Press conference

We offer an at-length transcript from the Movistar Team's three leaders and general manager at Cholet, just over 24 hours before the start of the 'Grande Boucle'.

Eusebio Unzué: “You always come here with ambitions, but this year really looks like the most appropriate, important for us to seek for a win. Having three strong leaders, it’s like a crucial opportunity for us, more than ever. We always have that idea in mind at the start, that aim for victory, but you can’t deny that the team’s sporting level, especially when it comes to top contenders, has improved over the years. All three are in perfect condition, really willing to seek for that goal of reaching Paris with the yellow jersey.”

Alejandro Valverde [on relief after 2015 TDF podium, role for the race]: “Mikel is really strong, Nairo is very strong as well, and I’m doing great, too. However, I’ve come to this race many times as a designated leader, and my chance to win might be already gone at this point. Our goal is winning the Tour de France for the Movistar Team, but they two have got more chances than me. I come here to work strong for them and help the team win this Tour. It won’t be easy, because the competition is top-class, but we’ve got a really strong team.”

Nairo Quintana [on his feelings before the start; a message for Colombia]: “I feel good at the moment. We’ve worked so hard to reach this day in the best possible condition. We’ve got some really strong team-mates, and we’re calm because we know we’ve got great potential. To the Colombian fans, I can only ask them to be calm. I’m sure we’ll offer them some fireworks and joy – we ride to make them enjoy this sport.”

Eusebio Unzué [on choosing team leader on the road and not before the start]: “The first nine days of the Tour are really difficult: you go through nervous situations, there’s a lot of danger… and that’s why we’re waiting for the first nine days to go by and then evaluate the race situation and our own leader’s feelings, to draw our real plan for the mountains.”

Mikel Landa [on his ambitions and role after last year’s Tour]: “Sharing this leading role with Alejandro, Nairo is great. Nairo, because of his palmarès and experience, has got more confidence on what he can do in this race, just like Alejandro. I’ll fight to be up there with them, learning as much as possible from them, and take advantage from my chances during the race.”

All three [on Froome being booed during yesterday’s presentation]:

• Valverde: “It isn’t nice for anyone. It’s sad to see him being booed. I think they Sky were already aware this could happen. I just hope that as soon as the race starts tomorrow, we start really focusing on the race ahead and not seeing anyone disturbed by such things.”
• Landa: “What Alejandro said. I wouldn’t like to be booed, either – this is a consequence of increased rivalry and more heated behaviours – there’s more and more people to react that way in all sports, you tend to get loved more and hated more, as well.”
• Quintana: “It’s not nice, either for him or our sport. Let’s hope we can avoid it during the race. You reap what you sow, though.”

Nairo Quintana [on what’s needed to get through the opening 10 stages]: “For me and the team it would be important to stay away from any crashes and remain all three in GC contention before the mountains. That’s all we can ask for.”

Nairo Quintana [on having the best TDF results before the 2018 race, deserving a clearer leading role]: “We’ve come to the Tour with such a scenario of having multiple leaders in the past, and we’ve shown we can deliver good results and undergo no internal problems. I don’t feel like that will change in the future. We’ve got a strong team and we hope to reach Paris in yellow.”

Alejandro Valverde [on who stands the best chances to stay ‘alive’ and reach Paris in yellow]: “The only important thing for us is having a Movistar rider win, no matter who he is. I feel like the order, all factors combined, could be more like Nairo first, Mikel second, me third. But as I said, it’s all about one of us winning. It will be hard, because our rivals are strong. We all three will try to be ‘immortal’ – and of course, it’d be nice to have a situation when the fight is only between us for the win.”

Mikel Landa [on what he’s learned from racing alongside Froome]: “I’ve seen how him and the rest of the team manage their efforts during a race. They measure well when they’ve got to spend energy, and that’s what I like the most about their way of racing. My main strength compared to last year is that I’m more mature now, I have a clear plan in mind and also have a chance to do my own race.”

Mikel Landa [on how far Movistar Team is from Sky when it comes to strength]: “At the start, I’d say we’re pretty much equal. Both of us are bringing well-balanced squads, with good riders all around. I don’t think we have much to envy from them.”

All three [on they’re feeling, physically and mentally, compared to last year]:

• Landa: “I’m really well, better than in previous years, because I haven’t raced the Giro before the Tour. This year’s preparations for the Tour have been more gradual. I’m coming here in better condition.”
• Valverde: “I’m in good condition, just like in previous years. Last year’s Tour was bad for me, but this 2018 season has so far been great, and my condition is good. I’m excited to get going. This race is very long, though, and even it fou’re in good form, everything can change in a second.”
• Quintana: “It’s been a totally different approach compared to last year. I’m fresh, in very good condition, and really motivated to do well. I’m ready to enjoy this Tour and do well.”

Nairo Quintana [asked for a confirmation on staying with the team beyond this season]: “I always try to have all my duties fully complete when I start them. I’ve got a contract for an additional year here, and I hope to continue. If Eusebio offers me to stay, I’ll stay. We’re happy and calm here, everything’s good.”

Alejandro Valverde [on the first week]: “As everyone has said before, it’s going to be a really difficult nine days. There’s a tough stage tomorrow, with lots of road furniture, roads just next to the sea – even if it seems like there won’t be much wind, you’ve got to stay focused all the team, and that makes the peloton quite more nervous. Mûr-de-Bretagne’s stage will also be difficult, a finish where the GC guys will have to stay focused. And at the cobblestones, the goal is not losing the Tour. You won’t win the Tour there, but you may lose it. You need some luck that day, and after the first rest day, we’ll evaluate how things stand and what we can do. The first week of this year’s Tour is one of the hardest I’ve seen in years.”

Nairo and Alejandro [on Froome’s situation, preferring him to race or not]:

• Quintana: “It’s not better or worse for us to to have him racing. We do our race, we try to get here in the best possible condition, and there will always be a rival to fight against. If he’s here, that’s good for us and good for him to have solved this situation. It’s time to move on.”
• Valverde: “I think the same. Having him racing or not is something which worries him the most, not the rest of us. We work as hard as possible to get here at 100%, no matter who’s competing. He’s, though, a very strong contender, and it’ll make harder for us to achieve the win. But it doesn’t change much.”

Mikel Landa [on race situation changing because of Sky having Froome here]: “It will depend on how the GC stands before the mountains. If Froome is in the lead, they’ll race like they’ve done in the past, controlling the peloton. It’s worked for them in the past, and I don’t think it should change.”

Eusebio Unzué [on which way has Nairo’s approach to the race changed]: “The main difference might have been to turned the Tour into our only goal. However, he’s already done well in the Tour de Suisse, just like in Catalunya and País Vasco, but those weren’t race where we went with a goal of wining. Our plan was to build up and reach this Tour at 100%.”

Alejandro Valverde [on Imanol Erviti’s importance for the pavé, having finished into top-10 at De Ronde and Roubaix]: “Imanol has loads of experience, and it’s not only him, but also the entire team. Benna, Andrey, Rojas and Soler have also raced on cobblestones, and they’re strong. The pavé is difficult, and one of its particularities is that if you crash, you puncture… it can block the road and you get dropped. If you’re in a good position, there shouldn’t be any significant problems for you, even if you’re not so heavy. If you hit the front at the right moment, you ‘just’ have to avoid mechanicals, punctures – that’s where you lose time.”

Eusebio Unzué [on the moment of choosing a leader during the race]: “I’d love that situation happening, having to choose who will have to aim to win the Tour. There’s lots remaining before that. The Tour destroys hopes like no other race, but it also offers you chances no other race does. Look at 2013: we came here to win with Alejandro and we ended up nearly winning with Nairo. During the past few years, Froome and Nairo have shown to be the real Tour contenders, the most regular ones, but you come across some surprises in this race. Rigo’s last year’s performance, Bardet two years ago – riders who might not be real favourites at the start, but end up being the strongest ones after three weeks. It’s difficult to make any plans. The race makes the riders realise who’s the strongest at the end of the 20 days. I can only dream I have to choose a team leader at the very last minute, choose who wins it, because that’d mean we got through all misfortune, troubles and mechanicals you go through during the Tour de France. Let’s remain calm. I don’t think we all have to be so obsessed on who’s going to lead the team. Mikel has grown behind grea riders, and we hope him to continune progressing this year. He might have been stopped by others in the past, having a chance to do better than he eventually did, and he’s a rider we must respect because he’s shown he’s capable doing great things.”

Nairo Quintana [on being more comfortable with an attacking or conservative role]: “It depends on the race strategy, our form… Sometimes, attacking from afar when you’ve got eight riders from the same team chasing you down is nonsense, because you might be spending energy you’d need later on. You have to look at the big picture, think about the length of this race, stay calm. I’d love to attack everywhere, but it depends on the race situation and the team’s strategy.”

Eusebio Unzué [on managing different kinds of riders]: “If one wants to win the Tour, he needs to be consistent during all three weeks, and that’s something which doesn’t allow you taking certain chances. The yellow jersey is won by the most consistent rider, usually not the most spectacular one. The race forces you to measure your efforts, but sometimes, it takes you to riding more spectacularly, because you’ve got nothing else to lose… Cycling works in different ways depending on many things.”

Alejandro and Eusebio [on not having raced the Giro, teams reduced to 8 riders, how they liked the Giro]:

• Valverde: “We didn’t race the Giro, but we followed it with attention. There were lots of surprises in the last few days, riders on the verge of a great result who lots it all – and it wasn’t down to one superior team. We didn’t see Froome doing so much better compared to the rest, like in previous Grand Tours. He was better than the rest at some stages, and worse in others. Having one less rider in your team during a Grand Tour really has an impact. You have to measure your efforts better.”
• Unzué: “We feel like the teams’ potential is undermined by that measure of reducing Grand Tour teams to eight riders. It was a spectacular Giro, but it was because of certain circumstances which are made easier by the kind of routes you can face in Italy: riders cracking, long-range attacks, unexpected tactics… Yates looked like he was going to confirm his abilities, but couldn’t finish things off. On the other hand, Froome was able to turn things around in a difficult race for him, offering a great performance at the end. It had been long since we had seen such a great attack from a great leader in a mountain stage. It was a crazy attack, but it was his only chance, and he wrote a spectacular page of glory, one for the books of this sport. At that stage, he was back to the level we’re used to see him perform at. However, I don’t think anything about that happened because we were one rider down. It’s true that there are less crashes, and that might be a consequence of the reduction. If it happens again in the Tour, we might be able to say we’ve got a good result in terms of rider safety.”

Eusebio Unzué [on Marc Soler’s role]: “He’s the rider in the roster with the least experience from this race, as he’s making his debut. However, he’s really mature, and will be really important during the race. He defends himself well in all terrains, he’s a consistent rider, and this experience will help him out to improve and hopefully take advantage of those experiences in a few years’ time.”