Caja Rural-Seguros RGA

Based in Navarra, Caja Rural-Seguros RGA are a team that have grown a reputation for developing some of the best climbers in recent years. They’ve sent many riders to the WorldTour from their ranks, including Pello Bilbao, Luis Léon Sanchez and Hugh Carthy. 

The team often occupies one of the wildcard slots at the Vuelta a España and always seems to rise to the occasion: over their 11 appearances at their home Grand Tour they have taken a stage win, the King of the Mountains classification and countless breakaway appearances. 

For the first time in seven years, the team achieved double figures for wins in a season in 2023. Iúri Leitão won a stage and the GC at the International Tour of Hellas in May. However, it was in the Autumn that the team truly flourished with Daniel Babor winning stages of both the Volta a Portugal and Tour de Langkawi before they took two stages and the GC at the CRO Race. Leitão won stage two before teammate and Venezuelan national champion Orluis Aular won the penultimate stage and the overall title.

Like many ProContinental teams, their roster leans towards riders from their home nation, but Caja Rural-Seguros RGA have a varied line-up for 2024, including riders from the Czech Republic, Ecuador and Ethiopia. Potentially the most exciting addition is the arrival of 23-year-old Australian climber Sebastian Berwick from Israel-Premier Tech.

Tech

Pro Bikes

Orluis Aular’s MMR Adrenaline Aero: Best looking bike at the Vuelta a España?

Orluis Aular’s MMR Adrenaline Aero has a very eye-catching design

There are lots of nice bikes at the Vuelta a España, but we think Orluis Aular’s MMR Adrenaline Aero is the best looking at this year's race

Vuelta a España pro bike: Orluis Aular’s MMR Adrenaline Aero

As avid bike watchers, we’re often afflicted with sore necks at Grand Tours, a symptom from constantly craning our heads to catch a glance at the innumerable eye-catching bikes.

Aesthetics matter as much as performance in modern cycling (okay, maybe not 

 as much), which means we spend a lot of time admiring virtually every bike on show. One stood out from the rest at the 

, winning our self-titled crown of best looking bike at the race. The bike in question is one of 

’s MMR Adrenaline Aeros, and it belongs to Venezuelan national champion 

Many teams create custom colourways for their national champions to celebrate their success, and they’re often the most eye-catching bikes in the peloton - we pulled together a full gallery of every national champion’s bike at the Vuelta a España 

That gallery is packed with cool designs, but Aular’s bike bewitched us from a distance, only getting better the closer we got. Like many bikes of national champions, its design incorporates the nation’s flag, in this case Venezuela, with yellow and blue shades on the top tube giving way to a metallic burgundy on the forks. The rest of the bike is white, cutting a nice balance. It’s a winner in our eyes, but do you agree that it’s the best looking bike at the race? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

The design adorns the Spanish team’s MMR Adrenaline Aero bike. MMR will be an unfamiliar brand to many, except those in Spain where the company is based. Its presence hasn’t become well known beyond the Iberian peninsula, but that’s likely to change if it keeps creating bikes which look as good as Aular’s.

As the name suggests, the bike is the company’s aero offering, and we set our eyes on it ahead of stage 4, a day Aular finished sixth. He’s since gone even better, narrowly missing out on the win on stage 7, settling for runner up behind surprise winner 

Geoffrey Soupe grabs surprise sprint victory

For his bike, Aular had a 54/40t FSA Powerbox crankset with its in-built power meter. That was combined with Shimano's highest level Dura-Ace groupset, with a 

 11-30t cassette providing ample gearing for what was one of the easiest days at this year’s race. 

Reflecting the easier parcours, the bike had Vision Metron 60 SL wheels, with rim depths that match the name. There was further Vision finishing kit in the cockpit in the form of the Metron 5D ACR integrated handlebar, while the Selle Italia SLR Pro Team was the saddle of choice.

Orluis Aular

Jefferson Cepeda

Sebastian Berwick

Fernando Barceló

Eduard Prades

David González

Iuri Leitao

Daniel Babor

Thomas Silva

Abel Balderstone

Mulu Hailemichael

Tomas Barta

Joel Nicolau

Joseba Lopez

Jokin Murguialday

Gorka Sorarrain

Michal Schlegel

Julen Arriola-Bengoa

Calum Johnston

Jaume Guardeño

Samuel Fernández Garcia

Josu Etxeberria

Racing

News

Race News

Caja Rural-Seguros RGA file complaint with Spanish police after alleged leaked doping report

Caja Rural are one of the top Spanish Continental teams and are often invited to the Vuelta a España

 have filed a complaint with the Spanish police over a leaked report that alleged doping links within the team. The report was anonymously circulated during this year’s 

who have seen the report, the 23-page PDF document entitled ‘temaorganizateddoping’ contains transcripts of WhatsApp messages and voice notes from and to Dr Marcos Maynar, who is involved in current Operación Ilex investigations. 

Maynar and various collaborators appearing to discuss specific doping products and their usages, dating from 2020 to 2022.

report that parts of the report show Maynar speaking with riders from Caja Rural-Seguros RGA. They allege that the riders contacted Maynar directly, rather than via a team doctor.

The 23-page report was reportedly shared with teams and media during the Vuelta, from an anonymous source.

On Thursday, Caja Rural released a statement confirming they had filed a complaint to the police over the dissemination of the document, though not directed at a specific person, and without a specific accusation of a crime.

“The Caja Rural-Seguros RGA team confirms that it has filed a complaint to the Guardia Civil in which it has made the Guardia Civil aware of the events that happened during the 

. The team was the victim of a partial, biased and out-of-context leak of a police report contained within a judicial file,” the statement read.

“The information that appears refers to a small part of a judicial investigation process into possible crimes against public health and sport, in which neither the team or any of its members are implicated.”

The investigation they refer to is Operación Ilex. 

reports that several people were called to testify in the early parts of the investigation in October, including Maynar and some of his collaborators. The recently suspended 

 has also been summoned as a witness. No riders or staff from Caja Rural have yet been officially implicated in the investigation, as their statement says.

“This leak hides behind anonymity with the sole objective of harming the team and its components. It was sent by email and post to people directly linked with professional cycling with the aim of damaging the reputation of Caja Rural-Seguros RGA,” the statement continues.

“Considering all the above, Caja Rural has informed Guardia Civil of these facts through the corresponding complaint, in case they may constitute a crime.

“Due to the complainant not knowing the identity of the person or people responsible for these events, the complaint is not directed at a specific person, and this is clearly reflected in the complaint.”

that they have been cooperating with the relevant authorities and do not expect any sanction from this process.

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Name	Age	UCI Career Wins	UCI Points
Orluis Aular	27	28	726
Jefferson Cepeda	28	6	356
Sebastian Berwick	24	4	334
Fernando Barceló	28	1	258
Eduard Prades	36	14	237

Caja Rural-Seguros RGA

Caja Rural-Seguros RGA

The Team

Team Bikes

Orluis Aular’s MMR Adrenaline Aero: Best looking bike at the Vuelta a España?

Top Caja Rural-Seguros RGA Stories

Caja Rural-Seguros RGA file complaint with Spanish police after alleged leaked doping report

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