Raúl López

One of the two new faces arriving from Caja Rural-Alea for the 2023 season is the Aragonese Raúl López Franco (12 December 2001). The rider from Zaragoza will face in a new destination his last year in a U23 category to which he arrived in an atypical campaign: the one of the pandemic. “I had done my whole stage as U23 with Caja Rural, three very nice years, but I thought that a small change of scenery could be interesting, sometimes the body invites you to take that step”, he comments. López, who rode in the junior category for the Fundación Lintxu structure, landed in the Navarrese team after having achieved two victories and up to fourteen positions in the top-5 in the Basque junior calendar of 2019. López is another example of a cyclist who has been able to combine his studies with competitive activity. “My parents have always supported me with my cycling, but with the premise that my studies were non-negotiable. Right now I’m in my final year of computer engineering. Little by little, but the important thing is to keep at it. With a bit of organisation, although sometimes it’s not easy, everything can be achieved”, he explains. López came into the world of competitive cycling thanks to a trip to the Pyrenees by his father. José, the progenitor, enjoyed an experience with the big wheels in this mountainous massif from which he came away delighted. The bike came home and so, little by little, his children got hooked. “First it was Miguel, my brother, who tried mountain biking, started competing and moved on to the road. I saw it, I liked it and I followed in his footsteps. I started in schools, as a juvenile, and I’ve been doing it for eleven years now”.