Radio Cadena Agramonte emisiora de Camagüey
Havana, Feb 23 - Cuban Arlenis Sierra, from the Movistar Team, secured her first podium of thge season by taking second place in the IV Clásica de Almería, Spain.
Sierra staged another impressive sprint to overtake four others, all with the same time (3:11:47 hours) as the winner over the 118.8 km course, the European Under-23 champion Federica Venturelli, from the also prestigious UAE Team ADQ.
With this performance, the native of Manzanillo added 170 points in this ProSeries category race for the WorldTour ranking of the International Cycling Union (UCI, for its acronym in Spanish), while improving on the fourth place she obtained in 2023.
The top-10 also included her teammate Sara Martín in tenth place, while fellow Spaniard Lucía Ruiz, in 12th place, was the third best-placed Movistar rider.
British rider Claire Steels arrived in 32nd place at the high-altitude finish line, followed by hosts Sheyla Gutiérrez (33rd) and Laura Ruiz (37th), on a day of strong sun and heat, and the absence of wind, in which nine athletes did not finish the route, reports the event's official website.
Just 19 km into the course, eight riders broke away and gained a lead of up to six minutes, but at the start of the mountainous section, the breakaway failed on the climbs of El Romeral and, especially, on the Turrillas climb, at 750 meters above sea level.
On the fast descent, another group broke away, but Movistar organized to lead the chase and caught them in the final kilometers of the competition, with the two groups joining just before the rise where the finish line was located, in the town of Tabernas.
This was Arlenis's third competition of the year, following her break since August 2024 due to maternity leave.
She returned on January 24 in the Challenge of Mallorca, with a 28th place finish, and sixth in two of the three stages; and later competed in the United Arab Emirates in the UAE Tour Women 2026 (February 5-8), where she finished 43rd in the general classification after three stages were held.
The 33-year-old Cuban is accumulating points with a view to qualifying for the road world championship next September in Montreal, Canada, as well as for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
Her next commitment will take place on February 28 in the XXI Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, which inaugurates the Belgian cycling season, and represents the first 2026 World Tour event in northwestern Europe and on cobbled terrain. (JIT) (Photo: esciclismo.com)
