Joy goes through neighborhoods and, among the four Spanish teams that opted for a place in the Vuelta, two are left out and two others will run it. In Pamplona, the Caja Rural-Seguros RGA has celebrated it. Last year they added nine victories in the season and, in addition, Navarra has two stages in the 2023 edition. “Very happy to receive an invitation to participate in the Vuelta. We will work to offer our best version and return the trust of the organizer with facts. We are excited and happy to be able to return to what is our main objective of the season. Discounting the days of the calendar to see us in Barcelona at the start of the race”, they have stated through a public note. Last year they were left out. The optimism that existed at the team’s presentation at El Baluarte a couple of months ago has finally curdled.
In Burgos there was also joy. The Castilian team repeats the experience and will try to do a good round to respond on the road. They have also issued a statement stating that “it is a huge satisfaction and a great responsibility. Now we have to restore confidence and we have to get to work hard. Burgos-BH will contest its sixth Vuelta”. The province is a land of cycling and on numerous occasions stages have been organized through its fields and cities. It even recently hosted the Grand Departure of the Tour. The test will start on August 28 in Barcelona and will end in Madrid on September 17. The route includes days for sprinters, days in the mountains and tests against the clock. The 21 stages of the race will take place throughout a large part of the country, including the province of Burgos, which will host the start in Lerma on the eleventh day. There will also be raids in France and Andorra.
On the other shore, the KernPharma and Euskaltel Euskadi. These are hard days in the Navarrese organization due to the death of the mother of its Sports Director Juanjo Oroz. Manolo Azkona and company work hard in Orkoyen to carry out a very nice project that last year won an award. The pharmacists, with the main Catalan sponsor in an edition that leaves Barcelona, have already run the 2022 Vuelta. “We are saddened that we cannot be in the race this year. We will continue working to be able to deserve the invitation in 2024. From here we want to congratulate Burgos BH and Caja Rural-Seguros RGA. Working with the base is vital for projects like ours to be successful″. Riders from this squad like Ibón Ruiz Sedano slipped in the team presentation in Villajoyosa that some classification system would have to be arbitrated so that the teams do not have the tension they have when the dates of the invitations approach.
He Euskaltel EuskadiFor its part, it has sent some statements from its General Manager, Jesús Ezkurdia. “Despite the logical disappointment of not being able to be in the Vuelta, we accept Unipublic’s decision and we maintain our commitment to continue working with the same enthusiasm as always. We have felt very honored and grateful to compete in the 2021 and 2022 races, something that has made us grow at all levels. This year we will have to live it from the outside ”, he expressed. “We have to continue with our line and leave our stamp of character and combativeness in each race we take part in, as we have reflected in the first competitions this season. We want to congratulate the invited teams. The color orange will return to the Tour of Spain, it is part of our history and it will continue to be so in the future,” the statement added.
Diario AS has also spoken with its Sports Director, Jorge Azanza. “We are very sad, we knew it was difficult but you always have hope until the last moment. We have to abide by it because on other occasions we have been there and others have not. This continues and now we have to focus on sports to continue having a good season to be able to be present in the future in a race that is very important to us” he told this newspaper. In addition to Caja and Burgos, the French Total Energies and the Belgian Lotto Dstny have also received official invitations. Along with the UCI Pro Teams, the 18 UCI World Teams will participate: AG2-R, Bora, Ineos, Soudal, Trek, Alpecin, Cofidis, Intermarché, Arkea, UAE, Astana, Education First, Jumbo-Visma, DSM, Bahrain, Groupama, Jayco and the Spanish Movistar Team.
