Manuel Sanroma

This promising rider from La Mancha, born in Almagro, made the leap from the cadet category to the U19 category with the Contador Foundation, coming from Giménez Ganga of the Club Ciclista Sax. Sanroma is another of the exponents of a family with a great tradition in this sport. His grandfather was a regular rider; his father Jerónimo, Jero, competed in amateur races and was a team-mate of Alejandro Valverde in the amateur structure of the now defunct Kelme team; and his uncle Manuel, who inspired his name, was an unforgettable professional rider who left a great mark on the collective imagination of the fans for his brilliant appearance as a great sprinter in 1998 and especially 1999, the year in which he lost his life after a crash in the last two kilometres of the second stage of the Volta a Catalunya. “I didn’t get to know him, I was born a few years later, but my grandparents and my father tell me something new about him every day, I’ve seen videos, I’ve read interviews, his room in my grandparents’ house has all his things… He’s a family reference”, he said. The young Manuel started riding at a very early age and, consequently, he also started competing. “I learned to ride a bike when I was about two years old, my grandfather taught me on the promenade in front of his house. I started competing when I was five or six, with the Almagreño Cycling Club in our town”. Sanroma grew up riding on cobblestones, the stones that line many of the streets of his beautiful and monumental town: “I like cobblestones, they are part of our daily life. As a rider so far I’m quite complete, I can handle all types of terrain. And as a race I would love one day to be able to ride, and why not win, the Tour de France. It is a very special race, where the best of the best compete”. For the talent from Ciudad Real, Alejandro Valverde is a cyclist to follow: “He always caught my attention. To stay at that level and at his age? He is a genius. We appreciate him a lot. My father and he are friends, he has been in our house and we have been in his”. Sanroma started the Baccalaureate, in the Humanities and Social Sciences, but for this year he has started an intermediate degree in administrative management. “I love the world of sport and that is why I would like to study INEF or Teaching focused on physical activity in the future. My idea is to continue with my studies, not to give them up; on the contrary, to adapt to the time available, even if it takes me more years to complete them. But I want to continue studying”.