Ariadna Ródenas started riding a bicycle relatively recently. At 35 years old, it was not until 2014 when she entered the world of mountain bike. Three months after her first training session, she finished second in the Marcha de Biar (Alicante). Before her, her sports life had revolved around athletics. Now, she is the Spanish champion of ultra-distance, marathon and ultra-marathon, a category in which, in 2021, she also reigned in Europe. “I was in a club where I ran on foot. There were some colleagues who did mountain bikethey were going to prepare a duathlon and I was encouraged to prepare it with them. I had never taken the bike and, really, that’s where it all started. She hooked me. I spent a year doing both and, in the end, I stopped running ”, she recalls.
A late arrival to the world of MTB, but intense. As if she wanted to make up for lost time, the woman from Elche is constantly looking for new challenges. In 2019, he felt the call of the Titan Desert. She won in Alcázar de San Juan (Titan La Mancha) and obtained a direct pass to participate in the Moroccan edition. It had to wait, as the pandemic paralyzed the 2020 edition, but it also triumphed. In 2021, he climbed to the top of the podium; this 2022, he has also done it in Almería, in the mixed duo category, and now, in NEOM (Saudi Arabia). “Winning a Titan is always exciting, because it is a very tough and beautiful race. Filming in a country where almost no one has filmed is a dream and, winning, even more”, celebrates with contagious energy.
“I did not plan to come and all the places were occupied. They told me that she had a free one and I quickly got my batteries ”,
He had not planned to travel to Arabia, but he returns with a capital exhibition. “Really, this test was not on the calendar. I did not plan to come and all the places were occupied. They told me that she had a free one and I quickly got my batteries ”, he reveals. Blessed decision: overall, four out of four in the stages and more than an hour and a half ahead of her immediate pursuers, Muriel Bohuet and Michaela Sekulova. “In a stage race it is difficult to achieve something like this, because not only good physical condition influences, but also other factors: a breakdown, a fall… Luckily, all the stages have been covered,” he analyzes. “Well yes, that would be nice too, of course”, he answers gracefully if he needs more titans that complicate the matter.
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All decided, but sweat to the end
You need more cane. “Since I started in this, I have never been better than now. Next year, more Titan and more stage tests. Above all, marathons and ultramarathons ”, she anticipates. Despite arriving with the general determined to the last stage, she faced the final 76 kilometers challenging herself. “I suffered a lot because I tried to get hooked on a group that was going fast. Maybe they were going too fast… and I was very tired. I was doing the rubber, whipping… but, in the end, they slowed down a bit and I was able to catch my breath a bit to reach the finish line with them ”, she assessed when she arrived. “How strong you are!” one of his adventure companions yelled at him. As he dried his sweat, he returned the compliment with a smile, aware of it.