EFE · Mountain Bike · 03/05/2025
Luis Ángel Maté (KH7), the “Marbella lynx” in his 16 seasons of professional en route, was happy to achieve in his debut in Morocco the first victory in which he considers “the jewel test of the crown” of the BTT.
“I was delighted with the Skoda Titan Desert de Almería, but this is the jewel of the crown and being able to be here is already a privilege with everything that this race is beyond sports. And above, well, well, when we get a dorsal we become competitive and everyone likes to win. And in this case I have had the luck of winning, I am very happy,” said the Marbelli in the finish line.
Maté took advantage of the queen stage to seek victory. A demanding 7 km ascent port was key to deploying the team’s strategy.
“This stage came better with the long port. The clear goal was to launch Andrey ahead and achieve the minute of bonus in the port. That was the first objective, the second win the stage. We achieved both challenges for the KH7 and we are all very happy,” he said.
Team strategy at the key point of the stage
“We have started the port with Andrey to Rueda to take the bonus minute. That was the first objective of the stage, we knew there were going to be two stages, one that for the general and another for the cover victory,” he said.
A goal achieved for Maté, who said that “it was very good, I had prepared this race a lot and trained many hours with the mountain bike.”
You have to be crazy to go down that way
The Marbellí surprised its rivals when assuming the descents, land in which the ‘bikers’ surpass the “routes”.
“When I try to abstract, I think I am doing well because the truth is impressive how they go down. They have incredible skill, impressive risks are taken, but well, little by little I am taking confidence, which is what it is about and every time I go down faster,” he said.
Until the end you can’t sing victory
From now on, the entire team will try to defend the Red jaw of Andrey Amador, in the absence of 3 stages to conclude the Titan.
“It is always better to go first than second, but in this race you can never sing victory. Today look what happened to Luis León, tomorrow can happen to Andrey. We have a strong block and that always gives security in the KH7 team. This is the Titan, until you pass the last line can go from everything,” he concluded.
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