Published on : 03/21/2022
The day after a particularly rich week, marked by two victories (Walscheid and Perez), Cofidis starts with ambition on the Tour of Catalunya which starts this Monday. The squad has been built around two leaders: Guillaume Martin and Jesús Herrada.
This is one of the most famous and difficult stage races of the early calendar. For 7 days, the peloton will have to withstand particularly tough days from Sant Feliu de Guixols, where the start will be given on Monday, to Barcelona next Sunday.
The Cofidis team has been built around two climbers with the potential to be leaders: Guillaume Martin and Jesús Herrada. They will be supported by experienced riders - Pierre-Luc Périchon, José Herrada - Sander Armée - but also by young riders who are still improving (Hugo Toumire and Alexandre Delettre).
Their objective? To build on the good dynamics initiated by the whole team since the beginning of the season. With the success of Max Walscheid (GP de Denain) and Anthony Perez (Classic Loire-Atlantique) last week, the total number of victories has now reached six. And the riders present in Catalunya will do everything to add new ones.
THE TOUR OF CATALONIA IN BRIEF
The squad: S. Armée, A. Delettre, Jo. Herrada, Je. Herrada, G. Martin, P-L. Périchon, H. Toumire
Sports directors: G. Gerrikagoitia, C. Guiberteau
↔️ Distance: 1,213km in 7 stages
⛰ Difficulties: 21 passes including 6 of 1st category
THEY SAID
Guillaume MARTIN: "I am happy to be back in the Tour of Catalonia. It's a mountainous race that suits me, always very competitive with often a good battle to get into the breakaway, and some that go all the way... It's a real race of movement, always with a very nice field and often very undecided until the end in Barcelona. For me, this is the real objective for the beginning of the season and I hope to make a very good general classification, to ensure the 'top 10' and to aim even higher. You can't deny yourself anything! Of course, I was a bit sick last week like most of the peloton but now I feel pretty good.
Christian GUIBERTEAU, team manager: "It is a very tough race with a lot of competition. We will try to do our best and get the best result possible. We know that the race can get out of hand at any moment, that there will be a lot of action. Guillaume has the ability to aim for a good place in the general classification and Jesús (Herrada) has the vision to win a stage. We have the chance to count on experienced riders (José Herrada, Pierre-Luc Périchon and Sander Armée) but also to trust the youngest ones (Alexandre Delettre and Hugo Toumire). From today onwards, we will have to be very careful with a very tricky dynamic sequence of stages.