Scholars Poncelas and Eckhard aiming for home success at UCI World Cup

“The Road World Cup is going to be a very important test to know the point of form in relation to our rivals”

Spain’s Raquel Poncelas and Maurice Eckhard will be hoping for home success this weekend (25-27 July) when the UCI 2014 Para-Cycling Road World Cup takes place in Segovia.

This year the two cyclists have been awarded scholarships from the Spanish Paralympic Committee, which assists them financially and allows them to focus on cycling and study.

The scholarships mean that the athletes’ lives revolve around cycling, which London 2012 Paralympic bronze medallist Eckhard says is easy when you love the sport so much.

Both Eckhard and Poncelas have clearly benefitted from the scholarships judging by their recent results.

At May’s UCI Para-Cycling Road World Cup in Castiglione della Pescaia, Italy, Poncelas was victorious in the women’s C2 road race and a silver medallist in the C2 time trial. Teammate Eckhard also performed well, taking silver in both the men’s C2 time trial and C2 road race. As a result Spain finished sixth in the overall medals table and both are keen to do even better on home soil.

This weekend’s event has extra importance for all the participating athletes as it is the last major meeting ahead of the UCI Para-Cycling Road World Championships in Greenville, USA, which takes place between 27 August and 1 September.

“The Road World Cup is going to be a very important test to know the point of form in relation to our rivals,” said Poncelas, a two-time Paralympian having competed at Beijing 2008 and London 2012.

Apart from getting a good look at her opponents in Segovia, Poncelas is looking forward to the World Cup for other reasons too. Firstly the event is being held in Spain, where she is familiar with the people and places around her, and secondly she is looking to back up her form from May’s World Cup.

“It is almost tradition for us to have this event,” said Poncelas who is hoping the strong home crowd support can give her extra motivation for success.

For further information on this weekend’s World Cup meeting, please visit the UCI website.