Kevin McCambridge has taken his first win of the season in Spain; claiming victory in Gran Premio Comarca de Polopos after riding away from the select group on the finishing climb.
The annual
race, which takes less than one hour, is run over an unusual course and
features just 5km of flat terrain before the road kicks up for the 24km ascent
of Polopos
in Andalucía.
The climb, situated between the Mediterranean
Sea and the Alpujarran Mountains, took the riders to an altitude of almost
1,200 metres and averages just over seven per cent gradient.
McCambridge (20) is riding for the
Trinity Racing Continental team this year but was competing today as an individual
rider and has been based in southern Spain training in recent months.
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After a fight for position into the base
of the climb today, the Irish U23 TT champion fought his way to the front of
the large group as it instantly began to thin out when the climbing started.
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McCambridge took to the front of the
group to apply pressure, with the field eventually thinned down to a select
group of just six riders.
The pace the Irish U23 international set soon proved too
much for all of the riders he was with, who fell away one by one. McCambridge
then continued to drive all the way to the line where he took the victory after
50 minutes of racing.
The next rider to finish – Franciso Rodriguez Pozo
(Independent) - was 1:58 down while the 3rd placed finisher – Felix Aranda Ruiz
(Asociacion C La Herradura) - was 2:04 off the Irishman’s winning time.
