Trofeo Villa de Noja

The Movistar Team is back in Spain for the 3rd edition of the Trofeo de Ciclismo Femenino “Villa de Noja”, the first race of the 2018 Spanish Cycling Series and the maiden appearance in RFEC-sanctioned events for the Blues. It’s not the toughest of all races the Telefónica-backed squad will tackle during this spring competition, yet the rolling parcours around the towns of Castillo, Arnuero, La Venera and Meruelo is lumpy enough to avoid a sprint finish at the end.

Four laps of a 23.1km circuit -officially, 91km- will be tackled in a race which comprises two main climbs: the Barrio de La Maza ascent (1.8km at 2.8%, with a tougher second half around 7-8%), which will give all points for the KOM classification; and the Alto de San Mamés / Villanueva (700m, 6%), crested around seven kilometers from each passage through the finish. The rest of the circuit is a series of gentle ups and downs, completed with a slightly uphill finish -last 1.5km at almost 2%-, which should not split the bunch further than the main climbs.