Ivan Romeo asserts his favorite status in a forgettable Spanish Championship

The Spanish Cycling Championships in Granada conclude after a weekend in which there was much more talk about the broadcast of the event than about cycling itself, despite the fact that, a priori, the race offered a very tough terrain which, combined with the prevailing heat in the Andalusian province, caused real havoc in all the races.

The broadcast of the Spanish Cycling Championships puts Iván Romeo's victory in the background

We would like to offer you a detailed chronicle, as we usually do, of what happened in the Spanish Cycling Championships held in Granada. A detailed account with attacks, tactical moves, in short, everything that makes cycling exciting. However, despite the fact that days before the Spanish Cycling Federation boasted about the extensive coverage that these Spanish Championships would have, with the broadcast of all the races, it ended up backfiring, becoming a ridiculous spectacle that led RTVE to remove this Spanish Championship from its programming after seeing the poor quality of the production.

A broadcast made with completely homemade means, unstable cameras, signal transmission via mobile phone network, a drone flying at a height that didn't even allow to locate the cyclists, and a, let's say, creative production, in which delayed images were interspersed without any context or reference every time the live signal was lost, forcing the frustrated commentators to search for any source in the race to find out what was happening.

RECOMENDADO

Oquo MP30LTD: complete analysis, specifications and opinion after thousands of kilometers

Tour de France 2025: favorites, dates and how to watch

The new Trek Checkpoint ALR Gen 3 has what most people need in a gravel bike

INEOS Grenadiers incorporates Total Energies as a secondary sponsor

We tested the SRAM Rival XPLR, the most affordable 13-speed electronic model from the brand for gravel

GOBIK will dress the Spanish Cycling Team until Los Angeles 2028 with a completely renewed image

If that wasn't enough, the intense heat that has been felt in all of Spain these days ended up conditioning a race in which the peloton let an initial breakaway go, with riders like Rubén Fernández, Javier Ibáñez, Gorka Sorarrain, Txomin Juaristi, Xabier Mikel Azparren, Diego Uriarte, Óscar Sevilla, and Pablo García. They were caught midway through the race due to the strong pace set by a peloton led by Movistar and Cofidis.

At some point, the definitive breakaway occurred, in which Ivan Romeo, Ander Okamika, Juanpe López, De la Cruz, Aranburu, Fernando Barceló, Jorge Gutiérrez, Roger Adrià, and José Félix Parra managed to get in. The Kern Pharma men tried to make their numerical superiority count to defy the odds, but at 42 km from the finish line, Iván Romeo accelerated the pace on a climb, managing to open a gap in the company of Fernando Barceló and José Felix Parra. Shortly before, the reigning Spanish Champion, Alex Aranburu, had exploded, probably due to the heat.

Barceló managed to withstand Romeo's attacks on the ascent to the Blancares mountain pass on the way back to the finish line, but on the descent towards the city of Granada, the rider from Valladolid managed to use his technique to open a gap and go for the victory. Fernando Barceló managed to hold on to at least secure second place, while in third place, Roger Adrià crossed the finish line ahead of Juanpe López in a sprint.

There was also a victory for Movistar in the women's category, where Sara Martín achieved a victory that cycling owed her for a long time after beating Mavi García in a sprint, with drama for Ane Santesteban who attacked 40 km from the finish and was close to victory when she crashed on the final descent.

Spanish Cycling Championships - Elite UCI Men's Individual Classification

1. Ivan Romeo (Movistar Team) 4h43'28''
2. Fernando Barceló (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) +56''
3. Roger Adrià (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +1'53''
4. Juan Pedro López (Lidl-Trek) +1'53''
5. Ander Okamika (Burgos-Burpellet-BH) +2'51''
6. David de la Cruz (Q36.5) +2'51''
7. José Felix Parra (Kern Pharma) +2'51''
8. Jorge Gutiérrez (Kern Pharma) +2'51''
9. Urko Berrade (Kern Pharma) +2'56''
10. Mario Aparicio (Burgos-Burpellet-BH) +7'34''

Spanish Cycling Championships - Elite UCI Women's Individual Classification

1. Sara Martín (Movistar Team) 3h25'52''
2. Mavi García (Liv-AlUla-Jayco) +00''
3. Usoa Ostolaza (Laboral Kutxa-Fundación Euskadi) +1'13''
4. Mireia Benito (AG Insurance-Soudal) +1'13''
5. Ane Santesteban (Laboral Kutxa-Fundación Euskadi) +1'13''
6. Paula Blasi (UAE Development Team) +6'35''
7. Ariana Gilabert Eneicat-CM) +6'35''
8. Maite Urteaga (Grupo Eulen-NUUK) +6'36''
9. Laura Gómez (Massi-Baix Ter) +9'04''

Abel Barlderstone wins controversially in the time trial

An unexpected result in the atypical time trial to Sierra Nevada that this edition of the Spanish time trial championship had become. A race held two days before the road race and, despite the altitude of the ski resort, under tremendous heat that undoubtedly influenced the result, just ask Javi Romo who was forced to abandon the race due to heat stroke.

A race marked by problems in the timing system that, halfway through the race, left us without live times. We could only guess what times the cyclists were achieving based on the sensations with which they reached the finish line, and we received the time data little by little, relying on the manual timing that judges still use in races.

Therefore, despite the conclusion of the time trial, with all the contenders for victory already at the finish line, it took several minutes to know the result, with a victory in this Spanish Championship that unexpectedly went to Abel Balderstone, who managed to beat the defending champion, David de La Cruz, and a Raúl García Pierna who is a regular on the podium but struggles to win in his favorite specialty.

Ivan Romeo, who gave his all trying to make his favorite status count, had to settle for fourth place, probably influenced by the peculiar climbing format of the race.

As a curious note, it is worth mentioning that although many cyclists dared to use time trial bikes, conventional bikes ended up dominating the top positions in the classification.

Spanish Cycling Championships - Elite UCI Men's Individual Time Trial Classification

1. Abel Balderstone (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) 29'27''
2. David de la Cruz (Q36.5) +22''
3. Raúl García Pierna (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) +25''
4. Iván Romeo (Movistar Team) +37''
5. Jan Castellón (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) +45''
6. Mario Aparicio (Burgos-Burpellet-BH) +46''
7. Adrià Pericas (UAE Team Emirates Gen Z) +57''
8. Samuel Fernández (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) +1'05''
9. José Luis Faura (Burgos-Burpellet-BH) +1'14''
10. Fernando Barceló (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) +1'22''

Spanish Cycling Championships - Elite UCI Women's Individual Time Trial Classification

1. Mireia Benito (AG Insurance-Soudal) 35'48''
2. Usoa Ostolaza (Laboral Kutxa-Fundación Euskadi) +1'13''
3. Ariana Gilabert (Eneicat-CM) +2'29''
4. Mavi García (Liv-AlUla-Jayco) +2'40''
5. Maria Banlles (Massi-Baix Ter) +2'45''
6. Maite Urteaga (Eulen-NUUK) +3'03''
7. Laura Gómez (Massi-Baix Ter) +4'42''
8. Andrea Soldevilla (UPV Women's Cycling) +4'50''
9. Claudia Sánchez (Tenerife-Bike Point-Gsport) +6'48''
10. Leticia Martín (GD Piñero-Durotec-Sakata) +6'51''