The cyclist from Granada confirms his superiority in the final stage and wins the marathon competition through the desert of the Neom region
A David Valero only needed a couple of kicks on the bike to achieve victory in the Titan Desert in Saudi Arabia. In the last of the four stages of the event, the world number one in XCO (Olympic cross country) has imposed his quality, that of a superclass cyclist who, although he is in full pre-season, is at the best moment of his career. And that has already been enough to fly over the Saudi sand much higher than his rivals. The BH Templo Cafés UCC runner, Olympic bronze in Tokyo 2021, has managed to leave behind his great rival and partner for kilometers in this Titan Desert, the veteran Haimar Zubeldia, before kilometer 30 imposing his class in a technical zone of the Saudi desert .
Valero has started loaded -in his own words- “with adrenaline” after suffering a fall without consequences after a hitch who has also pushed Zubeldia himself, second overall, off the bike. Third place went to the latter’s partner in the Krypteia team, Julen Zubero, who also achieved his second stage of the Neom Titan Desert today. Zubero has been the only rider who has been able to keep up with the pace of a magnanimous Valero, who did not want to compete in the stage with the Basque cyclist. “David is a good guy,” Zubero summed up in goal.
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Valero dominated the race from start to finish with a more visible superiority in sensations than in qualifying, as he reached this final stage tied with Zubeldia, who today he has taken almost seven minutes with this final squeeze. “We have picked up a good rhythm to start the preseason,” commented the brand new winner of the race, second this Friday in the fast final stage of 77.5 kilometers. Valero has completed the 430 kilometers of the competition in 17 hours 1 minute and 28 seconds. In the head of the cyclist from Baza: the World Cup that starts in May; and, in the long term, the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
The women’s competition has been dominated from start to finish by the Elche runner Ariadna Ródenaswhich adds the Neom Titan Desert (21 hours 34 minutes 52 seconds) to his recent victory in a mixed duo in the Titan Desert Almería and to the first place he obtained in the 2021 edition of the same competition in Morocco.