The Burgos native will be, along with Rubén Plaza, one of the stars of the event that will take place from April 25 to 27.
Riders Carlos Barbero, from Burgos and a member of the Movistar Team, and Rubén Plaza, from Alicante, from the Israel Cycling Academy team and current champion of the event, are the main favorites in the 34th edition of the Vuelta Ciclista a Castilla y León, which will take place from April 25 to 27.
The three stages will have the Camino de Santiago as their connecting theme and common thread, and will travel through the provinces of Burgos, Palencia, and León, led by 18 participating teams: six Spanish, six Portuguese, two French, one Colombian, one Russian, one Japanese, and one Israeli.
The headquarters of the Department of Culture and Tourism of the Regional Government of Castile and León, which is contributing €230,000 to this race, out of a total budget of €309,000, hosted the presentation of the new edition of the regional event, included in the world cycling circuit, on Tuesday.
The first stage, 181 kilometers long, will run between Belorado and Castrojeriz, in the province of Burgos, and its main attraction will be the wind, according to former professional cyclist Juan Carlos Domínguez, who explained that a group of about 40 riders will likely form and decide the first stage in a sprint.
The second, 170.3 kilometers long, will start in Frómista and finish in Villada, in the province of Palencia. As with the previous race, former rider Alfonso Gutiérrez warned of the danger of the wind and the possibility of wind gusts, while highlighting Carlos Barbero as a strong candidate for the individual overall championship jersey.
The final stage will feature the province of León, with a length of 151.8 kilometers, starting in the capital and finishing in Villafranca del Bierzo. According to the president of the Spanish Cycling Federation, José Luis López Cerrón, "it could be marked by the descent toward Ponferrada."
For López Cerrón, the inclement weather will be very important in the Vuelta Ciclista a Castilla y León, because the stages are also "very flat" and "there are no places where the riders can take shelter." In his case, he gave a prominent role to Rubén Plaza, a two-time winner of the race.
Race director Laudelino Cubino, another prominent cycling figure in Castilla y León, defended the merits of a sport practiced by "six out of ten Spaniards" and one of the population's favorites for exercise, but that "doesn't translate into benefits for competitive cyclists."
In this regard, he lamented that "there have never been so few teams in Castilla y León," and that this is largely due to the fact that "companies don't want to invest in cycling," despite it being one of the most widely practiced sports. He therefore called for increased support for the two-wheeled sport.
The Minister of Culture and Tourism, María Josefa García Cirac, closed the event by thanking the Cadalsa club, organizer of the Vuelta Ciclista a Castilla y León, for its commitment over the years to maintaining a sporting event of great importance to the community.
"Castilla y León is a cycling territory, with the Vuelta Ciclista a Burgos, with the organization of stages of the Vuelta Ciclista a España and international events, and we are proud of a sport that combines sporting value, with quality teams, with tourism, economics, and social value," he added.
He also noted that it is common to "link the cycling race route with various events," such as the Ages of Man, heritage cities, or the Silver Route, or, in the case of this 34th edition, with the Camino de Santiago, "one of the main tourist attractions in the region and in Spain" in general.
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