On 28 June 2026, on a punchy final climb in Sabiñánigo, Marcel Camprubí crossed the line first and pulled on the red and yellow jersey of Spanish road race champion. It was the first professional victory of his career.
The Huesca Valley made the race. The 211km course through Aragón featured difficult climbing in its early stages and concluded with a repeated 26.5km circuit around Sabiñánigo with multiple punchy climbs. It carried 3,160 metres of elevation gain. The pace never settled. The result was a highly attritional race with multiple attacks, the bunch averaging around 46km/h over the first three-quarters of the distance.
After around 35 kilometres a lead group of 15 riders broke away from the peloton. With 47 kilometres to go the group split on one of the circuit's climbs, with the trio from Caja Rural spearheading the move that went clear, and the only WorldTour rider among them Igor Arrieta of UAE. Urko Berrade launched from the front of the lead group with 26 kilometres remaining, but his attack did not stick, and heading into the final 20 kilometres six riders were left in contention: Berrade, Arrieta, Héctor Álvarez, Joel Nicolau, Joan Bou and Camprubí.
Decided on the last climb
With 10 kilometres to go the first rider to lose touch was the only WorldTour man in the group, Arrieta, dropping after a bout of cramp. Inside the final five kilometres Bou sacrificed himself for his teammate, and the trio of Berrade, Nicolau and Camprubí forged clear. Berrade, the instigator of many of the day's attacks, went again three kilometres from the line and once more at 1.5 kilometres, but could not drop his companions, and the race headed for a three-up sprint. Berrade launched first but paid for his repeated aggression, lacking the power to follow through; Camprubí and Nicolau fought head-to-head to the line, with Camprubí the winner. He crossed in 5:01:09, five seconds ahead of Nicolau, with Berrade third at eleven seconds. The podium lacked any representation from the WorldTour teams.
The victory arrived at the close of a rising week. The 24-year-old took the title following an impressive showing at the Tour de Suisse the week before. He succeeds Iván Romeo, who could not defend the jersey due to illness. For a rider of the Pinarello-Q36.5 team without a professional win to his name, the national championship is the first line on a longer page.
A first win, and the colours of a nation to carry into everything that follows.
