Antonio Pedrero
‘Neo’ a los 24 años, la temporada 2016 fue de adaptación a la máxima categoría para Antonio Pedrero, escalador regular al que en gran parte de las carreras que disputó el pasado ejercicio -algunas de ellas WorldTour, como Romandía, Dauphiné o el díptico de Québec- se pudo ver tirando del pelotón, acumulando experiencias cara al viento. Fue en la, quizás, única carrera donde contó con plena libertad y el apoyo de sus compañeros, el Tour de l’Ain, cuando empezó a dejar ver lo que le llevó a ‘pros’: 10º en la general, tras mostrar buenas aptitudes escaladoras ante ciclistas que, como él, buscan un hueco en escenarios mayores.
Sobrio, educado, sencillo. El catalán de Terrassa afronta 2017 como un año clave en su progresión. Seguramente en carreras de categoría, con algo más de protagonismo y el bagaje de una campaña donde su labor ha sido respetada y apreciada por sus compañeros, Antonio, uno más de los talentos que de la ‘factoría Lizarte’ acabaron aterrizando en las filas de Eusebio Unzué, buscará hacer valer su regularidad para seguir ganándose un puesto en la elite.
FINALLY AT THE… DAMNED TOUR. He’s earned massive seniority and prestige within the Movistar Team with his serious character, consistency and absolute commitment, especially in the big mountains. He came into 2023 after some great victories in previous years -stage + GC in the 2021 Route d’Occitanie; Queen stage in the 2022 Tour de l’Ain; 3rd that same year at a Giro d’Italia stage-, and those solid performances opened him a door, at no less than age 32, of the biggest race of them all. The Tour de France, though, ended in heartbreak for him after a crash early into stage 14 of the year, which caused him three broken ribs and ended his season. His work ethic and determination, though, leave no doubts that the good man that is Antonio will again show his colours where it’s needed.
CYCLING AS WAY OF LIFE. Son of Jose Pedrero, a former professional rider, and cousin of Alba Díez, also a former track rider, he always shone in the youth stage as a consistent rider for the moutnains. His whole WorldTour career has been covered in Movistar Team colours, working his heart out for the team.
EXOTIC MAIDEN WIN. His first victory as a professional rider came in a somewhat surprising way. In the summer of 2015, Antonio was offered a chance to join Continental team Inteja from the Dominican Republic, a squad he debuted with at the Tour de la Guadeloupe in the French Caribbean. The win did not come until the ninth, final stage, via a strong attack in the last kilometer uphill in Basse-Terre, a move which also allowed him getting to the third place overall. It was one of his final outings before joining the WorldTour in 2016 with the Movistar Team.