AG Insurance-Soudal rider Mireia Benito has won the Elite Women’s Spanish National Time Trial title for a second year running.
Riding on a similarly rugged course to last year’s 32-kilometre challenge, Benito completed the 33-kilometre course starting and finishing in the town of Galapagar, west of Madrid in a time of 43:20.
Victorious by just one second in 2023, this time the 27-year-old had a much more comfortable margin of 15 seconds on Sandra Alonso (Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling), with last year’s runner-up and multiple National TT champ Mavi García (Liv AIUIa Jayco) at 18 seconds.
The trio of podium finishers were well clear of their other rivals, as fourth-placed Sara Martin finished 55 seconds down and her Movistar teammate Sheyla Gutiérrez at 1:00.
Racing in warm, dry weather, the second, hillier half of the course, featuring a very steep drag through the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial and two tough ramps in the finish town in the closing kilometres, made it no easy matter for riders to calculate their effort.
But Benito succeeded in bringing home a notable triumph, the second victory of her career which will enable her to wear the Spanish Champion’s jersey for a second year running.
“This is definitely a big step forward from last June”, the 27-year-old said, in an interview provided by the Spanish Cycling Federation. “I didn’t want to sleep on my laurels and this is a big prize. But I don’t want to lose focus.”
“I raced without any time references, just relying on my own sensations, and pushing my body as hard as I could.”
“It’s a wonderful reward, not just myself after all the work I’ve done over the last year, but the people who work with me as well. My trainer has been really committed to helping me, my friends and all my family. It’s a great reward for them, too.”
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