MADRID, 1 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish cyclist Mikel Landa (Bahrain-Victorius) will defend his victory last year in the Vuelta a Burgos starting this Tuesday, proof that the veteran Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team) will also be present and that will help many of its participants fine-tune your set-up for the Vuelta a España which starts next week.
The rider from Vitoria will be one of the candidates to shine in the Spanish ‘great’ and to pick up the pace he has chosen to compete in the Burgos round in which, in addition to last year, he also won in 2017 and was second in 2021.
“I haven’t raced in two months, but Burgos is a good race to pick up the pace with stages that are not too long or hard. I have very good memories of this race and I would like to be competitive. I have been struggling with a small injury, so my The condition will not be the best, but it will be a good test and it will help me improve my form”, assured Landa, who has not raced since his time in the Giro d’Italia, on his team’s website.
In addition to the helmet, another of the great attractions of this Vuelta a Burgos will also be Alejandro Valverde from Murcia, who returned to compete this weekend after being hit by a car while training last month.
The 42-year-old veteran runner, winner of this race in 2009, was already this weekend in the Clásica de San Sebastián, where he could not finish, and the Getxo Circuit, to pick up the pace for the Vuelta and will be accompanied mainly by the Colombian Iván Sosa, who conquered the Castilian test in 2019.
Other national names to highlight in this Vuelta a Burgos are those of Juan Pedro López (Trek-Segafredo), who wore pink for several days in the last Giro d’Italia, or Carlos Rodríguez (INEOS), champion of Spain.
At the international level there will also be good names as the Australian Jay Hindley (BORA-Hansgrohe), champion of the last Giro, the British Tao Geoghegan Hart (INEOS), winner of the ‘corsa rosa’ in 2020, the Colombian Esteban Chaves (EF Education-Easypost) or the Italian veteran Vincenzo Nibali, winner of the three ‘big’ and who will be accompanied in Astana by the Colombian Miguel Ángel López, once his team has lifted his suspension after no evidence was found in his investigation for a alleged crime of drug trafficking.
The Vuelta a Burgos will consist of five stages, with a start and finish at Alto del Castillo, a third stage where the special category Picón Blanco will appear, and a final and decisive one with ascent to Lagunas de Neila, also in a special category.