A Tour, a Clásica San Sebastián és az Olimpia után milyen formában érzed magad?

Per pillanat magam sem tudom, milyen formában vagyok, mert nem voltak három óránál hosszabb edzéseim, kivéve egy-két négyórásat, de azok során nem mentem hosszabb emelkedőkre. Ma volt az első komolyabb napom, fölmentem a Monachil-ra és nem esett rosszul. A Vuelta azonban sokkal hosszabb, három hét és szerintem túl hosszú lesz nekem.

Nem tűnsz valami motiváltnak. Úgy gondolod, hogy a Vuelta Sastre és Contador párharca lesz?

Igen, szerintem komoly csatát vívnak majd, de azért szeretnék beleszólni én is. Meglátom, hogy esik majd, de nem szeretnék előre többet ígérni, mint amit adni tudok. Ha a formám engedi küzdök majd, ha nem, hát ez van.



Már nyilatkoztad, hogy szeretnél nyerni szakaszt...

Igen, mondtam, hogy elégedett lennék egy szakaszgyőzelemmel. Nagyon jó évem volt, 11 győzelmem, köztük Tour szakasz, viseltem a sárga trikót, a Dauphiné, San Sebastian, Liege-Bastogne… Ha a Vueltán is sikerül szakaszt nyernem, a megkoronáznám a szezont. Nem mondom, hogy feláldozom az összetettet, de az nagyon nehéz lesz.

Mit gondolsz a királyetapról, az Angliruról?

Fenomenális szakasz, nagyon nehéz, öt heggyel. Az Angliru? Én sosem voltam ott, a múlt héten néztük csak meg. Hihetetlen keménynek tűnt, nehezebbnek, mint amilyennek elmesélték.
Olyan szakasz, amelyen mountainbike-kal kellene indulni. 20 km/h helyett nyolccal fogunk menni.

Hol fog eldőlni a Vuelta?

Az asztúriai hegyekben, az Anglirun és a Fuentes de Invierno csúcson. Ott nem maradnak 5-6-nál többen, a hegyi kronón pedig eldől a végső sorrend.

Gondolod, hogy a Vueltán folytatódik a spanyol kerékpársport ünnepe?

Minden bizonnyal, mert spanyolok a favoritok. Ha sikerül megnyernünk, idénre nem is kívánhatunk többet

A Világbajnokság foglalkoztat?

Nem tudom, mit mondjak. Joaquín Rodríguez azt mondta, ő látta a pályát, amikor versenyzett a Girón és nehéznek találta. Freire azt mondta, nem nehéz. Meglátjuk, ha ott leszek

 

63rd Vuelta a España - Alejandro Valverde Interview

By Staff

Date: 9/5/2008

63rd Vuelta a España - Alejandro Valverde Interview

63rd Vuelta a España - Alejandro Valverde Interview Alejandro Valverde comments on the first week of the Vuelta and what comes next on the eve of the first stage in the Pyrenees. Alejandro relaxes on the first rest day. Photo courtesy of Abarca Sports The first rest day is already here, how will you spend it? “The first part of Vuelta has not been easy, with hard stages and also because of the heat we met in the south of Spain. This rest day is perfect for everyone in order to allow us to relax a little bit. We will ride our bike one hour and half in order to maintain the rhythm, but for the remainder this will be a very quiet day. I was a little bit scared because I hit my left ankle yesterday in the crash but fortunately this morning the pain has completely disappeared." What assessment do you have of this first week in the Vuelta? “Much better than I thought starting from Granada, for sure. My intention was to fight for stage wins and during these six days I already won one which also allowed me to wear the golden jersey. Yesterday I was the third on the line in Toledo and I am still the third overall, after having done a long time trial which was my weakest point especially after my bad results in the ITT raced in the Tour. I lost a part of my trust in front of that specialty, but after my good result in Ciudad Real, what more can I ask?.” Stage 2 victory resulted in taking the gold jersey of race leader. Photo © 2008 Fotoreporter Sirotti Precisely, you said that you came to the Vuelta to take stage wins but partly thanks to this time trial and partly thanks to the time bonuses, you are now the third overall the day before the first mountain stage. Will you continue in the same line? “It is true that I am in a very good position and that the time bonuses play a very important part in this Vuelta. Until now all that is in my favor and if I feel good in the mountains, it will not be negligible. Nevertheless, that does not change anything to the fact that I will continue with the same idea, which means to fight for stage wins because two weeks are left to race and I do not know at what point my body will resist. If it was a ten days race, it would not be a problem, but with so many stages, we will see what happens. It will depend on how I feel while leaving the Pyrenees. From there on, I will see whether I can start thinking about the general classification.” How do you see the other favorites? “Contador is very well, and also Sastre who hides a little bit like he usually does; but at the end you always see him with the best. We also have to take into account riders like Antón, Mosquera and of course Leipheimer who is very strong, as he showed in the time trial of Ciudad Real. For the moment, even if Alberto remains the leader, he is ahead in the classification and that is an additional advantage for the team Astaná.” Tomorrow will be the first stage in the Pyrenees, with the finish on a summit. How do you consider that stage? “It is a very long stage and bad weather is announced. I think that it will be as a consequence a very hard stage and that it will be necessary to keep some forces for the final part because there could be important gaps at the end. It will be a very dangerous day also because as soon as a leader shows any sign of weakness, the others will attack him at once.” Valverde on the podium after stage 2. Photo © 2008 Fotoreporter Sirotti