On the weekend of January 20 and 21, the first Adaptive Cycling test of the year was held at the Motorland Aragón Speed Circuit, Alcañiz. An international competition that brought together the handbike elite of the Iberian Peninsula. The handbike-adapted cyclists pedal with their arms, on three-wheeled bicycles, semi-recumbent, achieving great aerodynamics and speeds that exceed 70 km/h on the steep descents of the Circuit.
On Saturday the 20th, at 3:00 p.m., the Time Trial test took place. The handbiker who took the fastest lap in the 5 km of the tough circuit layout achieved victory. The great favorite was the Portuguese Paralympian Luis Costa, category H5, who had just achieved the bronze medal in 2017 in the time trial at the Adaptive Cycling World Championships held in Piertermarizbourg, South Africa. The Portuguese did not disappoint and achieved victory with a time of 9:28, riding at more than 32 km/h and achieving the track record. In second place was Luis Miguel Marquina, current champion of Spain in the H4 category time trial, and in third place was the Aragonese Diego Ballesteros, Spanish Champion in the H3 category time trial.
My feelings were good after a week with a cold, but I noticed that I was lacking strength at the end of the time trial. It is undoubtedly difficult to be in shape at this point in the season, the gym load takes its toll and maintaining intensity is an impossible mission.
On Sunday, January 21, at 3:00 p.m., the road test took place. The handbiker who completed the most laps of the track in 100 minutes achieved victory. With a pleasant temperature, the wind became the main protagonist, gusts of 40 km/h made a race with a large accumulated slope harder for this type of cyclist. After leaving the peloton in pole-position formation, the Portuguese Luis Costa, accompanied by Luis Miguel Marquina and Vicente Arzo, Spanish Paralympian in Adapted Cycling in Beijing 2008, opened a gap from the first minutes of the test. The escape led to victory for the Portuguese Costa, who after a powerful attack in the middle of the race, escaped alone towards the finish line. Arzo achieved second position and Marquina third place in the box. By categories, Luis Costa achieved victory in H5, Marquina in the H4 category and the Portuguese Joao Pinto in the H3 category in a disputed last lap with the Aragonese Diego Ballesteros.
I started strong but halfway up the first slope I was overtaken by quite a few runners, the lead with the best ones slipped away from the first moments and it took me two laps to catch the lead of H3. We formed a group of four H3s that were riding fast. I took advantage of the climbs to increase the intensity, trying to make the race harder. Without a doubt, being the first race of the year, it is difficult to have the necessary funds and little by little we lost strength until we were in a head-to-head with the Portuguese. He proved to be stronger than me and on the last lap I couldn’t keep up with him. When comparing my values with other years, I am undoubtedly in a bad moment of form, there are 4 months left until the first important competitions, I hope to improve little by little. Go for it.
The sport of handbike, a Paralympic specialty of Adapted Cycling, is gaining more followers in Spain and is positioned as one of the sports with the most federative licenses of Adapted Cycling. ENCOURAGE.
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