In the high hills of Sierra Nevada, David Valero consumes the last quality training with the idea of Tokyo in his head. Once again the Olympic Gamesfive years after Rio de Janeiro, where he rounded off the bronze of his friend and manager of BH Templo Cafés, Carlos Coloma, with a ninth place.
For David Valero, in the Olympic appointment rains on wet, the Games he knows first hand, but its images have always accompanied him, because an event like this transcends everything, your sport, society and countries. "The Olympic rings are a symbol present everywhere, I used to walk under them to enter the sports center in my town.
Eventually he became interested in mountain bike racing: "I followed the races in Beijing and London, I followed them closely, but I must admit that I didn't get the bug, maybe because I saw them so far away that I never imagined that I would be able to get there".
Today he is an olympic biker, in the chapel of a new olympic event."I never thought it would come like this, so fast," he says tactfully, because it was not until a year earlier, 2015, that he made his debut in the World Cup and decided to dedicate himself 100% to MTB. "I signed a podium in the World Cup and the coach had to decide between Mantecón, Hermida, Coloma and myself.. We made things difficult for him.
He was part of the trident in Rio de Janeiro, a race of which he remembers "some beastly nerves in the moments before the race". Nerves spiced by the mud that had generated the downpour of water that fell the night before, nerves that were transferred to the race when "I got stuck at the start due to a rookie mistake". He came to go the thirtieth, finished ninth.
Now Tokyo 2020
The road to the Japanese capital ends a year later than expected: "It has been a period in which there have been moments of everything. At the beginning of the quarantine, last year, I had a hard time. The Games were still scheduled and I saw that my rivals were preparing differently from me because they lived in other countries. Added to that, we are people who are used to moving and traveling. That was a total disruption. Until the postponement of the Games was announced, I couldn't breathe easy".
During this time, Gobik has been, and continues to be, a faithful partner. "I am very happy with their clothes," he admits, "the quality of their clothing is good and they keep improving, as they are open to listen to any criticism that is constructive.
"The summer range is amazing" he concludes.
The year in progress has been set with a goal: to go from less to more in pace and hunger for cycling for the Olympic day.
"The Tokyo circuit intersperses artificial and natural areas, without a climb that seems decisive. You need a lot of strength - as Rocío told us - because of the continuous changes of pace. Going far ahead is key.
On Monday, July 26, we'll be keeping a close eye on her fate.
ByThe Notebook ofJoan Follower
PhotosSilvia Fernández Sainz
