Vuelta a la Montaña Central, first stage race on home ground for the junior team
After the first contact with stage races in the Volta ao concelho de Loulé in the Portuguese Algarve, the junior team will race from Thursday to Sunday a demanding Vuelta a la Montaña Central in Asturias. There will be 4 days of competition on the roads of the principality with climbs well known in the world of cycling.
The junior team arrives in Asturias with a very strong ‘7’ configured for the fight for the general classification that will try to revalidate after the victory achieved in the 2023 edition. Iker Díaz returns to competition after a few weeks of rest after a very regular start to the season. Pablo Leno, Ivan Loaisa, Eleazar Jimenez, José Miguel Moreira and Hector Teruel will repeat in the line-up after competing in Montemayor. Matteo Compagnoni will be the seventh rider in the squad that will travel to Asturias.
The first stage of the race will be, a priori, the easiest of all. The cyclists will complete 3 laps of a circuit that will take them to the finish line in Moreda after 87 kilometres of racing. The two previous passes through the town will be intermediate sprints, the only intermediate prize of the day. The second stage will be the longest of the edition with 112 kilometres and the hardness concentrated in the final part. The cyclists will ride four laps around the towns of Figaredo and Mieres with two intermediate sprints as on the previous day. Once they have completed the first 85 kilometres, they will tackle the climbs to Santirso (3rd) and Santo Emiliano (2nd). The last climb will be crowned eight kilometres from the finish with a completely favorable terrain until the finish.
The third day will repeat the scheme of the previous days. In this case the cyclists will complete a first circuit around the town of Pola de Laviana, the starting and finishing point with the respective intermediate sprints of each stage. In the final part of the race the cyclists will have the only climb of the day: La Faya los Lobos (2nd). They will descend and head straight to the finish line, located eight kilometres from the top, to complete a stage of 88 kilometres. The fourth and last stage of the edition will be the shortest of this edition with 68.5 kilometres, two intermediate sprints as every day and the one follow to another ascents to La Collá (2nd) and El Cordal (1st), located only 7 kilometres from the finish line, which will define a very demanding race in its four days of competition.
Isaac Cantón, director of the junior team, will arrive in Asturias with the desire to fight again for the victory achieved last year, taking into account that it will be a tough race in terms of weather and route, but above all, four very beautiful days.
Iker Díaz returns to competition in the Vuelta a la Montaña Central: “I feel good, I’ve been training well these days and I’m looking forward to racing again. Being the first stage race of the year it will be hard, especially on Sunday, which is a tough stage, but I’m looking forward to it and I’m sure that the whole team will do very well”.
Eleazar Jiménez will be one of the cyclists of reference for the team in the race and will arrive with a good rhythm in his legs after the race in Montemayor: “I’m in good shape and with a good rhythm after Montemayor, which was what I needed to be strong. We arrive with a good team to a demanding race with quite hard routes, especially in the last two stages. We have a good team, we are going to do well and we will fight, why not, for the general classification. We will give everything as always”.
Stage 1: Cabañaquinta – Moreda (87,3km)
Stage 2: Figaredo – Mieres (112,5km)
Stage 3: Pola de Laviana – Pola de Laviana (88,8km)
Stage 4: Factoría ASLA – Pola de Lena (68,5km)
