Toledo’s orographies return to the amateur cycling tours calendar with a new and varied proposal with a great future

I Vuelta Ciclista Toledo Imperial
From 5 to 7 August

For fifty consecutive editions, the roads of the province of Toledo have been the scene of intense competitive cycling battles with the Vuelta, promoted by Tour de France winner Federico Alejandro Martín Bahamontes. Between 1996 and 2016, the Toledo stage race was one of the most eagerly awaited amateur sporting events given its prestige and the inherent toughness of its routes. A race lasting several days, which overlapped with the pre-existing Gran Premio Bahamontes, in which the heat ruled and in which the selection came, above all but not only, from the hand of the Montes de Toledo. In 2016, with victory for the now professional Gonzalo Serrano, its last edition was held after the retirement of its alma mater.

Direct legacy of that successful experience, with the help of the Peña Ciclista Julio López ‘Chineta’, this August 2022 sees the birth of the first edition of the Vuelta a Toledo Imperial. It is impossible not to approach this one without thinking of that one, but the truth is that they are two independent races. For the new stage race in Toledo, the organisers propose a very interesting three-day menu in which the cyclists will have to manage a team time trial to open their mouths, a very long first stage in line for the standards of the category in which the protagonist is the Montes de Toledo and another final stage with a lot of accumulated gradient where the foothills of the Sistema Central (the Sierra de San Vicente) and a steep climb finish are the main features.

For this new adventure, the director Rafa Díaz Justo, although he was born in Switzerland due to his parents’ work circumstances, a real Toledo native, has called up six cyclists, three of whom are in their first year in the category. The squad is headed by Marcel Camprubí, who has just finished on the podium at the Vuelta a Madrid. Andrea Montoli, one of the stagiaires with whom the EOLO-KOMETA Cycling Team will count on during the rest of the season, will support the Catalan. Pablo Uría faces his second competition after the knee injury. Edoardo Alleva, Manuel Oioli and Gabriele Raccagni complete the line-up.

Rafa Díaz Justo, director of EOLO-KOMETA Cycling Team U23: “The Vuelta a Toledo has always been one of the best races in the amateur scene, with a very notable participation and tough routes. For that reason his recovery somehow, though we are speaking about a new race, is a very good news for the category at national level. The route they have prepared for this comeback is very interesting, with a not easy team time trial, a very complicated second stage both for the mileage and for the heat or for the passage through the Alto de Robledillo, which will make a lot of selection; and a third stage that is not easy either. A race for strong blocks to which we come with great enthusiasm and desire. We’ll see what the race has in store for us afterwards”.

The stages.

Stage 1 (5 August): Mazarambroz – Mazarambroz (21 km TTT).

Stage 2 (6 August): Gerindote – Añover de Tajo (173,6 km).

Stage  3 (7 August): Escalona – Escalona (141,7 km).