20 Jun 2023

The Vuelta al Besaya and the Gipuzkoa Iztulia, two prestigious events to end June

Vuelta al Besaya: from 22 to 25 June

Gipuzkoa Itzulia: from 23 to 26 June

A very important cycle of competitions in the 2023 season of the junior structure of the Contador Foundation, two very important stage races in the calendar. The Vuelta al Besaya, in Cantabria, and the Gipuzkoako Itzulia, in Euskadi, will host the double competitive front of the team between this Thursday, when the first one starts, and next Monday, when the second one finishes.

The Vuelta al Besaya is one of the great races of the category within the continental panorama. In its 2023 edition, it maintains its great hallmarks, such as the climbs to the Collado de Brenes and the Collado de Cieza (the latter over two days), and presents a team time trial that could be fundamental in the fight for the final general classification. The Cantabrian event has always occupied a special place in the junior team’s calendar and has seen several podiums and overall wins for Alex Martín (2018), Carlos Rodríguez (2019) and Arnau Gilabert (2020).

The Gipuzkoako Itzulia is a race that the Foundation’s junior team will discover in 2023. The race, promoted by the Gipuzkoa Cycling Federation, will start with a short individual time trial and during its three online stages it has the common feature of some important climbs in the final part, which guarantees attacks, bravery and spectacle.

Seven cyclists, six second year riders in the category and one first year rider, will take part in Besaya: Sergio Calvo, Gerard Cano, Miguel Domínguez, Samuel Flórez, Mario Gómez, Álvar Martín, Manuel Sanroma. For Gipuzkoa, a sextet that combines experience in the category with first-year youth: Iker Díaz, Balint Feldhoffer, Héctor García, Iván Loaisa, Iván Polo, Hugo Pradas.

Gorka Beloki, team manager: “We face a week with two very important races in the calendar in which we have set ourselves the goal of doing well, taking on the challenge of this dubbing and looking forward to see in the wagon the point in which we are working and preparing for the future. Besaya is one of the most prestigious races in the category, and together with the Bizkaiko Bira, in my opinion, they are the top national races. Gipuzkoa is an ideal scenario for the boys to take a step forward, with the added bonus that it will be our debut in this race, something we were really looking forward to because racing in the Basque Country is always important. For Besaya, we have a team that is very aware of the team time trial, which is based on the line-up that did very well in the team time trial of the Vuelta a la Montaña Cental. For Gipuzkoa we have a team capable of being at the front, we will see what riders like Balint or Hector can do or the role of Iván Polo and Hugo Pradas in the time trial”.

Vuelta al Besaya

22 June | Stage 1: Los Corrales de Buelna – San Felices de Buelna (116 km).