Spain has 5 climbers decided to tackle World Championships - Juan Ayuso, Mikel Landa, Enric Mas and more...
Cycling
Spanish coach Pascual Momparler stopped by the set of Eurosport yesterday to give more details about the team he will take to the road race at the World Championships in Zurich on September 29. It features a lot of climbing talent in a route that suits these men.
It is a World Championships that, for the first time in some years (probably since Valverde's victory in Insbruck in 2018) is adapted to the characteristics of the Spanish riders. 273 km, 4000 meters of elevation gain, it is hard. "It's not like the World Championships that Alejandro Valverde won that had a 20-minute climb, but you climb 3 steep climbs and one of them is very hard and I think it's the one that's going to make the differences," commented the coach.
Spain will go with everything, with top riders to the appointment, with the best they have, although with rivals like Tadej Pogacar or Remco Evenepoel it will not be easy: "We have 2 more than enough, Evenepoel and Pogacar, they are unstoppable. Wen they say they are going there, there they go, the pace they put is incredible".
In principle there are 5 fixed: "They are fixed if they finish the Vuelta healthy, if nothing happens in Canada, I've been talking to them for a long time, they have the World Championships in their heads, it's a World Championship that suits them well and they are excited".
FIXES FOR ZURICH
- Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates)
- Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick-Step)
- Enric Mas (Movistar Team)
- Carlos Rodriguez (INEOS Grenadiers)
- Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious)
Momparler will have to add two more riders, since Spain will go to the 2024 World Championships with the maximum of 7 riders allowed: "I'm not sure, I have to take two riders who are very good and have the ability to work from kilometer 170 to 220, which not everyone can do, filtering in interesting breakaways. It's also going to be the turn of the 5 that we talked about before. They have to be riders who finish very well and have a lot of desire. From the Vuelta to the World Championships there are 3 weeks, some of those weeks have to be spent training and they have to be ready to give their best".
2 TO CHOOSE FROM THE FOLLOWING LIST
- Oier Lazkano (Movistar Team)
- Pelayo Sánchez (Movistar Team)
- Alex Aranburu (Movistar Team)
- Pablo Castrillo (EquipoKern Pharma)
- Jesús Herrada (Cofidis)
- Roger Adriá (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe)
- Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates)
STRATEGY
"We will see how they move there, there are riders who work very well on the wheel, others like Pello Bilbao who know how to look for it at 30-40 of the finish, Juan Ayuso is a killer in the final. We will see how we see them there, if they are sincere and if some are there to win or not, we will have a concentration the week before to prepare everything", commented Pascual Momparler.
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
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.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
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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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