Alejandro Valverde confessed: did he fight with Nairo? The truth about their relationship

Fernando Solano is a Boyaca native who is fond of cycling. A few months before the pandemic he bought some bicycles because the idea was to become a tour guide, but he had to postpone it.

He invested money, the machines arrived, but they stayed in the garage of his house, since Paipa, where he lives, was also paralyzed due to covid-19.
(Nairo Quintana: hard slam of the door on journalists in the Tour Colombia)(Harold Tejada blew up the Tour Colombia: stage winner!)

His story

Today, seeing Alejandro Valverde was his goal. One photo was enough. Accompanied by the former Spanish cyclist Pello Ruiz Cabestany, Fernando stood up, stuck his head out in search of his idol. Valverde was going to meet EL TIEMPO's special envoys to the Colombia Tour, but he got in the way, approached him and took a photo with Valverde.

“I had wanted to do this my whole life. “I admire him, I have always admired him for everything he has done,” said Fernando, who was trembling when he was close to the 2018 world road champion, the man who has won the Fleche Wallonne five times, an enviable record, and who stayed with the general of the Vuelta a España in 2009. Solano and Valverde said goodbye and the former cyclist sat in a comfortable armchair and gave free rein to the conversation.

Have you confirmed what they told you about Colombia on this trip?
I had been told wonders about the country, but it has surpassed it. I am very happy to be here, to be welcomed by the public, by the fans who have made me feel so loved. I liked cycling through these terrains. I'm not a professional runner, but since I train with them, I feel like one more.

What have you been able to corroborate about what you knew about Colombia?
They always told me that there was a strong passion for cycling here, that you feel very loved, and it is true. I have been impressed that the fans have dedicated themselves to this competition, to the cyclists. They told me about the way of training, the climate, the altitude, and that is good for us, although it is difficult to adapt.

How do you live this time as an ex-cyclist?
As a cyclist I enjoyed it a lot, I enjoyed it and I achieved everything I dreamed of and more. Last year I was almost back. I told Eusebio Unzué that he wanted to return, but he told me that he did not have that need to return. You can not ask for more. I'm happy with what I did.

His family is the one who should enjoy the fact that he is no longer a professional cyclist…
They are the happiest. I'm more at home, but I go out. Look, I'm in Colombia, I arrived in Spain and I'm going to the Emirates to race with Samuel Sánchez, I do things non-stop.

Was it difficult missing your children's early years?
I feel like my life has always been like this, I missed them, but I miss them more when I leave as an ex-cyclist. It's easy to explain, it's that when I was a cyclist, well, it was my profession, I was a runner, I had a purpose, now I'm not one and now when I have to go out I think twice about whether I have to do it or not. I suffer from it more today than before.

Why cycling?
My father raced, my brother too, that's why cycling came easily into my life. At home we always lived off that sport. I played soccer, but I wasn't good.

How did the pressure attack?
People always demand more from you, ask you for more, but I'm happy. They tell me that I should only dedicate myself to the classics and not to the grand tours, but I did well in both.

Why the validity?
One is born with the quality of being a good runner, and then I had to take care of myself. You have to do things very professionally for the level to be good.

Sometimes the head doesn't work as it should…
Of course, the pressure one carries is very great. As you say, sometimes your head plays tricks on you in the worst way and you also have to look at how to handle it. The people who follow you, the team, the results, that is very difficult to handle. It's not easy to fight the pressure.

Why the validity?
One is born with the quality of being a good runner and then I had to take care of myself. You have to do things very professionally for the level to be good.

What was the most important victory?
The World Cup, without a doubt. I enjoyed it, I dreamed of it and I achieved it in Innsbruck (Austria).

And the hardest day, the worst?
Puff, there are many, but when I fell on the first day of the 2017 Tour de France and broke my kneecap, it was the most complicated of my career.

Is not being able to win the Tour de France a frustration?
I always fought it, I fought it. When I managed to make the podium next to Nairo Quintana and Chris Froome I felt happy. It was impossible to win the Tour, I knew it.

What value do the other podiums in the Giro and the 2009 Vuelta a España title have?
A lot. They are victories in the big ones. That Giro marked me, because it was the first time I ran it and I was on the podium. And the Vuelta, well it was in my country and that leaves me very calm.

And where does it leave the triumphs in the classics?
Having won the Liège, the Walloon Fleche, well, they are victories not at the road World Championship level, but they are important races.

Which Colombian cyclist did you like the most?
I don't know, I've always connected with them. I still get along well with everyone and it's not that I identify with one.

But there must be one in particular…
Man, Nairo, but it has also been very nice to share with Rigoberto Urán, because of his personality, he was young when he ran next to me.

A moment to forget?
That moment in 2010 and 2012 when I couldn't compete was difficult, because it was not an easy issue. One manages to think about everything, about leaving everything, but in the end one overcomes it.

Were they unfair to Nairo, after the problem with tramadol?
He had that inconvenience, but it was unfair that he was not competing. It was a substance that was prohibited at the level of the International Cycling Union (UCI), but that could be continued in the race. They took away the results where he passed, well yes, it is normal, it is logical, but he could not be without competing. He already complied.

Is it true that you fought with Nairo Quintana several times, as was claimed in Colombia?
I? No. Nairo and I have shared the lead many times, that's clear. Quintana has achieved very nice triumphs, I have shared podiums in the Tour with him. At no time were there fights between us, there was always a friendship and there still is.

But you scolded him on that stage of the 2013 Tour de France going up Mont Ventoux…
Ha ha ha. I don't remember. It was so long ago that I can't tell you. Maybe encouraging him or telling him to wait, but he was very young and had to be controlled.

Who is the best cyclist in the world you have ever seen?
Puffff. I don't know. I can't tell you because there are many very good ones. Today there is a generation in which everyone is good: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel, Mathieu van del Poel, Van Aert, well we cannot remove Nairo, Enric Más.

A cyclist who deserved to win more things but couldn't…
Enric Mas. Due to bad luck, due to falls, due to health problems, it has more quality than results.

Where was the key to having run until the age of 42?
Adapt to changes. Everything has been greatly improved with training, nutrition, and running form. The thing is that since they are young they are already very professional. I have had to adapt, every year it changes, the bicycles, the roads have improved and I have had to overcome everything.

Is cycling more complicated now than before?
It's not that it's more difficult. Before, in the platoon there was more time to talk, make friends. When it went fast, but it was more relaxing. Today, that is impossible. Everyone flies, you can't relax. It's another cycling. The truth is that I also had to adapt to that, which is why I was still on the bike.
(Dani Alves trial: today the Brazilian player will testify and answer questioning)

Lisandro Rengifo
Editor of EL TIEMPO
@lisandrorengifo