Lappartient (UCI): “A Movistar in the second division would be dramatic for Spain”

The President of the International Cycling Union (UCI), Frenchman David Lappartientalready considering the withdrawal of Alexander Valverde “It will leave a big void in Spanish cycling and the Movistar” and believes that it will be “dramatic” if the only Spaniard in the ProTour is relegated to the second division.

“I hope Movistar doesn’t go down, it would be dramatic for Spain. The result is going to be very tight, there are seven teams in a handkerchief. But I think Valverde will give them the points to save themselves,” Lappartient said in an interview .

The head of the UCI assured that Movistar “needs to start thinking about the future” because “the team is built around Valverde” and “the day he retires he will leave a big void” both in training and in Spanish cycling.

“He’s an extraordinary runner, he’s in contention from February to October. He never goes to a race to prepare for the next one, he always goes out to win. The others, they prepare for the season. I love that warrior mentality. He has the craft , the legs and the head, he has everything,” he said.

Lappartient praised the figure of Valverde during the emergence of young cyclists, hatched in the Tour de France, and placed him as an example of “a generation that fights”.

He recognized that Spanish cycling “is not going through the best moment” but attributed it to “a pendulum effect”.

“There was a golden generation and the average level today is not that strong. I don’t have the information to know if it’s a structural problem, I don’t know much about amateur cycling in Spain. But it’s true that there is no renewal can be expected,” he said.

The president of the UCI pointed out that a similar phenomenon affects Italy and France, traditional cycling countries that, he said, “have slept a little” while emerging countries, such as Denmark, “have made a great job.”

Lappartient is “delighted” by Tour de France which just ended, “because a show of great quality was seen” and it affected an increase in television viewers, “the highest since 2005”.

“The race has gained interest, all the time there is tension, even in stages that seem boring,” said the UCI president, who attributed it “to a new way of running that is not like the excessive control that existed then ” .

“In the days of (Miguel) Indurain there was almost no attack, the team controlled everything. And I’m not talking about the days of (Lance) Armstrong. Now it’s more interesting. A cyclist like (Tadej) Pogacar attacks on all terrains. And then you have (Wout) Van Aert, (Matthieu) Van der Poel, (Julian) Alaphilippe or even (Jonas) Vingegaard. They are not runners who make the team and then jump at the end. They attack all the time,” he analyzed.

He pointed out that the conflict between Vingegaard and Pogacar, where he hopes the Colombian will soon join Egan Bernalpredicts “good years” ahead, not to mention that “other young people may turn out like they have turned out now”.

Lappartient admitted that he was “listening” to rumors about the strength of the Jumbo team, which monopolized the three jerseys of the last Tour, the yellow in general, the mountain and the regularity, but considered them unfounded.

“Suspicion is always on the table because, because of the past, in our sport when a cyclist is strong he is always suspected. It is the nature of cycling,” he said.

“But Jumbo has been the most controlled team. Some days, a cyclist has been controlled up to three times. We do our best to guarantee credibility. It is a team that takes care of every detail and with a big budget and great ride. and that marks the difference. I listen to what is being said, but I have all the elements to prove that, in the current state, the results obtained deserve to be considered credible,” he added.

Lappartient welcomed the success of the Women’s Tour “which puts women on the same level as men” and considered it “an unstoppable advance”.

“When I see the audience, the public, the race, it’s something extraordinary. The girls, they are happy, they notice the consideration, they are at the same level as the boys, the infrastructure is the same as the boys. In five years we made a lot of progress for women’s cycling”, he assured.