Anna Villar
Anna Villar to travel to South Africa as Open de Espana’s leader
The town of Ciutadella in Menorca hosted round two of Open de España XCO 2011. Rider Anna Villar (Ayala Team), who was third in the first round in Madrid, rode to victory and took the lead in the women’s race.
The reigning Spanish champion, who is sponsored by Weldtite, set the pace early in the race, closely followed by Rocío Gamonal and Sandra Santanyes. The second lap started with Anna on the front and driving the pace. Her followers could not catch up to her and she crossed the finish line as the winner of the second round of Open de España. The Catalan rider completed four laps in 1 hour 20 minutes. Sandra Santanyes and Mercè Pacios rounded out the podium.
After winning this round, Anna became leader of Open de España in the women’s category. “It was a fast-paced race, the circuit was really narrow, with lots of bends on a not too uneven terrain, which made it difficult to overtake riders or build big gaps. So I knew I had to be the pacemaker. Everything went as planned and I was the winner,” she said afterwards.
On Wednesday 20 April, Anna will be part of the Spanish cycling team travelling to South Africa to compete in the first round of the World Cup. After months of training, several national and international races, and good results, Anna is taking off in very good shape, focused and motivated to face her next challenge in full confidence.
Anna's race has been translated into Spanish and can be opened as a pdf.
