Any time passed was better? There was a time when when a journalist approached the bus area at the start or finish of any stage of the Tour, he saw and practically observed a traffic jam of Spanish team vehicles. The names of Banesto, Kelme, Life Insurance, Clas and ONCE are remembered. Almost half the platoon was Spanish. And, of course, that way it was easy for a stage victory to always fall on the south face of the Pyrenees. And even some Tour… of consecutively.
Today, as if they were the last of the Philippines or the Mohicans of the Spanish peloton, only Movistar resists and, of course, its blue coach is easy to identify in the bowels of the Tour.
A few days ago a Spanish professional runner, absent, like so many others, from this edition of the French round, commented that he would not want to be in the shoes of Enrique More, the leader of the telephone group, because of the tremendous pressure he has to endure. He boasts and at least we must believe that he finally feels happy to have arrived here as the sole leader of a Movistar, due to the loss of Alejandro Valverde, recovering little by little from the hit he suffered by a driver who was The wires crossed him and it was later known that he was a retired Civil Guard agent.
Valverde’s appointment
The Spanish special envoys, especially the radio ones, have it clearer since they should only stand guard at the door of the Movistar bus and not divide up and even run from one place to another as in the past. I remember how in 2014, after the withdrawal of Alberto counter by fall, a cloud of journalists gathered next to the Movistar bus. He left Valverde and he could not repress himself: “Now that Alberto has retired, you are all here & rdquor ;.
On Tuesday, when Wout van Aert raised his arms, or rather waved his hands like the wings of his private sponsor, he broke a record by taking solo victory at the finish line in Calais. With his success, 100 consecutive stages in grand tours were completed without any Spaniard achieving victory. The last cyclist to achieve it was Ion Izaguirre in the Vuelta stage that ended at the Formigal station (2020).
If the statistics eliminate Giro y Vuelta and focus only on the Tour, there is not a Spanish victory since he signed Omar Friaralso goes down this year, at the Mende aerodrome in 2018, whose ascent will take place next week.
Enric Mas and Mikel Landa
To give two examples. But, in the Tour, and Mikel Landa, in the Giro, they stand out for being regular riders, who are always in the positions of honor of the stages, with the best, but they are not stage hunters and those who could get these little boots or they are not here because they are still in their cycling training period (read the names of Carlos Rodríguez or John Ayuso) or have become gregarious, an extraordinarily rewarded role in the monthly payroll.
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There was a time when Oscar Freire a victory would have already been scored in Denmark, in which Abraham Olano either Melcior Mauri would have fought to win the Copenhagen time trial and in which Purito Rodriguez I would have tried to follow in the footsteps of Van Aert when demarrar in a mountain level that came like a glove. And without citing the most illustrious surnames of Miguel Indurainwith his collection of Tours, or of Counterwinner and always aspiring to the top of the podium in Paris.
Will there be a Spanish victory this year in the Tour? Hope is not lost. Enrique More He responded in the press conference prior to the start of the race that he is not going to attack because the fan asks him to from the sofa. He would just be missing. But, without a doubt, his victory, at least to liven up the gathering on the Movistar bus, would be something like a joy with divine aspiration.