The Spanish Elite and Under-23 Road Championships will return to the Community of Madrid, from June 23 to 25, after almost 20 years, with Sevilla la Nueva as the setting for the time trials and San Lorenzo de El Escorial for the route.
The last time the region hosted the national tournament was in 2004, with the Casa de Campo and the streets of the capital as the setting, as a prelude to the World Cup in Madrid the following year.
On this occasion, as detailed this Wednesday by the Royal Spanish Cycling Federation, Sevilla la Nueva will host the time trials while San Lorenzo del Escorial will be the start and finish line of the online tests that will draw a path well known to Madrid cyclists with the Alto de la Cruz Verde as the main difficulty.
The national will take place, as is tradition, the weekend before the Tour de France. Therefore, on Friday, June 23, it will be the turn of the individual elite UCI-Elite men, Elite-U23 women and U23 men individual time trials.
On Saturday, June 24, the Elite-Sub23 female and Sub23 male online tests will be held; while on Sunday June 25 we will experience the Elite UCI-Elite men’s online event.
The three time trials will have the same route, 32 kilometers with 280 meters of elevation gain, starting and finishing in Sevilla la Nueva. It will be a track suitable for specialists, with a very fast start and a somewhat more demanding second half of the time trial, with several sections that go uphill and where the strongest riders will be able to make a difference.
The runners will pass through Navalcarnero, Los Olivos, Villamanta, Villamantilla and Villanueva de Perales before returning to Sevilla la Nueva, where they will finish the time trial.
On Saturday and Sunday the national will move to San Lorenzo del Escorial, where all the online tests will start and end. The Elite-U23 women and the U23 men will face a very similar route, with the exception that the U23s will make a second ascent to Alto de la Cruz Verde.
In total, the Elite-Sub23 girls will complete 122.6 km with just over 2,000 meters of unevenness distributed along a leg-breaking profile path.
After leaving San Lorenzo del Escorial, they will face a first loop that will take them through Valdemorillo, Navalagamella, Fresnedillas de la Oliva, Colmenar del Arroyo, Robledo de Chavela, Zarzalejo and Peralejo before going back under the finish line and starting a new route. circular that will lead them to the Alto de la Cruz Verde, which will be the ascent called to decide the race.
After the main climb of the test, they will face a return section that will take them through Robledo de Chavela, Fresnedillas de la Oliva and Zarzalejo before finally reaching the finish line of San Lorenzo del Escorial.
The U23 boys, for their part, will carry out a route identical to the women with the exception that they will have to complete two turns of that final circular path that includes the ascent to Alto de la Cruz Verde, so we will see some last precious kilometers and extremely demanding. Finally, there will be 166.1 km with 2,940 meters of unevenness to decide the name of the new Spanish champion of the category.
The UCI Elite-Elite male peloton of this Spanish Championship will travel along the same roads and, in fact, they will complete the same route that the U23s will enjoy, with the difference that the initial loop will have about 20 kilometers more.
After taking the exit, the Elite-Sub23 will pass through Valdemorillo and will go to Villanueva de la Cañada and Quijorna before reaching Navalagamella. This variation will be the only difference with the U23 route, since after completing this initial loop of almost 80 km that will take them back to the finish line, they will face two laps of the circular route that includes the ascent to Alto de la Cruz Verde , where a beautiful fight will surely break out for the right to wear the Spanish champion jersey.
In total, there will be 186.1 km with 3,150 meters of unevenness to close this 2023 edition of the national that promises to be exciting.
