Ricardo Ten swept and took gold in the time trial at the Paris Games

The surroundings of Paris were taken this Wednesday by road cycling time trials at the Paralympic Games. Clichy-sous-Bois, about sixteen kilometers from the capital, is one of the epicenters of the day for sports in Spain. In the morning it was clear why.

Ricardo Ten has extended his legend to a gold medal in class C1 of resisting the stopwatch. He did it with absolute display in a race that was one of his great goals and in which he dominated from start to finish.

During the 20:39.53, Ten He surpassed all his rivals. German is second Michael Teuber together 21:18.14. He had a great duel for the silver medal with the Pole Zbigniew Maciejewskibrass with 21:18.94. Other rivals are far from that fight for medals.

He is a favorite for the gold medal, but also knows that this poster does not guarantee anything. Three years ago, at the Tokyo Games, he suffered a heat stroke which separated him from the fight for medals. That’s why he wanted to defend himself outside of Paris and he did it in a big way.

It is true that he has little to claim. At 49 years old, Ten won his eleventh Paralympic Games medal. Of course, this period is highly sought after by the Valencian as it represents his first gold in the cycling modality. He has collected four, in addition to two silvers and five bronzes, with one gold, one silver and two bronzes in cycling. This is his third medal in Parisafter silver in the team sprint and bronze in the team pursuit on the track, and his first medal on the cycling route.

Sampu has said in recent days that the time trial will be his main focus at these Games. He showed it from the first pedal stroke, on a circuit that he had full control over. They expected 14.2 kilometers starting and finishing in Clichy-sous-Bois with two slopes: the first of one kilometer at 4.5% in Courtry (peak at kilometer 6.4 of the race) and the second, of eight hundred and fifty meters at 4.7% near the finish line (point 13.1 la peak).

He was not afraid of them. He gave it his all, flying from the first moment to set the initial benchmark in passing 5.8 kilometers. At that time, he was 14.96 seconds ahead of Maciejewski and 15.81 ahead of Teuber.vast distances considering the length of the race.

But the work must be completed in the second part of the exam. Without slowing down, ready to extend the distance, Ten pushed harder as his rivals, noticing the fatigue, attended. enough thirty-eight seconds in full display and full of Spanish cyclists. Eight tenths of a second defined silver for Teuber ahead of Maciejewski, but Ten had no chance to get close to him.

In this way, Ricardo Ten won what is now the twenty-sixth Spanish medal at the Paris Paralympic Games.. There are already six gold, seven silver and thirteen bronze. A reference in Spanish sports, Ten suffered an electric shock at the age of eight and lost two arms and a leg. He has been one of the most visible figures of the Spanish team for many years at the Games, where he has been a veteran since a distant event in Atlanta 1996. Over time, Ten has not lost his hunger: he continues to win to expand his legend.