{"id":124002,"date":"2026-06-27T11:47:35","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T11:47:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/27\/spanish-national-championships-mireia-benito-fends-off-movistar-duo-to-add-road-race-gold-to-time-trial-title\/"},"modified":"2026-06-27T11:47:35","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T11:47:35","slug":"spanish-national-championships-mireia-benito-fends-off-movistar-duo-to-add-road-race-gold-to-time-trial-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/27\/spanish-national-championships-mireia-benito-fends-off-movistar-duo-to-add-road-race-gold-to-time-trial-title\/","title":{"rendered":"Spanish National Championships: Mireia Benito fends off Movistar duo to add road race gold to time trial title"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<p id=\"elk-cc298b8d-b3a5-4419-83d5-c8143950151c\"><a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/riders\/mireia-benito-pellicer\/\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/riders\/mireia-benito-pellicer\/\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/riders\/mireia-benito-pellicer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mireia Benito <\/a>(AG Insurance-Soudal) has followed up her mid-week Nationals time trial win with victory in the road race on Saturday, blasting away from a six-strong lead group to clinch another triumph.<\/p>\n<p>Four times a time trial champion, the 29-year-old Catalan took off early on the final uphill climb in Sabi\u00f1anigo to take her first-ever road race gold ahead of Sara Mart\u00edn and Paula Ostiz (both Movistar).<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"elk-seasonal\"\/><\/p>\n<aside data-block-type=\"embed\" data-render-type=\"fte\" data-skip=\"dealsy\" data-widget-type=\"seasonal\" class=\"hawk-root\"\/>\n<p id=\"elk-cc298b8d-b3a5-4419-83d5-c8143950151c-2\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">The race was dominated by a long-range attack by Maite Urteaga (Eulen-Amenabar), finally caught with just four kilometres to go by a chase group of four containing Benito, the two Movistar riders and five-times Spanish National Champion Mavi Garc\u00eda (UAE Team ADQ).<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-6 w-full overflow-hidden rounded-[10px] lg:my-8\" data-component-name=\"JwPlayer:Carousel\" data-jwp-carousel=\"\" data-jwp-carousel-payload=\"{&quot;ids&quot;:{&quot;playerID&quot;:&quot;jYDCcabO&quot;,&quot;searchPlaylistID&quot;:&quot;gwjdoYHD&quot;,&quot;divID&quot;:&quot;botr_gwjdoYHD_jYDCcabO_div&quot;,&quot;fallbackPlaylistID&quot;:&quot;gwjdoYHD&quot;,&quot;fallbackDivID&quot;:&quot;botr_gwjdoYHD_jYDCcabO_div&quot;,&quot;key&quot;:&quot;X9\\\/mXVGac0NphghLH9hZaqWA5d3dhAM\\\/Ih07grnEyMLjuO2E&quot;,&quot;tintLogo&quot;:true,&quot;useSearchPlaylist&quot;:false,&quot;enabled&quot;:true},&quot;signPostingEnabled&quot;:true,&quot;signPostingLinkEnabled&quot;:true,&quot;waitForAdLoad&quot;:false,&quot;hidePlayerOnDesktop&quot;:false,&quot;hidePlayerOnMobile&quot;:false,&quot;hidePlayerOnTablet&quot;:false}\">\n<div class=\"flex flex-nowrap items-center justify-between gap-3 bg-zinc-900 px-[14px] py-3\" data-jwp-carousel-header=\"\">\n<div class=\"flex min-w-0 shrink items-center\"><span class=\"inline-flex items-center gap-1.5 text-sm font-article-heading capitalize leading-5 text-white whitespace-nowrap\"><span class=\"jwp-carousel-title-mobile\"\/><span class=\"jwp-carousel-title-desktop\">Latest Videos From<\/span><span class=\"jwp-carousel-brand inline-flex items-center\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"aspect-video w-full min-h-[200px] lg:min-h-[330px] relative overflow-hidden bg-black\" data-jwp-carousel-container=\"\">\n<div class=\"absolute inset-0 size-full items-center justify-center bg-white\" data-jwp-carousel-fallback=\"\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" data-new-v2-image=\"true\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/flexiimages\/gmvwmhupgi1715762145.svg\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/flexiimages\/gmvwmhupgi1715762145.svg\" class=\"rounded-[var(--image--border-radius,0)] max-h-12 w-auto\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">Despite making much of the running late on, Garc\u00eda could not stop Benito from going clear in the final 400 metres, and the Movistar duo proved equally powerless to keep the national time trial champion from adding a second title in just three days to her palmares.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t believe it, it&#8217;s been a really chaotic race,&#8221; Benito said about her first-ever mass start road race win. &#8220;I thought it was all decided because there was no collaboration. It was very hard to understand the race dynamics.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">&#8220;So I decided simply to go for it and I didn&#8217;t want to leave anything behind. I just wanted to go home with the feeling that I had fought hard. It&#8217;s a dream come true.&#8221;<\/p>\n<aside data-component-name=\"Recirculation:ArticleRiver\" data-recirculation-type=\"inline\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"Trending Bar\" data-nosnippet=\"\" class=\"clear-both pt-2 pb-0 mb-4\">\n        <span class=\"&#10;            flex&#10;            after:content-[''] after:flex-1 after:ml-4 after:my-[0.7rem] after:border-t after:border-solid after:border-t-[#ccc]&#10;            before:content-[''] before:flex-1 before:mr-4 before:my-[0.7rem] before:border-t before:border-solid before:border-t-[#ccc]&#10;            font-article-heading pb-0 text-[length:var(--article-river-title--font-size,1em)] uppercase sm:text-[length:var(--article-river-title--font-size,0.875em)] font-bold&#10;        \"><br \/>\n            You may like<br \/>\n        <\/span><\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">&#8220;When I attacked before, I really didn&#8217;t feel that it was going anywhere, it was a really odd race. But I wanted to try, and then when I was caught, I thought that I was done for. But then I realised everybody was really suffering by that point so I tried again.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"elk-695cabd7-448b-4204-8c77-df632d5bf03d\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\"\/><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"how-it-unfolded-3\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">How it unfolded<\/h2>\n<p id=\"elk-aa79ed1f-cc77-4626-8f4c-274612ce47e7\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">The 129.7-kilometre race was largely defined by the pursuit of long-distance breakaway Urteaga, who defied the WorldTour teams with a move that began on the first of the five lap circuit and which only definitively ended close to the finish in Sabi\u00f1anigo, NE Spain.<\/p>\n<div id=\"slice-container-newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-kVU377VofHjSC8BCf5hZu8\" class=\"slice-container newsletter-inbodyContent-slice newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-kVU377VofHjSC8BCf5hZu8 slice-container-newsletterForm\">\n<div data-hydrate=\"true\" class=\"newsletter-form__wrapper newsletter-form__wrapper--inbodyContent\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-form__container\">\n<section class=\"newsletter-form__top-bar\"\/>\n<section class=\"newsletter-form__main-section\">\n<p class=\"newsletter-form__strapline\">The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">On a deceptively difficult course, featuring a never-ending series of undulating climbs across the foothills of the Pyrenees, Urteaga&#8217;s move effectively saw the chasing peloton shred itself into bits as they tried to chase her down on a blisteringly hot day. And with 40 kilometres left, her advantage of two minutes over a chase group of less than ten riders was still proving tricky to reduce.<\/p>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">With her teammate and top favourite Paula Blasi a DNS because of injury, yet more accelerations by Garc\u00eda on a grinding ascent whittled down the chase group to just the UAE Team ADQ rider, defending champion Mart\u00edn and Ostiz (Movistar) as well as Benito. A fifth rider, Sandra Alonso (Eneicat-Be Call) was sporadically in contact, but visibly struggling to maintain herself in the group and despite the presence of two Movistars, much of the running was made by Garc\u00eda, arguably the strongest rider in the race, and Benito.<\/p>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">Benito and Garc\u00eda even managed to clip away from the Movistar duo, closing in remorselessly on a by-now flagging Urteaga. But instead Ostiz and Mart\u00edn managed to reel them in, after which Garc\u00eda provided more impetus to catch Urteaga four kiometres from the line.<\/p>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">A holding pattern briefly emerged, and coming into Sabi\u00f1anigo, the five leaders even slowed so much Alonso could rejoin them, making a courageous, if futile, attempt to go clear immediately afterwards.<\/p>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">The final uphill 800 metre drag to the line was looming up fast, and when Benito went from distance, it seemed like an overly ambitious move. Instead, neither Blasi nor Mart\u00edn had enough individual power to bring her back, and Garc\u00eda had finally run out of energy as well. That meant Benito had ample margin to celebrate a triumph that owed as much to reading the race correctly and realising her rivals had nothing left to offer as it did to pure strength, raising her arms several bike-lengths ahead of Mart\u00edn and Blasi, silver and bronze despite their team&#8217;s advantage in numbers in the winning break.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"elk-results\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\"\/><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"article-body__section kiosq-b\" id=\"section-results\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><span>Results<\/span><\/h3>\n<p id=\"elk-91a726fd-7543-4a35-9d12-2a1bc017b0b2\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\"><em><strong>Results powered by <\/strong><\/em><a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/firstcycling.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-url=\"https:\/\/firstcycling.com\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\"><em><strong>FirstCycling<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<figure class=\"van-image-figure inline-layout kiosq-b\" data-bordeaux-image-check=\"\" id=\"elk-ff3da849-7497-499a-b804-1a619bf92ed4\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\" style=\"max-width:1220px;\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:49.51%;\"> <picture data-new-v2-image=\"true\"><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/hFMprdLfUz92NE7n6iB3P-1200-80.png.webp 1200w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/hFMprdLfUz92NE7n6iB3P-1024-80.png.webp 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/hFMprdLfUz92NE7n6iB3P-970-80.png.webp 970w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/hFMprdLfUz92NE7n6iB3P-650-80.png.webp 650w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/hFMprdLfUz92NE7n6iB3P-480-80.png.webp 480w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/hFMprdLfUz92NE7n6iB3P-320-80.png.webp 320w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1000px) 970px, calc(100vw - 40px)\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"2026 Spanish National Championships Elite Women Road Race\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/hFMprdLfUz92NE7n6iB3P-1200-80.png 1200w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/hFMprdLfUz92NE7n6iB3P-1024-80.png 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/hFMprdLfUz92NE7n6iB3P-970-80.png 970w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/hFMprdLfUz92NE7n6iB3P-650-80.png 650w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/hFMprdLfUz92NE7n6iB3P-480-80.png 480w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/hFMprdLfUz92NE7n6iB3P-320-80.png 320w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1000px) 970px, calc(100vw - 40px)\" loading=\"lazy\" data-new-v2-image=\"true\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/hFMprdLfUz92NE7n6iB3P.png\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/hFMprdLfUz92NE7n6iB3P.png\" class=\"rounded-[var(--image--border-radius,0)] inline\"\/>\n<\/picture><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption itemprop=\"caption description\" class=\" inline-layout\"><span class=\"caption-text\">2026 Spanish National Championships Elite Women Road Race <\/span><span class=\"credit\" itemprop=\"copyrightHolder\">(Image credit: First Cycling)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/pro-cycling\/womens-cycling\/spanish-national-championships-mireia-benito-fends-off-movistar-duo-to-add-road-race-gold-to-time-trial-title\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mireia Benito (AG Insurance-Soudal) has followed up her mid-week Nationals time trial win with victory in the road race on Saturday, blasting away from a six-strong lead group to clinch another triumph. Four times a time trial champion, the 29-year-old Catalan took off early on the final uphill climb in Sabi\u00f1anigo to take her first-ever [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":124003,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124002"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124002"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124002\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/124003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}