“The Tour de Gironde is our first international race outside Spain in 2019 and is one of our goals for the season”
45th Tour of Gironde International Juniors
From 18 to 19 May
Not for already known, the initiative does not cease to be curious. An inverse way to the habitual one. The Tour de Gironde changed for its 2018 edition in a junior event after having been part of the professional circuit between 2005 and 2017. The Gallic event, originally created as a competition for the amateur field, emerges as a unique and singular event for that voyage. Cycling at its best. An edition as a youth race has been enough to reinforce its power of convocation and emerge as a fundamental appointment within the category. Thirty teams of five runners will take part in a Tour de Gironde that in its three stages, which will take place in two days, will cover 220 kilometres of which 7.4 will be against the clock.
Carlos Rodríguez from Granada leads the team of a powerful Kometa Cycling Team, completed by Pablo Gutiérrez from Cantabria, Javi Serrano from Madrid and Gerard Bofill and Juan José Rosal from Catalonia. Serrano faces this competition after having competed, together with the absent Raúl García, with the Madrid selection in the Alicante Trophy Joaquín Barceló de Sax, scoring for the Federation Trophy, and having remained with the Spanish track selection of its category concentrated in Valencia in order to prepare the Europeans of the modality that will be disputed in Ghent at the beginning of July.
Rodríguez was one of the most outstanding riders of the last edition, in which he won the inaugural chronometer and finally finished in the fourth position of the general classification.
Guillermo Gutiérrez, director of the Kometa Cycling Team junior: “The Tour de Gironde is our first international race outside Spain in 2019 and is one of our objectives for the season. We will try to learn at the same time that we will look for our options. It is a race in which last year we saw the face with Carlos’ victory in the inaugural LRC and the cross of luck with falls and absent-mindedness that made us lose three runners when we were wearing the leader’s jersey. This year we go with the lesson learned, we want to play our options and go with a very compensated team for this type of race.
The route maintains the same scheme as the 2018 edition, a small time trial and two stages in lines with many steep slopes. Gutiérrez tells abou it: “The time trial is very ratonera and it will be necessary to regulate well the changes of rhythm, because the end of stage is very demanding. In the second stage the wind can do its own, especially because there are many passes through villages and in the exits of the same we can find that some cut is formed. The third one is very similar, with a finish on a circuit where high speed and hookups can play tricks on us”.
The stages.
May 18 (a): Perissac-Perissac (7.4 km CRI).
18 May (b): Perissac-Cennon (98.2 km).
19 May: Landiras-Villenave d´Ornon (114.5 km).
