The Spanish champion jersey, at stake in Sabiñánigo

The lowering of Ivan Romeo (Movistar) due to a flu process forces us to look for a successor in the elite men’s road throne of the Spanish Championships, which comes into play this Sundayor in Sabiñánigo (Huesca) with many potential candidates.

Last Wednesday, the Movistar team announced that Iván Romeo would miss the Spanish Championships and the Tour de France, as he was still recovering from the flu process that forced him to abandon the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. “You can imagine how hard it was to make that decision after a whole year focused on that.”said the man from Valladolid in a video shared on social networks.

However, the absence of the current champion does not leave the Movistar team without troops, far from it. First of all, the Huesca Pablo Castrillowho already shone in the time trial of these Nationals to win the title. It will also be Raúl García Piernafifth in that time trial and who this season won a stage of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana.

Men like him will run at his side. Roger Adrià (bronze in 2025), Carlos Canal, Iván García Cortina, Juanpe López, Jorge Arcas or Javier Romo. The telephone teams will have practically a complete World Tour level team so that the Spanish champion title remains within their structure.

Against the dominance of Movistar

Alex Aranburuthe winner of the 2024 edition and three-time bronze medalist, will try to win the title again. His colleagues at Cofidis Ion Izagirre and Sergio Samitier They will also contribute their experience and could surprise us.

There are also high hopes for the Pinarello Q36.5 team. After the good role of Xabier Mikel Azparren in the time trial, in which he was second, just 4 seconds behind Castrillo, his teammates David de la Cruz (four against the clock) and Marcel Camprubí They arrive at Sabiñánigo with good legs.

Furthermore, although they stand out for their youth, the trio of UAE Team Emirates riders, formed by Igor Arrieta, Pablo Torres and Adrià Pericasis another of the toughest contenders. Torres won bronze in the time trial, Arrieta has just won a stage in the Giro d’Italia and Pericas, at just 20 years old, could be a luxury teammate for both.

For their part, the Spanish teams at the Pro Team level will want to give a good image in their home competition. With this objective come Caja Rural, led by Fernando Barceló who was second in 2025, Euskaltel Euskadi, Kern Pharma and Burgos BH, with the double champion Jesús Herrada in their ranks.

The road races are organized around a 26.5 kilometer circuit with 445 meters of accumulated elevation gain, which passes through Sabiñánigo, Larrede and Sanegüe. The biggest challenge is the climb to Latas (3.3 kilometers at 4.8%). The elite men will have an opening stretch ahead of them and then five laps, completing 211 kilometers with 3,160 meters of elevation gain.