Movistar Team prepares for their 2012 cometitive debut. The squad led on Australian soil by José Luis Arrieta will open their season on Sunday (09.30 CET) as the Down Under Classic criterium is held over a 51k city course in Adelaide marking the preface for the Tour Down Under, who will kick off the 2012 UCI World Tour calendar. “Everything is going fine at the moment,” Arrieta comments from ‘Oz’. “While we were having Madrazo a bit sore at this point last year, this time, except for some pain in Rojas’s throat, everyone’s feeling OK. The weather is also good here, even a bit cool, with temperatures in the low 20’s Celsius, even through the forecast for next week says it could get up to 35ºC.” 

The telephone squad will complete four entire days of adaptation after landing in Australia prior to the racing: “We arrived here on Wednesday, and after eating and assembling our bikes, we did two and a half hours of training; then, three and a half on Thursday and four and a half today. We took advantage of the spare time to look at the finishes of Wednesday and Saturday, the two ones who must be decisive, but we didn’t pull on the gas too much because, even though all of them are feeling well, the adaptation and the time change are still there.” Arrieta is optimistic about Movistar Team’s opening competitions in 2012: “All riders could train properly at home and are in good form. Above all, they’re really willing to get this started, especially Alejandro, who is doing really well. The sensations are good but you can’t make any bets at the beginning of the season. With so many sprinters contesting for victory on Sunday, we won’t be taking more risks than necessary, and from Tuesday, we’ll see what we can do. The hilltop finish on Saturday seems to open the race for different riders, but it’s not a steep climb and the bonus second gathered by the sprinters might make it not decisive. We don’t have any reasons to be pesimist from our side”.