The pioneering Cycling School of Sant Boi Cycling Club

The Sant Boi de Llobregat Cycling School has a history dating back more than 40 years – 42 years to be precise. It was founded in 1980, as a result of a firm commitment to grassroots cycling, and it has trained around 4,000 students who have been introduced to the world of competitive cycling – not only to racing itself, but also to all the habits that shape the personality of young people.

The Sant Boi de Llobregat Cycling Club Cycling School is undoubtedly one of the oldest in Catalonia and possibly also one of the oldest in Spain. It is an undisputed leader in grassroots cycling licenses, with an annual average of almost 100 young people aged between 6 and 18 years old in all age groups, from children to the junior age group.

The Sant Boi Cycling School has shown that education based on cycling is a fantastic resource for education and training. The school works with young people aged between 6 and 13 years old, when play is the focal point for the sessions, and over 13 years old, by which point they have acquired considerable technique and skill in riding their bicycle. From there, the young cyclists move into the junior competition teams.

As is often the case in other sports with a strong social profile and well-known sports professionals, cycling does not only involve what is presented in the media and in famous competitions like the Tour de France and the equivalent races in Italy and Spain seen on the television. It basically involves undertaking sports exercises with a positive effect on children’s cognitive development and overall health.

The Sant Boi Cycling School provides comprehensive training for all the boys and girls who are involved in it, dealing with both the technical side of the sport and handling their emotions in victory and defeat. According to Jesús Ruiz, the current president of the Sant Boi Cycling Club, “obviously, we work on the technical side including as skills, tricks and strategies, but they also get the chance to play, because it is appropriate for their age and it is essential for character-building.”

In short, cycling schools like the one in Sant Boi focus on providing comprehensive training for boys and girls through cycling, from a moral, intellectual and physical point of view. Sergi Darder, a former student of the Sant Boi cycling school and its current coach, says that “we encourage our future cyclists to be able to have a command of their bicycle.” Sergi also says proudly that for him, “the school and the club have been home.”

The headquarters of the Sant Boi Cycling School are located in a large urban park that has been converted into a cycling park, on land that formerly housed the large Can Dubler textile factory.

These high quality facilities, with a closed and protected circuit, mean that the boys and girls who are members of the cycling school can ride safely. This means that the mothers and fathers who bring their sons and daughters to the activities in this cycling education centre can have peace of mind and trust.

One of the ambitions of the Sant Boi Cycling Club for the twenty-first century was to promote and apply for the construction of a safe cycling circuit which was completely closed to road traffic, which would be the home of the Cycling School. After ruling out other locations, the brand new facilities at the Can Dubler Cycling Park were inaugurated on 24 September 2011, after eight and a half months of work.

The Cycling Park facilities were a project by the club and by Sant Boi de Llobregat municipal council. Achieving this major objective for the club increased the enthusiasm and commitment to this project among the club’s coaches, and today, the Sant Boi Cycling Club is the Catalan cycling association with the most grassroots cycling federation road licenses, and one of the leaders in Spain.

The Sant Boi de Llobregat Cycling Club is one of the oldest cycling clubs in Spain and Catalonia. The club and its origins date back to 1913. The Agrupació Ciclista Santboiana [Sant Boi Cycling Group] was founded in that year, and in 1914 it organised the second Festa del Pedal, a popular cycling festival in which all the Catalan cycling clubs of the day participated, and which still takes place today.

The popularity of cycling in Catalonia and Spain, as both a vehicle for transport and for sports, coincided with the birth of the most long-standing cycling competitions: the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia and the Volta a Catalunya.

The Agrupació Ciclista Santboiana dissolved in 1954 and it was refounded by the same members of the previous association, under the name of Club Ciclista Sant Boi on 7 April 1965.

Apart from the Cycling School, the club has three teams drawn from its younger members, from children to the junior level.

The Sant Boi Cycling Club also organises high-level sports events, including the classic Cursa Ciclista del Llobregat, with points counting towards the Spanish Junior Cup (RFEC), which was organised for the first time in 1982, and the Baix Llobregat Youth Regional Cycling Championships which began in 1990.

The first Cursa Ciclista de Llobregat race, a Spanish and international road race for amateur cyclists, was organised on 30 May 1982. It linked the towns of Berga and Sant Boi de Llobregat along the course of the river Llobregat, which is why it soon became better known as “Berga-Sant Boi”. This race soon became a Catalan cycling classic.

It was held for the forty-first time in 2022, and this year it was part of the Junior Road Cycling Global Challenge.