After the race, at night, Purito Rodríguez and Alejandro Valverde had dinner together and lamented how the race had slipped away from them, the lack of understanding, the missed opportunity. It was at the 2013 World Championships in Florence, when the victory was to be decided between them and, third in contention, the Portuguese Rui Costa, finally discounted by the Italian Nibali. And what seemed impossible happened. The Spaniards were out of sync, without any understanding, wrong strategy, the laurel went to the Portuguese. “With two kilometres to go, Alejandro was not having his day. He even told me to go ahead because he was not feeling well. That was when I went towards the finish line and he made a mistake by not going out for Rui Costa. When he came in behind me, I blocked up. How can it be that he came in and Alejandro is not coming to cover this gap? I asked myself,” Purito reflected. And the race was ruined. There was a lack of connection. And that is what coach Pascual Momparler wants to avoid at this World Cup (from 21 to 29 September), who understands that Spain has to be one, the collective before the individual, where there is no room for ego.
Having ruled out the planned concentration in Sierra Nevada a couple of weeks before the World Championships – “the riders will be in Canada and also in the Tour of Luxembourg,” the coach admits – Momparler has agreed that they will spend five or six days in Switzerland (or the surrounding area), which is where the competition will be held. There he will work on strategy and, above all, on unity. “The most important thing for those days is to smooth out personal egos, the friction they have had during the season. They have to understand that they are all on the same team with the same objective, so they must forget what happened during the year and lower their egos because another may be a little better, so they will have to work for him,” says the coach. To do this, he says, he will try to have some lively dinners and engage in talks, both group and individual. “You have to make them see that someone must lead and someone else must be at their command,” he stresses. Because, he believes, it is the perfect opportunity for Spain.
On the one hand, there is the orographic profile of the stage, as there are mountain passes and uneven terrain. “It is a route that suits us very well and that adapts to the qualities of the Spanish cyclist, as it is much harder than in recent years,” he says. And, on the other hand, he has not encountered problems from the teams as occurred, for example, two years ago, when they did not want to release their cyclists, more concerned with gaining points – because of the UCI ranking and possible relegations – than anything else. “Yes, they want their riders to be there because they see that Spain can be at the top, win a medal or, why not, put on the world champion jersey,” says Momparler. Although there are rivals of substance. “What worries me is Pogacar and Evenepoel, two phenomena that are very difficult to beat,” he says.
For now, Momparler has a fairly clear idea of the team, having already chosen five of eight riders, always subject to there being no last-minute setbacks. “Carlos Rodríguez, Mikel Landa, Pello Bilbao, Enric Mas and Juan Ayuso,” he lists as certain. There are others in the mix: “Oier Lazkano, Pablo Castrillo, Roger Adrià, Marc Soler… There are many who can accompany and those who can help,” he concludes. The decision will be made 15 days before the World Championships. And those who go already know that the team comes before egos.
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