Cycling: Fulfilling the promise after the ascent of Andorra: 48º maximum, a storm, birds and a fun oblivion
Lone last madness of Eder Sarabia and Luis Angel Mate it is already a reality. The coach of Andorrawho already did a ‘classic’ together with Pello Bilbao and several Euskaltel for MARCA, and the cyclist from the orange team promised to go from Andorra to Bilbao if the team from Gerard Piqué ascended and in that they are next to Antonio Ortiz and Marc Bernaus.
The idea, which arose half in jest, ended up penetrating. “When they went Antonio Ortiz and Luis Angel Mate to the Senate to talk about what the bicycle means for society today, at the end of that session, the subject was discussed. I proposed to them to do the Camino de Santiago if we went up with the Andorra. Perhaps they did not fully believe that this was going to happen… and it did. That yes, later we changed the route for this one of three stages (550 km) that we are doing”, says the mister to MARCA from the other end of the phone.
The Principality team ascended and they all set off. “These people are into this kind of madness, they already did the LaVuelta lap after the last race. I come from doing the 3N, a race that passes through three countries (Andorra, Spain and France). I think I’m in shape, but it’s still a bit crazy”, he said amused. And so much. The cyclocomputer was set to 48 degrees. “We have been very hot and then we suffered a storm. The good thing is that we go with what we are wearing, a bit like old cycling used to be. Without team orders or anything, everyone does what he can. Halfway through we stopped at a gas station and ‘looted’ their fridge,” he adds.
During the first kilometers, Sarabia already regretted that bet: “At the start, from the National Stadium, we were with Purito, Espargaró, Lobato, Barbero and Sandra (during the other two stages there will also be surprise protagonists). They began to shoot, it was very hot and after 40 kilometres, thinking that there would be 500 left, it made me want to return to Andorra. Then in the port of Perbés I was also with half a peach, but we endured. After eating I was better. But Maté told me that this was like grandparents who give their kids their pay: if you want to go to the movies on Sunday, you have to manage your money well. Well, the same here with the forces.”
And upon reaching Castejón de Sos, the goal of the first stage, dinner arrived. No previous massages or bubble baths or glamorous dishes for dinner: “We have come with a backpack. I have received a box from Scientific Nutrition, with whom I work, with recoveries and gels for this Thursday. Here there are no massages or Normatec or anything like that. Of course, the views of the hostel are beautiful in the middle of nature. Marc, who comes with us, has told us that he did a pre-season concentration with one of his former teams (he played in Las Palmas, Girona, Getafe or Elche -among others-). This area is wonderful. Even if we’re tired, we enjoy it just the same.”
mate’s tips
“I see him well, but he has made some mistake. At first he wanted to keep up the pace and he was fed. I had to do some series and he followed me, but then he ended up recovering. And another mistake he has made, he says between laughs, is that instead of arriving at the hostel and putting his feet up, he has gone that way,” says Luis Ángel Maté, a cyclist from the Euskaltel-Euskadi, present last weekend at the BRAND Sport Weekend. “The stage has been hard. We have reached 48 degrees, something horrible. And then, in the end, we have been cold because it has rained with the storm. I have arrived frozen”, says the Andalusian while having dinner, with clothes from Andorra lent by Eder. During the day, they only made two stops to eat.
There was some last-minute mishap: “I’m a disaster. I had everything ready in Marbella but, after the MSW22, I went to Murcia to finish the exams and I forgot. But I’ve already been equipped. We have left the clothes to dry and it will surely be ready for tomorrow”. For this Thursday, the menu is also interesting. Says the person in charge of designing it. “In this there is also some setback. They have told us that the road where he will use to start at the beginning is closed and now we have to return a little and go through a port. Another 15 kilometers more for a stage that already has 200 kilometers. I hope that it doesn’t rain because the part gives showers. And going out with water can complicate everything”, advanced the ‘Lince’. The first stage is already completed. There are another two left until you reach San Mamés.
This is how the three stages are (550 kilometers in total):
first stage: Andorra la Vella-Castejon de Sos. 165 km and 3,200 meters of elevation gain.
Second stage: Castejon de Sos-Javier. 180 km and more than 2,000 meters of elevation gain.
Third stage: Javier-Bilbao. 205 km with more than 1,000 meters of elevation gain.
‘Imitating’ Ronaldo
Ronaldo Nazario, president of Valladolid, also fulfilled a similar promise a few days ago after the promotion of his team to First Division. Of course, he did it on an electric bike and sleeping in good hotels: “I will never say anything bad about Ronaldo because he was my absolute idol. I remember all the goals he scored with Barça. The day of the Cup that turned him around the result against Atleti, the Cup Winners’ Cup he won with Barça… Everything he did at Inter: UEFA, the goal he scored against Luca after three dribbles. Brazil in the World Cups. He’s been a maximum idol. I have in the room of my parents’ house a poster of him. I will never say anything bad, but I think that ours is being something more complicated”.