Volta a Portugal team, will travel to Castellón: ‘My expectations are high because I finished the Volta a Portugal with a very good feeling and the Volta Castelló has a course that I like a lot with hardness and mountains… Collectively, I also have an extra motivation because things are starting to work out and the victories are coming’.

Miguel Gómez will lead the team in Castellón while awaiting further positive results: ‘We have been in a very positive dynamic for a month now, backed up by good results. Now it’s time to link consecutive stage races. As far as Volta Castelló is concerned, we are going with a team to work day by day and to make sure that good things happen, as we have the capacity to do so. We think in Gabriele in the initial day, the second and third day for its hardness will be more suitable to the more climbers profiles, without discarding any and thinking that they will be growing day by day as it can be the case of Tenorio. The fourth, depending on how the previous three stages are defined, will be ridden in one way or another’.

Stage 1: Almazora – Villafamés (152km)