He has the conditions to become an exceptional runner. Scott Drawer, Performance Director of the Ineos team, was impressed by the virtues of the new jewel of Spanish cycling and that is why last year he spared no effort to hire Benjamín Noval Suárez (Pola de Laviana, 2008). Everything good that the British coach ventured has been consummated in this World Cup anthology in Montreal. The Asturian boy, at 17 years old, has broken molds in the junior category. This Thursday he was proclaimed champion on the road and last Tuesday he did the same in the time trial. That was the triumph of the demand: in 2025 a fall. just three kilometers from the finish line of the World Cup in Kigali (Rwanda), he was deprived of putting on the rainbow jersey.
No Spaniard achieved so many international achievements at such a young age. Noval has equaled the feat of Remco Evenepoel, who also won junior gold in time trial and road in 2018. In 2000, the Russian Evgeni Petrov achieved the double in sub'23. Until this Thursday, Miguel Morrás, in 1994, was the only Spaniard who had won the road World Championship in the junior category.
The secret of Noval lies in technique and genetics. The Asturian is the son of Benjamín Noval González (Mieres, 1979), who was a professional cyclist for 14 seasons, played for teams such as Saxo Bank, Astana and US Postal and was a member of Alberto Contador.
Father, coach, teacher and director in the same person. Close and successful mentoring. Noval senior is a coach at the MMR Academy, a school directed by Samuel Sánchez in which the new idol, dominator in all disciplines, was trained. This year he has been Spanish road, time trial, cyclocross and mountain bike champion. In June he won the Tour de Valromey, the junior version of the Tour de France.
Benja is the total cyclist, the Spanish replica of Mathieu van der Poel. He is different from me, bigger and more versatile. He is a winner. I don't know how far it can go, but all this makes me a little dizzy, said the father, who accompanies the cyclist at the Montreal World Cup. The kid is a versatile runner, far from the traditional small climber, reliable in time trials and with enormous ability for classics and one-day events.
“I want to thank everyone, especially my family who helps me every day,” he said after winning the Montreal time trial. The best thing about having my father by my side is that he can correct the things I do wrong, said the Spanish champion who, as only the chosen ones do, has broken all deadlines established by age. At the age of 16 he signed a contract with an elite team and in 2027 he will jump directly from junior to the World Tour, without going through the under-23 category. In a good representative of these new times marked by precocious talents, such as Paul Seixas or Tadej Pogacar.
He has a natural instinct to compete, tactical intelligence. He is also good at climbing and shows a maturity inappropriate for his age, Scott Drawer has stressed.
These qualities are also recognized by Mikel Zabala, Spanish under-23 coach: "Benjamín has technique and power... He knows how to read the races very well." The Spanish coach, in a report published in L'Equipe, maintains that the runner's environment is the most suitable: «The mental aspect has yet to be defined, but in that sense it also seems very promising, since he comes from a family of cyclists; "He knows what he's up against."
