Polartec-Kometa’s highest ambition for La Canonja
Trofeu 15 d´Abril
La Canonja-La Canonja (111,5 km)
The Catalan town of La Canonja, near Tarragona, hosts this saturday the second round of a Spanish Junior Cup where Polartec-Kometa will compete with both the current leader and the second place in the provisional general classification of the tournament. The Catalan Álex Martín, after his victory on 11 March at the Memorial Joan Baptista Llorens of Villarreal, and the Andalusian Carlos Rodríguez, who accompanied him on the podium at the event in Castellón, lead a squad that includes Joan Marc Campos, Manuel Garrido, Daniel Lopes, Luis Miguel Mendoza, Miguel Patiño and Juan José Rosal. Rodríguez has just taken his sixth place at the Paris-Roubaix Juniors cobblestones last Sunday.
The fourth edition of this event, promoted by the Club Ciclista La Canonj, is a demanding and festiverace, born to commemorate the date on which the Catalan Parliament approved the emancipation of this town in Tarragona, the capital city, and presents a route that is by no means simple. The riders will have to face the Coll de La Batalla (km 36.2, scoring second category), the long and decisive Coll del Portell (km 69.9, first category) and a more accessible slope of La Musara (km 78.8, fourth category) that precedes a long descent that invites skirmishes and bravery. Due to its location, El Portell is a key point in the development of the test. An 11-kilometer mountain pass that will test the strength of the teams.
Guillermo Gutiérrez, team director: “It’s going to be a very nervous test. It is the second meeting of the Spanish Cup of the category and will be the best junior of the country. We started with the main objective of maintaining the leader’s jersey and second place in the standings. And even, why not, bring another rider to the podium positions of the provisional general classification. For us the team overall is just as important as the individual one, it is even possible that we give it much more value because it is a prize for group work, collective work, something that we always try to instill in the riders”.
(automatic translation, sorry for mistakes)
