CHAOS in Spain as glitches in timing system may have crowned wrong time-trial champion - "This is nonsense" Romeo says
Cycling
The 2025 national championships see their first major controversy pop up as in Spain, Abel Balderstone shocked to become time-trial champion in the climb to Sierra Nevada. However the biggest reason why this comes as a shock is because it is being heavily hinted that the organizers had an error with the timing chips, which led to incorrect results.
When David de la Cruz, the last to start as reigning champion, finished, nobody knew the times that he, Iván Romeo, Raúl García Pierna and Abel Balderstone had done. The reason? The time started to be miscounted because the final riders came out every 2 minutes, and the time was already adding up when they were still on the ramp.
This led to errors in the system and complete unclarity over their results. All four last riders to depart were unsure of their absolute times but most importantly, it was unclear what time Balderstone, a rider for Caja Rural, had done.
The Federation's account had said that Balderstone had finished in 30 and a half minutes, and then the commissaire announced that he had been added an extra minute by accident. In the end, the Caja Rural rider took the gold medal, provoking the fury of the rest of the candidates.
The one who was least critical was the Movistar Team rider. Iván Romeo charged against the organization with some very harsh words, but that reflected the anger of all of them:
"I'm still dizzy. They told me that when I arrived the best time was 30:12. Let them get it straight. Because it can't be like this. We are in a Spanish Championship, and it is a shame that we are like this, waiting," Iván Romeo told Marca after his effort. "We've been waiting for 40 minutes, we haven't eaten or anything".
"I am very fond of the Federation, but this is nonsense. Then they complain that no riders come to the championships... A week away from the Tour we're in, I could be training at altitude, but I'm here, and this makes you lose the desire," added the Movistar rider.
In addition to Ivan Romeo, David de la Cruz also expressed his enormous frustration with the organization:
"I had the reference that, before García Pierna arrived, the best time was Iván Romeo with 30:04. Then Raul arrived with 29:52, and I with 29:49. Then they told us that no, they had made a mistake, that Balderstone had 1 minute added to the time he had done. The Federation published that he had done 30 minutes and more. And now they say no, he has done 29:27. We arrived at the finish line, and they didn't even know," said the Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team rider.
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A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
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Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
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