The Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya resort has also been the venue for the Catalan Downhill Championship where Oriol Cuadrat and Mireia Pi have been the fastest.
The La Molina mountain resort, owned by Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat, is already preparing to host the European Downhill Championship from August 1 to 3.
Daniel Castellanos and Natalia Menéndez have been proclaimed the new Spanish Downhill Champions with the absolute victory achieved on Sunday, July 20th at the La Molina resort.
Daniel Castellanos (Under-23) has set the absolute best time after stopping the clock in 3:00:70 minutes, an impossible pace that has led the Madrid rider from Planet MTB to wear the national champion jersey. Ignacio García (Under-23), from the Federación Madrileña de Ciclismo, has won silver with a time of 3:04:62 and Ferran Jorba (Elite), from St. Andreu de la Barca Moto Club, with 3:07:72 minutes, has taken third place. In the women's category, the Asturian sisters Natalia and Cristina Menéndez, from the Asturias Cycling Federation, were the fastest with a time of 3.58.10 and 4.02.01, respectively. Sara Yusto (Elite) took bronze with a total time of 4.02.97.
After the race, Daniel Castellanos acknowledged the demanding nature of the course and was very satisfied with his performance, as “the circuit was very, very physical. After the entire forest section, steep and with banked sections where you had to manage your braking very well, you came to a very long sprint that forced me to give it my all”. He said that he made some mistakes at the top but that in short he was “very happy to have taken the victory in the end. I always try to be consistent and make as few mistakes as possible, and today it went well”.
It was her first time competing in La Molina and she considered that “I liked the track more than I expected”, and she also highlighted the work of those responsible for the track because “they have kept the track fast but, above all, safe. Good job by the organizers”.
Looking towards the next event, she pointed out that “now it is time to rest a bit after intense weeks in Europe, and we will return with enthusiasm for the Europeans right here in La Molina and with excellent memories of this circuit”.
For her part, Natalia Menéndez highlighted that yesterday on the circuit “it was very muddy and complicated, but today it dried out and despite being more broken by the passage of so many riders, it was a lot of fun”. She also remarked that “the counter-banked areas were technical and at first it was difficult to get a rhythm, but in the end everything went very well.”
Interestingly, the Asturian had already competed in La Molina, but in winter and in alpine skiing, and from what she has shown, her move to downhill mountain biking has meant returning to the resort with many good results.
Oriol Cuadrat and Mireia Pi, the fastest in Catalonia
In the Catalan Downhill Championship, held together with the Spanish Championship, the fastest was Oriol Cuadrat from the Catalan Cycling Federation, in the Junior category, with a time of 3.05.10 minutes and, the second fastest in absolute classification was Ferran Jorba (Elite), from St. Andreu de la Barca Moto Club, with a total time of 3.07.72, followed by Alex Marin (Elite) from Premià de Dalt CC BTT with a total time of 3.09.12 minutes.
In the women's category, the fastest and winner was Mireia Pi (Sub-23), from La Tribu BTT Forallac, C.C, with a total time of 4.08.83 minutes. Followed by Marta Perxachs (Junior) with a time of 4.15.61 and Esther Garcia (cadet) with a total time of 4.50.66 minutes, both from the Catalan Cycling Federation.
La Molina has hosted the 2025 Spanish Downhill Championship, the most important national competition in this discipline, since Friday 18 July. The program began with some delay after a Saturday morning marked by unstable weather and complicated terrain that conditioned the training sessions. With the stopwatch already running on Sunday morning, the riders did a first qualifying round that served to establish the starting order for the final.
The European Championships are being held in La Molina in 10 days
The celebration of the State and Catalan Championships was the first of the Downhill events that La Molina will host this summer. The resort is already preparing to receive the best riders on the continent for the European Downhill Championships, which will be held from August 1 to 3 and will crown the best riders on the continent with the coveted European champion jersey.
The Government of Spain and the Generalitat of Catalonia are leading the institutional support for these championships. The Consejo Superior de Deportes (CSD), a body dependent on the Ministry of Education, Professional Training and Sports; the Department of Sports and FGC agree that the organization of these European Championships will strengthen the positioning of the Pyrenees for the practice of BTT and as a reference destination for cycling and mountain sports.
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