Saint Piran in action in Spanish season opener

The 2002 cycling season is upon us. The European road-racing calendar gets under way in Southern Spain this afternoon in the shape of the prestigious Classica Comunitat Valencia, which starts in La Nucia on the Costa Blanca and covers 175km to finish in the port city of Valencia.

Cornish team Saint Piran Pro Cycling will race alongside 14 other top-level Continental and British teams, with eight riders among the 119 starters. Saint Piran have been on the Continent for the past week and will be staying on in Spain and France into February to train and race in preparation for the coming season.

This will be the first major outing for Cornwall’s first pro cycling team since its participation in last September’s Tour of Britain, the first stage of which ran from Penzance to Bodmin.

Today’s race will be a tough test, with the first 90km featuring two challenging climbs before the profile flattens out in the second half of the course.  It will also be the first race in charge for new Team Manager, Steve Lampier, Cornwall’s most successful rider who retired from racing at the end of last season to take on the D.S. (Directeur Sportif) role.

 This is how Saint Piran line up this afternoon:

  • Gabriel Cullaigh

  • Will Bjergfelt

  • Jake Crossley

  • Charles Page

  • Tom Mazzone

  • Leon Mazzone

  • Jenson Young

  • Theo Obholzer

You can follow the action through the race’s live feed, which is available here from 1pm on Sunday:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQyuQY3hLZo&list=PLciYgucOLoIJ8oqwefJuyZFMN_r1ZUYRv&index=1

Ricci Pascoe