Seeking redemption in Almeria
Team Polti VisitMalta faces the Clásica de Almería, the sprint race par excellence of the Spanish calendar, looking for the place that escaped last year due to the fall of Manuel Peñalver at the finish line of the race.
A very long day, on the verge of 200 kilometres, and with the usual route of the race, awaits the seven cyclists of the team, the fastest and fastest riders of the squad, who face the competition with great ambition. Thanks to Lonardi’s podium in the final stage of the Volta CV, the option of being in the leading positions against the best sprinters in the world seems even more attainable.
The climbs to Dalías, Fuente Marbella and La Alquería will be used for the breakaway of the day to make its way, looking for the final climb to Almerimar, where the wind usually blows. The nervous final circuit of Roquetas will force them to fight for position and to look for the best moment to launch the final sprint and the victory of the Clásica de Almería.
Along with the aforementioned Peñalver and Lonardi, the Team Polti VisitMalta squad is completed by the powerful riders Mirco Maestri, Andrea Pietrobon and Fran Muñoz. With the experience of Diego Sevilla and the outsider Javi Serrano, the line-up is perfect for a day marked in red in the team’s calendar.
Giovanni Lonardi: ‘It’s a very important race and we are ready to do well. I have the guarantee of counting on Peñalver and Serrano for the final sprint, we are looking for the best position and the maximum number of points to continue adding to this good start of the season’.
Jesús Hernández, sports director: ‘We are taking all the fast riders we have available, with Lonardi who has just finished on the podium in the Volta CV, Peñalver who competed last year but suffered a fall, and Javi Serrano who is slowly but surely finding his place in this terrain. We will see if the wind plays a key role, as it usually does in this race and causes tension. Therefore, it will be a matter of saving our strength and positioning ourselves well to be able to compete in the best possible way in the final’.
