Calvente aims for Castilla y León

By Antonio J. Salmerón http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2008/mar08/mar13news2

Spaniard Manuel Calvente is training very hard at home while waiting for the opportunity to return to competition with his new team, Contentpolis-Murcia, in the Vuelta a Castilla y León. The 31 year-old climber guarantees combativeness, and he has the experience with four years as a professional – two at Team CSC and two with Agritubel.

"I have returned to my origins, because we must remember that I made my debut in the Jazztel-Costa Almeria; a very humble team, but with plenty of morale and very optimistic thanks to achieving good results," Calvente explained to Cyclingnews.

Yesterday, he was out training on Las Apujarras climbs (Granada) to prepare for the Vuelta a Castilla y León, March 24 to 28. "I am working very hard ... I hope to do as well as possible, mainly in my speciality – the mountains. But the most important thing is to be racing again, so that the good results can be reached in the future."

The Castilla y León will start in La Granja de San Ildefonso with an individual time trial stage. "I have to improve in time trial stages, but I will confront with the idea of not losing time in order to be well positioned for the following days." The second stage will be disputed between Segovia and Avila (141km). "It will be there where the mountains will be confronted, so I will try to fight with the same strength and conviction as always." The third stage will be between Valladolid and Villa del Libro de Ureña (160km), the following day will start in Carrión de los Condes (Palencia) and will finish in Collada de Salcedillo (160km) and the last one will take place between Guardo and Riaño (León).