Elena Aguilar and Francisco Manuel Ortega win the IX Titán Sierra de Cádiz

September 15, 2013Updated on September 15, 2013

2 reading minutes

The Granada Elena Aguilar revalidates the title won last year in the women's category after dominating the test from start to finish.

A total of 214 triathletes arrived from all parts of the country have taken the start this morning in the swamp of Zahara de la Sierra to face the IX Titan Sierra de Cádiz in a day of the purest triathlon in which the mountain passes and the ramps of Algodonales and Zahara, with intervals of full sun and high temperatures, returned to take the participants to their limits.

Francisco Manuel Ortega, a triathlete from Arcos belonging to the Bike & Roll 4 × 4 club, was proclaimed the winner of the event with a finish time of 5:08:45. Ortega Serrano took advantage of his fast bike sector (first set, 3:14:05) and had to push hard in the foot race to keep his advantage over the Malaga player Rubén Bravo (second, 5: 09: 40), that participated in representation of the NGO Brazadas Solidarias and that got to be placed to barely twenty seconds of difference of the first to scarcely five kilometers of the arrival to goal, just when facing the final ramps.

The malagueño Emilio Crovetto, with a time of 5: 14: 01, was third after finishing his ninth Titan Sierra de Cádiz, each and every one of the editions of this test, demonstrating a great mastery of distance and circuit.

In the female category, Elena Aguilar was unstoppable in all three segments and was victorious with a time of 5: 54: 54. He revalidated his title of the edition of 2012 and was also the 32º classified of the general. The Danish triathlete Pia Nielsen (6: 03: 54) and the gaditana Esther Córdoba (6: 24: 54) completed the podium.

Another of the outstanding names of the IX Titan is that of the Cádiz swimmer Alejandro Arévalo Ramos. The athlete of the Adapted Swimming Club Gades (NadaGades) successfully overcame his first confrontation with the open waters in the Zahara reservoir by overcoming the thousand-meter course that had been marked as a challenge.

Arévalo Ramos, of 17 years, is runner-up of Spain in 200 free meters and third classified in 100 free meters of his category S4, corresponding to severe handicaps, in the Adapted Swimming Absolute Championships, in Córdoba. The swimmer took the start just after the triathletes and was accompanied by the long distance specialist Christian Jongeneel, promoter of the Brazadas Solidarias project.

His family and dozens of supporters supported him during the tour and applauded Arévalo Ramos' extraordinary capacity for self-improvement. At the end, he said he had felt comfortable after overcoming his initial nerves.

Hundreds of people supported the titans in the most emblematic points of the route, in the swamp of Zahara, in the ramps of Las Palomas and El Boyar, and in the final ascent on foot to the Plaza de Zahara, which was packed from noon and until the final party of the test. 182 triathletes entered within the cut time, established by the organization in eight hours. Nearly a hundred volunteers participated in one of the hardest and epic medium distance tests of the national calendar, which next year faces its tenth anniversary.

TOP 10 General. Male

1 Francisco Manuel Ortega Serrano 5: 08: 45

2 Rubén Bravo 5: 09: 40

3 Emilio Crovetto García 5: 14: 01

4.Sergio Cruz Ferrero. 5: 19: 54

5 Pedro Lobato Núñez 5: 21: 56

6 Daniel Pérez Hidalgo 5: 22: 09

7 Manuel Olmedo Romero 5: 22: 30

8 Dominique Wymmersch. 5: 22: 59

9 Jorge González Álvarez 5: 26: 52

10 Leopoldo Pavón Doors 5: 27: 03

General. Feminine