On March 23, the 9th edition of the European Cycling Championship for the deaf began in the Turkish town of Alanya, in which the Spanish team participated, obtaining third place, a bronze medal. Among the team members are two xabieros, Pablo Ivars and Adrián Peris, cyclist and technician respectively.
The valuation of the riders of this championship is good despite the fact that the Russian team showed its great potential. For his part, Ivars tells us that the European test was divided into 4 segments: the 1000m sprint test, a 1 vs 1 elimination round in a 1000 meter sprint where the winner passed and so on until reaching the final. On this occasion, the xabiero, Pablo Ivars occupied the 14th position since he had to deal with a Russian, several times European and world champion, which made it difficult for him to pass the round.
In the 30km individual time trial with an ascent through a 4,5km pass, the one from Xàbia returned to position 14th, just 40 seconds away from the Top 10.
In the Criterium 50Km, consisting of doing a total of 28 laps on a 1,8km circuit, Pablo Ivars could not finish the test due to a mechanical failure.
Finally, in the main event, on the 110km route and 1500m of positive unevenness, passing 2 times through a 4,5km pass with slopes of 7% on average, Ivars was in the chasing group due to the escape of five cyclists and finished in tenth position in a final sprint with the chasing group.
The good results of both the xabiero and the rest of the Spanish cyclists (Sergi Jurado, Antonio Marín, Carlos Granados) made the Spanish team take the team bronze medal. Ahead of them, Russia takes 75% of the medals (in total 9 out of 12) with the rest of the medals going to Slovakia. They are the 2 strongest countries currently and in recent years.
It should be noted that all cyclists from both countries are professionals who belong to UCI Pro Team teams, that is, 100% exclusive dedication to cycling, so the Spanish result has much more merit, "Since it must be taken into account that due to the current circumstances of COVID we have not been able to carry out races previously to get the point of form for this comxicotetion. We carry out several concentrations of technification and even in height like the CAR of Sierra Nevada where I I prepared in those tests that are best for me "/ em>, indicates Ivars.
As a general assessment, Pablo Ivars highlights that the results have been more than positive "And even above expectations given the high level in the European. Personally, I prefer the time trial for being very close to the Top 10 and in the road test for finishing 10th". At the team level, "In the Spanish team there have been very good results with several TOP 10 and third teams by teams", adds the one from Xàbia.
Regarding team valuation, the xabiero highlights that "We had good results in general in the team for having obtained several diplomas and on several occasions being in the Top Ten, which was our objective; the four cyclists have managed to be in the Top Ten in at least some test, along with bronze for teams behind Russia and Slovakia, two very strong cycling powers ".
For the short-term future, Ivars indicates that now it is time to analyze this comxicotetion, assimilate what has been achieved, correct mistakes and polish details that will allow him to be later in future championships, since the Spanish Road Championship will be held soon where there will be a test individual time trial and one route, "After this I will focus on Mountain Bike since the Mountain Bike World Championship with 5 events is scheduled for November".
