Lorena Llamas: The triumph of humility
11 April 2019

Movistar Team Blogs

Catalan climber from Movistar Team humbly narrates on the emotions through the opening months of the 2019 season, where he's notched up two victories + a solid lead in the Spanish Racing Series.

Lorena Llamas is a professional cyclist for the Movistar Team, the current leader of the 2019 Spanish Racing Series after her victories in Eibar and Almería and also a guest writer for prestigious media in her home country, such as La Vanguardia, where he proves to be both eloquent, precise and, above all, very modest. Together with some of her team-mates –Sheyla Gutiérrez amongst those-, she will comment on her progresses throughout the 2019 season as part of the Movistar Team Blogs, getting us closer to the heart of the Telefónica-backed women’s squad. Here’s the first installment.

EXCITEMENT

“Taking part in the Copa de España brings me back to a past I still hold very much present in my head. In my case, everything has gone by pretty quickly, from a leisure rider to a pro. And I admire the atmosphere you can feel and breathe at these races. Lots of families spending many hours on the road to take part in just one race. Travelling from one side of the country to the other with their own cars, spending money without asking for anything in return – and just for the excitement of seeing their little children doing what they love best, because their smiles are what pays them back. I won’t forget where I come from, and that’s why I value and hold dear everything I’ve got now, and take care of it to last as long as possible.

LOOKING TOWARDS THE SKY, YET WITH OUR FEET ON THE GROUND

“Our team camper van got broken during stage one of the Setmana Valenciana. It was such an awful moment for us at first, but once we got over that distress, we remembered we hadn’t had a camper van until just over a year ago, so it shouldn’t be a problem for us chaging clothes inside a normal van again or queieing up at a cafeteria’s toilets. We had always done like that, and it was a way of turning back to our origins.”

… AND THE VICTORIES CAME

“As the classics season started in Belgium, our team divided its forces to race in two friends. Considering my extraordinary abitilies in the Northern classics –chuckle-, it was a good idea to race the opening rounds of the Copa de España. I was so excited to come across so many known faces, old team-mates and good friends. I don’t remember exactly how many hugs I gave that day in Eibar when the race was over, because I hugged everyone to came over to congratulate me on my victory. My team-mates gave everything for me, and I could reward them with a victory.”

“History would repeat itself the following week in Almería. It was the first time ever the team worked for me, and it was a bit strange for me. I wasn’t used to just stay on others’ wheels, tucked behind, protected by my team-mates, relying on them to do our job, and waiting for my time to come. It wasn’t easy at all, yet everything turned out really well. In cycling, behind a good moment there’s always a lot of bad ones. I’ve been fortunate enough to enjoy two good ones very close together. Just by chance? A stroke of good luck? Not at all – behind a victory, there’s always lots of work, and good team-mates by your side – I can’t express how thankful I feel about them.”

— Follow Lorena at her social media profiles on Instagram, Twitter, Strava and Facebook.