Fran Pérez left professional cycling in 2012, putting an end to a long and fruitful career in time and experiences. He did it, no less, from the Movistarteam to which he had belonged since the Illes Balears.
"It's those things that you realize there's no point in going on. In August 2011 I had a very hard crash in Eneco Tour, when we were in the middle of a bid for a place in the Vuelta a España. I changed my plans to prepare for the end of the season and another crash -this one while training- left me out of action until the end of the year", says Fran.
And what he feared happened: "They didn't renew me. After six years in a team like that, at 33 years old, without a contract, it didn't make sense to take a step back. When I was 25, I went to Portugal and earned my place at the bottom, so the situation was different.
Weeks of rethinking things, back to square one, kilometer zero: "I finished my physical education degree, hung up my bike for three months and they called me from Wild Wolf, to ride with Coloma and Mantecón".
There he tried the Titan DesertThere he tried the Andalucía Bike Race... combining it with his studies until he got the option of becoming team manager.
The birth of Primaflor
First with Orbea, currently with MondrakerPrimaflor entered into the sponsorship of the 2016 structure and ... until today.
"It is a very important fruit and vegetable company located in Almeria" he points out and adds that "they are comfortable in the MTB, at the end our activity is developed in the open air, in the countryside, like theirs, and it is still cycling with values such as sacrifice and the basis of healthy eating. In the end, they see themselves reflected in what we do.
And what they do, they do well, nothing less than the second best team in the world, as the UCI ranking says, a place that is no coincidence, nothing is, here less, there is a background work, with very well marked objectives.
A work that has to do with "the balance that marks the team's staff, never losing sight of the fact that the base is the key, a base in which you invest and make it grow, because in the end you have to invest in them. I wouldn't have raced the Tour if no one had done it for me before".
As the wise José Miguel Echávarri once told him: "You have to give back to cycling part of what it has given you".
And so they do, a young group with two Spanish champions like Sara Méndez and Francesc Barber, and with an elite team of the highest world level.
The Primaflor front line Mondraker X-Sauce
"We finished 2019 in second position in the UCI, only surpassed by Nino Schurter's Scott, there is a huge work there and the fruit of some very personal bets that are paying off" continues Fran.
In sport, as in life, everything is a bet, Fran's bets are "to death, maybe it's very romantic, but when I turn to someone, I do it with everything" and so the front line of Primaflor responds to names that have stepped on great podiums, but also want to stay up there and that means a very clear name: Tokyo 2020.
In this way they boast the performance of Ghita Michiels, Rebecca McConnell, Anton Sintsov and Daniel McConnell. All four have contributed to building the second best structure in the world, a fact that fills Fran with pride: "Our philosophy starts with doing and demonstrating and then boasting in the networks, not the other way around".
The day in Nove Mesto, the cathedral of all this, is in his mind, the race in which the team had its turning point, because that's when the results began to come, which are so difficult and involve so many obstacles.
Scenario of maximum demand
In this context of extreme competitiveness, Primaflor has always had Gobik by its side, from the very first minute, from the very first race.
It's our first top team ever," say Primaflor's management. GobikJosé Ramón Ortín and Alberto García - and that makes a difference, we have a special affection for them. Look at them now, second in the UCI, in the best races and giving us a very valuable visibility".
“Gobik They have been with us since the first year, they are a reliable and close partner, we can say that our experience and experience has helped them to improve and to reach what they are today. And they don't have it easy, just think that in our team alone there are up to six national champions, each one with his or her jersey"says Fran.
But it's not just about image, the quality of the garment also counts. "David Arroyo - second in the 2010 Giro - has always suffered a lot with the chamois. You can believe that he feels very comfortable here, and he has told me so many times. When you're a pro and you have to do five hours in the Tour or the Giro, riding with problems in the chamois, you can't do that. chamois is unbearable, this doesn't happen here".
Arroyo's feeling, the promises that grow, the great objectives of 2020, that appointment in Tokyo, Primaflor enters the red zone, the prelude to great moments and above all emotions: "The bet is made, I do not know what will become of us in four years, this is professional sport, and everything changes a lot, but right now we have great illusions and the work is good, we are an international team and we are looking for results".
It's as simple as that.
Texts: JoanSeguidor's Notebook
Photos: Team archive, 2019 and 2020 seasons.
