Cuban Dominguez excelled at the opening of the Vuelta a Venezuela

HAVANA, Cuba, Sep 8 (ACN) Cuban Jose Dominguez excelled in the opening round of the 2025 Vuelta a Venezuela, crossing the finish line in seventh place on the metropolitan circuit in San Cristobal, capital of the state of Tachira.

Monday, the multi-colored peloton will head to Merida, the finish line of the second longest of the eight scheduled stages (179.1 km), which includes four intermediate sprints and three mountain prizes distributed in the final stretch to the finish line.

For Dominguez, it will be a tough challenge to defend his 12th place in the individual general classification after Sunday's 132.40 km stage, in which he set the same time as the winner (3:15.06 hours), Portuguese Cesar Martingil (Tavfer Ovos).

A similar challenge awaits fellow U23 rider Randol Izquierdo, who dominated the first mountain pass and is second in the standings, behind local Carlos Galvis (Politachira), who took the lead on the other. Both have four points.

Completing the Cuban team are Amed Marcos (U23), and elite riders Ricardo Delgado, Yariel De Leon, and Joselin Piedra, led by coach Yans Carlos Arias, assisted by mechanic Yoanis Perez.

The Cuban cyclists are preparing for their participation in qualifiers for the Santo Domingo 2025 Central American and Caribbean Games, the first being the Caribbean Road Championship, scheduled for October 11 and 12 in Belize.