Valverde, at the front of the peloton, in his penultimate race, on Tuesday in Varese.SPRINT CYCLING AGENCY (SPRINT CYCLING AGENCY)
It is autumn.
Lombardy.
The twilight of Alejandro Valverde, number 181, his last number, and his desire.
The spring of Enric Mas, who feels like a child again, the little boy fascinated by the sound of the word, by the wonders that hide behind the four syllables, Lom-bar-dí-a.
From Bergamo to Como, on the shore of its lake, passing through Ghisallo and its church and museum, and the long slope of Civiglio, and twice the slope of San Fermo della Battaglia, before the descent that gave him so much pleasure. gave Vincenzo Nibali crepuscular, number 31, the last number of his career.
253 kilometers.
More than six and a half hours.
A monument that is honored and adored by Jonas Vingegaard and the winner of 21, Tadej Pogacar, the two who made the Tour of 22 a great reserve, and who meet again for the first time since the French July.
It happened last Saturday, in Bologna.
Giro dell'Emilia.
The afternoon that the darkness dissipated forever.
Like lightning, a light pedal, Enric Mas emerges from the shadow of Alejandro Valverde and accelerates towards the Huerfanitas curve.
Tadej Pogacar tries to stick to his wheel, tries to follow him, tries.
But fly alone.
Who doesn't envy him?
Who would not want to be him at that moment, in that place, two kilometers from the finish line in the monastery of San Luca, on the arcades of Lucio Dalla.
Released.
A desire built with all its details.
Completed.
There is nothing missing.
Behind him, defeated, Pogacar, the one whose very name is already frightening, the one who in July, at the Tour, the Galibier, past the Télégraphe, is a cyclist from another world, unattainable for Mas, chained to his frustration.
But, 27 years old, very few times in his career, so regular,
so much of always being there, he has fully enjoyed it, the joy of reaching the finish line alone and raising his arms, the orgasm of cycling.
She does it.
And then, as if she wanted only him to be able to enjoy the moment, she plays it down, as if she didn't want anyone else to appreciate it.
It is her treasure.
And he doesn't want that when he tells himself he adapts his story to the easy mold of resurrection and resilience, those easy stories that so fascinate, conquer, those who tell sports stories, movies about the mind.
“The head weighs more than the ass.
One thing is the will and another the fears”, says, and laughs, funny, Enric Mas, who has suffered a mental block all season, until the Tour, fear of descending, fear of attacking, flatus generated by anxiety in the key moments.
And in the Vuelta, which finished second after the phenomenon Remco Evenepoel, it began to be him, and now, finally victorious, it is him more than ever.
“But it was a race like any other.
It is true that the name of Tadej is known to everyone, but only that.
A victory that I needed, and the team needed me to win.
At last he arrived”, he says by phone from his beloved Lombardy, where he has already forgotten that he withdrew from the Tour with covid after the Tour told him again that he did not love him.
Before the Vuelta he returned to his sessions with his psychologist and to work on the downhill technique with master Óscar Saiz, and in the Vuelta he felt full.
“Were there doubts about my ability?
I had no doubt.
The only one I had was whether or not I recovered from covid in time.
The other I already knew that with a lot of work and with self-confidence it could be overcome.
It was a situation that you can call more mental than physical, but, yes, it was a mixture of the two, they go hand in hand.
These are situations that have to happen.
Life is full of them.
Sport is like that.
I had to live a situation that I had to overcome to continue growing.
And, look, a month later we have managed to turn it around”.
Only one Spaniard, Purito Rodríguez, and twice, has won the Lombardy, the so-called World Cup of fallen leaves.
But he has played it twice, when he was still a cyclist in the Quick Step.
“It is a race that I love.
It's going to be very hard, it's very long, it's going to be decided in the last kilometres.
The last lap and the descent to the lake.
I trust myself because I know him, and
Bala
too”.
El Bala
is Valverde, his teammate at Movistar, who, in the words of Juan Ayuso, the 20-year-old Spaniard, determined to follow in his footsteps, will experience curious sensations.
“It will be a strange day for him.
He will want to do well in the race, but surely he has it in his head that everything he does will be the last time he does it.
The last bar you are having at kilometer X, and the last time you leave the bus with a number, and it will be a very strong emotion”, says the 19-year-old cyclist who finished third in the Vuelta, after Evenepoel and more.
"I hope you enjoy.
May the race be with you.
And that he can be fired the way he deserves.
We will all cry a little with him”.
Valverde has run 10 Lombardies and has been second three times and third once.
And he considers himself the favorite to finally win it.
"I'm amazed.
Not even remotely did I think that he would be running until this age and at this level.
The level that I have... It's not good for me to say it, but... I'm amazed with these races and how I'm finishing them.
This gives me extra motivation and confidence for Lombardy, although I can have a bad day... but I'm phenomenal”, says the Murcian, who only has one regret.
“I am sorry that this is over, I am sorry.
Seeing the state of form that I have, it's sad.
And I say, wow, aren't there any more races out there?
he he.
but career of this level.
Races not run for the sake of running, but races that are played with the best runners as these last ones are being.
With all the WorldTour teams,
But there will be no more.
Valverde will get off his horse in the fall and, like the John Wayne of the
Man Who Shot Liberty, Valance
will quietly leave.
The young people, the new times, will cover their tracks, and someone will be in charge of writing the legend of him, more beautiful than the facts.
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