The ŠKODA Titan Desert Almería begins!

Tomorrow will be exactly 300 days since more than 200 brave riders crossed the finish line in El Toyo, in what was the last stage of the ŠKODA Titan Series Almería. Tomorrow, from the same El Toyo, about 280 cyclists will take the start of the ŠKODA Titan Desert Almería 2022.

But, before the official start of the race, the Titans have had today a little warm up. The prologue, which has also been a loop around this Almería town, has served to determine the order of tomorrow’s stage departure.

With the boxes already defined, the other objective of this small individual time trial has been to make contact for the 119 riders who are rookies in a Titan World Series race.

Although some of them were rookies as well, much more than that were the riders who participated in the contenders press conference that took place at the end of the race.

The reigning champion of the ŠKODA Titan Desert Almería, Óscar Pujol, admitted that he does not consider himself a “favorite”. “I don’t rule myself out, of course, but we have already said that we come to make a journey. If we can’t compete, then we’ll enjoy ourselves”.

Josep Betalú, the most successful rider in the Titan World Series, with five races to his name, must also be among the favorites. “I would like to have this race. It’s almost like something personal for me. I think I’m coming along well. I’ve trained well and I hope I don’t have the bad luck I’ve had other times here,” he explained.

Other big favorites are Konny and Vera Looser, each in their respective categories. The Namibian rider believes her form is “better” than it was at the ŠKODA Titan Desert Morocco, when she was second overall. “I think then my form was not the best, but today I would say I am even stronger. I like the course, but we’ll have to wait and see how everything goes.”

Meanwhile, Konny Looser feels that the format of the race in Almeria suits him even better than that of the ŠKODA Titan Desert Morocco, of which he is a double winner: “I think this race is much better suited to my qualities, with many more meters of climbing and without navigation”.

Two great athletes, but usually away from the mountainbike, will make their debut in the ŠKODA Titan Desert Almería. They are the Euskaltel Euskadi rider Luis Angel Maté and Moto GP pilot Maverick Viñuales.

The cyclist from Marbella recognizes that he comes to live a “different” experience, but also that “when they put a bib on you, we all like to compete”. “I come here to ride with professionals, but also with popular riders, which is a contact that we are losing more and more in professional sport”.

Viñales, who comes to the race as an ŠKODA team ambassador, is grateful for the opportunity this race gives him to show his “relationship” with the Czech brand. “They represent many of the values that I have in my life and we had been wanting to make our relationship known for some time”.