Last Sunday’s Tour de Vendée marked the end of the 2016 season for Caja Rural - Seguros RGA. This seventh consecutive season for the Spanish team resulted in 11 victories, which is the second highest number in the history of the team.

In addition to the 11 victories, Caja Rural - Seguros RGA netted 14 second places and 11 third places, adding up to a total of 36 podium positions this year. Furthermore, the team has placed a rider in Top10 no less than 120 times during the season, showing a high level throughout the year. The team currently sits fourth on the UCI Europe Tour ranking before the final races.
 
Amongst many strong performances and great teamwork this season, especially Tour of Turkey stands out with the overall win for José Gonçalves, two stage wins for the team and the overall team classification. Gonçalves’ impressive season landed him a World Tour contract for 2017. The same goes for Hugh Carthy after his outstanding breakthrough season with the overall win in Vuelta Asturias and his 9th place overall in Volta a Catalunya against some of the best climbers in the world. Another highlight of the season was Eduard Prades’ victory in Philadelphia Classic, a very important race for Caja Rural - Seguros RGA and its bike sponsor Fuji.
 
Other impressive performances this year came from Pello Bilbao who finished second overall in Castilla y León - only beaten by Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) - and fromSergio Pardilla who was only 1 second from beating Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) to take the overall win in Vuelta a Burgos.
 
Sports director, Eugenio Goikoetxea said: 

“Eleven victories for a team like ours is a very good result. We have stayed true to the team’s value showing our presence in every race. Of course, we would have liked to do more in the Vuelta a España, but due to injuries, crashes and other external factors we couldn’t give 100 %. However, we are satisfied with this season, highlighting the overall wins in Turkey and Asturias, which makes the overall balance of the season very good”.
 
Adding the 11 victories in 2016, Caja Rural - Seguros RGA now has a total of 55 victories to its palmares since the team’s arrival in 2010. 23 riders from 10 countries have secured these wins of 36 stages, eight one-day races, eight stage races and three national championships. The victories have arrived in 10 different countries; 19 in Spain, 12 in Portugal, 6 in France, 5 in Turkey, 4 in Canada, 2 in USA, 2 in Norway, 2 in Italy, 2 in Bulgaria and 1 in Gabón. Current riders Pello Bilbao and Carlos Barbero top the list with five victories each, while Eduard Prades and José Gonçalves both are accountable for three wins.
 
Even though the season is now over for Caja Rural - Seguros RGA, the team still has four riders in action this month as Carlos Barbero and Diego Rubio (both Spain),José Gonçalves (Portugal) and Fabricio Ferrari (Uruguay) all take part in the World Championships in Doha, Qatar. Furthermore, Jon Irisarri, current U23 rider and new pro signing for 2017, will line up for Spain at the U23 road race in Qatar.

The full list of the team’s victories this season:
1.    Stage 4 of Etoile de Bessèges - Ángel Madrazo 
2.    Stage 2 of Tour of Turkey - Pello Bilbao 
3.    Stage 7 of Tour of Turkey - Jaime Rosón 
4.    Overall win at Tour of Turkey - José Gonçalves 
5.    Stage 1 of Vuelta Asturias - Hugh Carthy 
6.    Overall win at Vuelta Asturias - Hugh Carthy 
7.    Stage 1 of Gran Premio Beiras - Eduard Prades 
8.    Stage 2 of Gran Premio Beiras - José Gonçalves 
9.    Philadelphia Classic - Eduard Prades 
10.  Stage 7 of Volta Portugal - José Gonçalves 
11.  Stage 5 of Vuelta Burgos - Sergio Pardilla