Martín López closes the season and gets off the Vuelta al Ecuador: ‘my body has said enough’ | Other Sports | sports

The ecuadorian Martín López is the first loss of those considered Top in the Cycling Tour of Ecuador, the ravages of a long season and his imminent arrival in the Astana Qazaqstan Development Team led to his abandonment of the national round.

The continental runner Best PC thus closes his training chapter in national cycling and aims to make a career in Europe, “I can say that I was trained in Ecuador, with a great team of professionals which shows that there is good material in national cycling”Lopez said.

The start of the race, and the end of the season, made it official on Thursday on his social networks; but before, in dialogue with THE UNIVERSE revealed that underwent medical check-ups after an extended season.

“It was an assessment so as not to reach the point of mental and physical collapseWith that we seek to get to the next season well ”, he said.

From his accounts, López ended the season. “So far my 2021 season. My body has said enough and it’s normal after such a beautiful, long and demanding season, for all the training, the traveled and the run ”, he commented.

The imbabureño entered the Vuelta al Ecuador with the risk of not finishing it. “I asked (Astana) to let me do it, although I was not sure if I could finish. It was a way of thanking the fans, because I was very excited to compete, “he said.

“It has been a very long season. I ran the Pan American Track, Tour Savoie, Tour de l’Avenir, the Ardennes, the national championship, the world championship (Flanders), the Pan American Games, in short, it was a season that helped me a lot. I am grateful to my team and the Federation because in the end they gave me careers that have helped me a lot for my signing for Astana ”, said the 21-year-old runner, a silver medalist in the last Pan American Junior Games, in Cali.

Baby Giro, an illusion

By 2022 in Europe, López’s first goal is the “Adaptation” to the rhythm of your new team and then focus on the U23 Giro d’Italia, a career that “suits him well.”

“Why not think about the Baby Giro, It is a career that adapts to my conditions because it does not have a time trial and there are no flat stages, I would like to do a spectacular Giro ”, he said.

With his mind on Astana for 2022, López aspires to make an immediate leap to the top division of cycling.

He comes to the Kazakh squad with a three-season contract, in the first as an adaptation and with the possibility of passing as intern, as an internship, to the squad that runs in the WorldTour, to which it will go from 2023 anyway.

“It was my farewell to the team that welcomed me during these two seasons (Best PC), which saw me grow, gave me the best experiences and supported me to achieve one of my many dreams, (arrive) at Astana Qazqstan ”, said goodbye to the cyclist from Ibarra. (D)