Alejandra Neira succeeds Paula Ostiz as junior national road champion

The Galician cyclist Alejandra Neira was proclaimed national junior road champion within the framework of the Spanish Championships, which are held in Sabiñánigo (Huesca) between June 25 and 28, completing the double after also taking gold in the time trial.

Neira thus succeeds the Navarrese Paula Ostizchampion of this category in 2025 and who now competes among the elite UCI cyclists. Second place went to the representative of the Valencian Community Gemma Toledowhich had been eighteenth in 2018. The Catalan finished third Lluna Jimenezfourth in Thursday’s time trial.

“I don’t believe it right now. I tried to break the race on the climb, I was doing damage. Very happy to have arrived alone, a great weekend, I couldn’t be happier. Now finishing the junior season in a big way and a huge leap to the Movistar team, which I still can’t believe it,” Neira declared to the RFEC.

All road races will be organized around a 26.5 kilometer circuit with 445 meters of accumulated elevation gain, which passes through Sabiñánigo, Larrede and Sanegüe. The biggest challenge in that section was the climb to Latas (3.3 kilometers at 4.8%). The junior girls had three laps of that course ahead of them.

The movement in the peloton began early, but no escape was consolidated on the first lap of the circuit. When there were around 50 kilometers left until the end of the day, the group was selected. Alejandra Neira (Galicia), Gemma Toledo (Comunitat Valenciana) and Lidia Castro (Castilla y León) went first.

Some lack of understanding between the three in front allowed two other cyclists to catch up with them. Lluna Jimenez (Catalonia) and Naxara Odriozola (Euskadi) joined the head of the race to consolidate a quintet with more than a minute advantage over a very small peloton.

Neira breaks the leading group

Before the second crossing the finish line, Odriozola and Jimenez They lost some valuable seconds with the three in front. However, they found themselves on the plain again, because none of the breakaways started to pull the group.

This also caused the peloton to cut the advantage of the breakaway, until it dropped below 30 seconds. So, Alexandra Neira attacked on the climb to the finish line and left alone, taking advantage of Lidia’s mechanical problem Castrowho had been the strongest of the leading group, which forced her to stop.

The representative of Galicia took more than a minute ahead of the head of the peloton in just two kilometers. moon Jimenez and Gemma Toledo They tried to go after Neira, but the Galician had good legs.

A very small peloton, with around a dozen runners, continued to lose time compared to the Galician. It soon became clear that Neira He would complete his double, but the rest of the podium remained to be resolved. On the final ramp, Toledo He started first and didn’t look back, so Jiménez had to take third place.

The competition, in the foothills of the Pyrenees, continues this Friday with the junior men’s route; On Saturday, it will be the turn of the men’s under-23 route and the women’s under-23 and elite route; and on Sunday, the culmination will be the elite men’s road race.