Victory of Lucía González and Luis León Sánchez in the Spanish Cup: 114 Gravel Race
The 114 Gravel Race in Badajoz continued this past Saturday with the Spanish Gravel Cup. Luis León Sánchez and Lucía González have taken the victory of the test. Below we leave you some statements from the runners to POLVU.
The Badajoz test, organized by Extremely, started at 9:00 a.m. to travel the 132.45 km and nearly 1,000 meters of elevation gain of this fast route that amazed runners and spectators alike.
Once again Luis León Sánchez was the great protagonist of this Spanish Gravel Cup. The Murcian runner, after taking victory in the first race in Three songs, won again in a sprint in a close finish, this time against a MTB classic like Pablo Rodríguez, who did not hesitate to go out on the wheel of the competition leader when he attacked with 30 kilometers to go for goal. Third position went to Jesús del Nero, more than two minutes behind the winner, also imposing his top speed at the finish line against Fernando Santos. It is worth highlighting the performance of the masters, among them a very active Joan Horrach, who proposed a fast and explosive race together with Javier Ramírez Abeja or Dani Moreno.
Joan Horrach
«The truth is that I came without being able to train much, but in the end it turned out well. I suffered a lot, they had told me it was track, track and I set the wheels to 2 Bars. I was bounced around all day. The final part was very windy, at km 75 I already really wanted to reach the finish line. I didn't have my best day, even though it went well: P24 overall and P1 M50. I left happy."
The great favorite Lucía González asserted her status in Badajoz and reached the finish line alone. The Spanish Cyclocross champion surpassed Patricia Ortega, second classified and new leader of the competition, by 3:27 and Marta Torà by more than five minutes.
Lucía González Blanco
«First race in this new discipline. I didn't know how I was going to respond after the cyclocross break, but we took a victory. Taking advantage of a slightly more technical and tough area, I was able to go alone, although the end of the race was very hard for me due to the headwind. New experiences, things to improve, but also lessons learned for the next race.»
Patricia Ortega Ruiz
«It was a tough race where luck was not entirely on our side, but I think we managed to save the race. I had a fall at km 30 and my chain came off. Marta had a puncture and it took her a while to fix the problem. Lucía left with another runner in a slightly more technical area and I thought that with my partner we would reach her, since there were many km ahead, but that was not the case. We managed to enter second and third, since that places us with Protourbcn as leaders of the cup and we hope to be able to maintain this leadership until the end of the competition. I am especially excited to wear this jersey because it reminds me of when I won the Spanish elite road cup in 2021.
Marta Torá Milà
“The race started with the number 801 as the favorite. I was aware of the level of Lucía and Patri, with whom we had a good team strategy. At kilometer 30 Patri fell although he was able to get up and catch the first group where we were both going again. At approximately kilometer 48 I punctured and Lucía took the opportunity to attack. I put in a couple of wicks, but they jumped and I had to put in another two. All in all I lost 7 minutes. I usually arrived in chrono mode. I had to stop again to get swelling from the foot stain. The leading group already spent 5 minutes on me, but fortunately that happened at approximately kilometer 60, so I put on solo time trial mode and started passing until I caught the third elite group and the first master. So I thought if I jump out of this group, maybe I'll catch Patri or Lucía (because I didn't know who was ahead) or maybe the third one will jump with me and I'll win because I'm already exhausted from the time trial. I decided to stay in that group and I knew that the sprint was no better than third. With 200 meters to go I decided to launch the sprint and risk everything on the last card I had left and I came in 2 seconds from fourth and very happy to sneak onto the podium after such a busy day. Also very happy for Patri. We are tied in points in the first position, but she takes the lead having been second in the last race and I honestly don't expect her to be able to maintain the lead until the end and I will do what I can.”
The Spanish Cup will move to Llucena del Cid on May 11 to experience the Castellón Gravel Race, the third scoring event of the competition. Finally, on September 28, the Sierra de Alcaraz will conclude the 2024 Spanish Gravel Cup.
At POLVU we will continue to inform you of the latest news about the Spanish Gravel Cup.
Male
1
LUIS LEON SANCHEZ GIL
4
03:50:06
03:50:03
REG.MURCIA CYCLING FEDERATION
2
PABLO RODRIGUEZ GUEDE
1
03:50:06
03:50:06
BUFF MEGAMO TEAM
3
JESUS DEL NERO MONTES
9
03:52:17
03:52:15
VAS CYCLING BOUTIQUE
4
FERNANDO SANTOS MONK
21
03:52:17
03:51:58
GD SUPERMARKET FROIZ
5
FRANCISCO RUS GARCIA
11
03:59:10
03:59:07
VIGO – RIAS BAIXAS
Female
1
LUCIA GONZALEZ BLANCO
802
04:39:30
04:39:30
NESTA – MMR CX TEAM
2
PATRICIA ORTEGA RUIZ
803
04:42:57
04:42:57
SANT JUST, CYCLING GROUP
3
MARTA TORA MILA
801
04:44:47
04:44:47
SANT JUST, CYCLING GROUP
4
IRENE TRABAZO BRAGADO
807
04:44:49
04:44:47
XSM-SANTOME DE PIÑEIRO
5
NATALIA SERRANO GARCIA
804
05:06:22
05:06:18
KAPELMUUR-HERMITAGE CDE
The winners of the rest of the categories have been
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