De la Cruz, for the podium at La Vuelta

David of the Cross (Sabadell, 1989) is one of the few Catalan cyclists in the international peloton and one of the benchmark riders in Spanish cycling. This season he signed for Astana, with whom he rode in the Giro d’Italia and where he will go to the Vuelta de España ready to fight for the podium, after chain three consecutive editions ending in seventh seat.

From the cross participated this week in the presentation of helmets filethe Italian company that gave Astana and exploded in Spain with the help of Sportmed. Along with the Catalan cyclist Vincenzo Nibali in Bergamo, at the headquarters of file, performs various tests and studies to improve the aerodynamics and comfort of helmets. “It’s a brand that listens closely to the cyclist, has a lot of ‘feedback’ and they take advantage of what you tell them. It’s very important to us. We professionals benefit, as well as the users who buy from them,” highlights niya. From the cross.

In his first season in Astana, From the cross He started the course very well, approached success on several occasions and was always in the top position. Until the Giro arrived, “the balance was still good,” he recalls Davidto admit that “I don’t know why, but I’ve always been obsessed with the Giro. In fact, I told the team I’d rather do the Tour, but they decided to run it and I prepared it better than before, but at this time of year I am very affected by allergies, and especially in Italy “.

Participation in the Italian round and From the cross had a pretty bad time, though the experience had something positive, included Nibali which was fourth in general, in his farewell to the Giro. “It’s amazing to see the support of Italian fans and how much people love him”, explains the Catalan, who added that “I’ve been with great champions throughout my career, but the ability I’ve seen in Nibali to manage within the peloton, to save efforts, to be placed properly, not to waste energy, I saw no one. In something like him. “

the turn passed, From the cross He is focused on La Vuelta a España and is very ambitious. “I aspire to the maximum and my dream is to get to the podium,” he said. He recalls that “last year I went with the idea of ​​finishing in the top-5 and eventually I was seventh. But I enjoyed my career and because of the level I was at I could be fifth, but there was a lot of equality- equal between several runners “. A priori, From the cross will be the leader of Astana in the Vuelta, where he warns that “I think we will bring a great team”. Next to him Nibali, Lutsenko Furthermore ‘superman‘ Lopezafter his premature abandonment of the Giro. From the cross He will be the leader on paper but he puts himself at the service of the team: “I have my goals, but if there is a teammate who is better, I put the interests of the team first,” he says.

From the cross is optimistic about the health status of Spanish cycling and believes that the relay is guaranteed to riders such John Ayuso either Carlos Rodriguezwhich begins to stand out: “There are a lot of young people who are very good, they are too Arrietathe son of a director and former cyclist, at Kern Pharma, another emerging talent. ”And he doesn’t get into the controversy of French cyclists about infiltrations of Rafael Nadalbecause he remembers that “every sport is different and the one that competes Nadal it does so under the same conditions. “Of course, remember that” few sports have as strict controls as ours. ”

the conversation is over, David of the Cross He went out for a ride to El Bages so we journalists could try on our helmets walking beside him file and enjoying the experience of being able to share training with a cyclist who will compete to land on the Vuelta podium in August.