PREVIEW | Gran Premio Castellón 2024 - Michael Matthews and Alex Aranburu headline hilly classic

Profile. On the 21st of January the Spanish peloton tackles a new event. The Ruta de la Cerámica, or more broadly called Gran Premio Castellón, will host quite a lot of World Tour teams and most likely become a part of the future year's European start.

The race features a profile that is quite open to many types of riders. With a punchy uphill start it is possible for a strong group to go up the road and put pressure on the peloton. Most of the 174-kilometer one-day race is ondulating, but most riders will attempt to save themselves for the final kilometers.

These will feature a 5.2-kilometer climb at 4.3%, which has a few tougher gradients and summits with 10.7 kilometers to go. From there on a lot of the run-up to the line is downhill, but the sprint will be flat into Onda for the end of the race.

*** Michael Matthews, Alex Aranburu
** Jasper de Buyst, Bryan Coquard, Felix Engelhardt
* Oier Lazkano, Javier Romo, Pelayo Sánchez, Stefano Oldani, Luca Mozzato, Jente Biermans, Andrea Vendrame

Pick: Michael Matthews