A new hope was the title with which george lucas baptized in 1977 the first episode that saw the light of the saga starwars to make history in the film industry. Here we are not talking about Siths and Jedi, but the title does reflect the current feeling of the fan about the situation that Spanish cycling is going through and, above all, about the magnificent future that it augurs. The dark times, those in which the successes of Alexander Valverde kept afloat a ship that was leaking everywhere, they begin to be left behind by a present that still maintains a good competitive level, represented by Enric Mas and Mikel Landaand a near future that excites more than not with Juan Ayuso and Carlos Rodriguez.
Three of these names, beyond that Mark Soler Y Jesus Herrada put an end to the drought of Spanish victories in the three-week rounds during the last Vuelta, this year they were the architects of an achievement practically unthinkable at the beginning of the season: raising Spain as the country with the most riders on the podium in grand tours in 2022. With Landa in the Giro (3rd), and Mas (2nd) and Ayuso (3rd at 19 years old, the second youngest in history to get on the podium in a big one) in La Vuelta, Spain has surpassed Australia, Ecuador, Denmark , Slovenia, Great Britain and Belgium, who left their annual tally of podiums in the big three with a single drawer this season (See table). Certainly some green shoots you haven’t overlooked Pascal Momparler, Spanish coach, who values for AS the course of ours.
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“We have taken an important step forward. Keep in mind that Spain is now the third nation in the UCI ranking. That says that we are back to being a world cycling power and that riders are back close to where we were in the glory years. We started well in the Giro, with the Landa’s podium, but we also had three in the top-10 and Juanpe López as the best youngster. In the Tour, most of our riders went to work for other leaders, so no stages, no overall. In La Vuelta, stages were won again, which was a bit of what the fans demanded. In general, a very good year for Spanish cycling”, explains a Momparler who, in terms of the future, points to Ayuso and Rodríguez as the main champions of the illusion: “Rather than being surprised by their explosion in 2022, it has made me happy. We needed to see those green shoots of Spanish cycling, we needed that cyclist who hooked and lifted people up… And that’s what these two cyclists have done. They have punched the table of their teams (Ineos and UAE) to claim a calendar in which they can dispute tests with colleagues who work for them. It will be very interesting to see them next year.”
Grand Tour podiums in 2022 by country
| Country | podiums | corridors | Race |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spain | 3 | Mikel Landa Enrique More John Ayuso |
Tour of Italy: 3rd The Return: 2nd The Return: 3rd |
| Australia | 1 | Jay Hindley | Tour of Italy: 1st |
| Belgium | 1 | Remco Evenepoel | The Return: 1st |
| Denmark | 1 | jonas vingegaard | Tour de France: 1st |
| Ecuador | 1 | Richard Carapaz | Tour of Italy: 2nd |
| Slovenia | 1 | Tadej Pogacar | Tour de France: 2nd |
| Britain | 1 | Geraint Thomas | Tour de France: 3rd |
Apart from the podiums in grand tours and the two young Spanish pearls, the National Team finished in 11th position with Ivan Garcia Cortina the Wollongong World Cups, a place that improves the 23rd place in 2021, despite presenting a team of circumstances due to the absences of Valverde, Ayuso, Rodríguez or Aranburu: “It left me satisfied, because of the starting ‘eight’ we were missing six cyclists. Some of them were not even known by the fan. They had their faults at crucial moments, but they also put courage, desire and dedication. When the race was gone they had the guts to shoot and not make a fool of themselves. They left a great level of competition”. The old guard, the middle class (Carlos Verona debuted his professional record with a great stage win in Dauphiné) and a promising future. Everything fits again. Spain resurfaces.
