Vicente Hernaiz, David Martín and Davide Piganzoli, stagiaires with the EOLO-KOMETA Cycling Team

The U23 riders of the Fundación Contador Vicente Hernaiz, David Martín and Davide Piganzoli will compete for the rest of the season with the EOLO-KOMETA Cycling Team ProTeam as stagiaires. The three riders have been among the most outstanding of the formative structure directed by Rafa Díaz Justo.

Vicente Hernaiz (Valladolid, November 28, 1998) is one of the most combative riders of the Spanish amateur peloton. He joined the U23 structure of the Foundation for 2020 and in this season and a half he has established himself as a very regular all-rounder.

“In the end, racing as a stagiaire is fulfilling a big part of my dream of racing in the pros, even though I’m not yet a pro as such. When I was told that I was going to race with the ProTeam this year, it was a great moment of euphoria. It will be my first contact in that category; I do not know very well what to expect because it is a very different category to U23, where I already have a lot of experience. Now the goal is to find a good form to be as competitive as possible and give the maximum in what the team entrusts me. For the rest, as my director Rafa Díaz Justo says, ‘Enjoy’ and give the maximum”.

David Martín (Seville, 19 February 1999) also joined the Foundation in 2020, backed by his great speed. In this season and a half Martín, whose origins in the sport of cycling are in mountain biking, has confirmed himself as one of the great sprinters in the amateur category.

“I’ve had the same dream of becoming a professional cyclist since 2009.  Cycling, first mountain biking and since 2018 with the road, has helped me to mature a lot as a person. As I’ve grown up I’ve realised what a great family and friends I have around me. Without them it would not have been possible to get to where I am. There have been difficult moments both in the family and personally, but this is a sport of endurance, of perseverance, and hard work is always rewarded. I would also like to thank each and every one of my teammates for this opportunity: they have done a tremendous and invisible job so that I could finish or fight for it. It’s only for them that I will give my maximum in every race”.

Davide Piganzoli, on the other hand, is a newcomer to both the Foundation and the category. The Italian, born in Valtellina, had great performances against the clock as a junior, but in his first year as U23 he has also shown his quality both in the Spanish Cup (fourth in the Santikutz Klasika in Legazpi, no less) and in the Giro U23, in his first experience over so many days of competition: he finished tenth.

“I’m very happy,” he says. “I’m very excited, especially after having suffered a bad day in the Giro del Valle d’Aosta. My dream is to be able to ride with the pros and I’m very happy to have the opportunity to do it already this year. It’s something that motivates me a lot and I’m looking forward to the day to enjoy it to the full”.

With the important nuance that their experience will take place in a ProTeam structure, the second step within the teams according to the International Cycling Union, Hernaiz, Martín and Piganzoli join a list that started with Stefano Oldani and Alejandro Ropero in 2018, followed by the Hungarians Karl Adam and Vas Balazs in 2019 and continued last year (2020) with Arturo Grávalos and Eduardo Pérez-Landaluce.