Interview at her ‘blue’ debut
On the occasion of her debut, last Sunday, at the Binda Trophy, we collected in the previous hours the impressions of the Cuban Movistar Team champion in her first collective experience with the ‘telefónicas’.
“I have felt a bit strange because of what it means for a new experience. I come from another system, from another culture; I had been in Italy for five years with the same team and I was a little scared, not knowing how I would position myself the first time I was with my new teammates. So far the girls have made me feel like family, quite comfortable. At the beginning of the season I should have attended the concentration in Almería, but I couldn’t be there due to covid, like other people on the team. Yes, I came to pass physical tests in January, but my return, and therefore my debut, was delayed due to bureaucratic problems. Now I’m here, wanting to contribute a lot of positive things”.
“I am an athlete willing to fulfill the plan that the team has for me, whether it is working or taking responsibility. You may not be ready to go out for race wins yet; I haven’t raced for a long time, picking up the pace in Cuba is not the same as competing and more so in the WorldTour, where the level is high, the clash is bigger and many people already come with enough races on them. I have no problem working for others, I will do it wholeheartedly and to the best of my ability, as if I were the one winning. At the same time, I would like that if one day I am given the responsibility, we can get the same. To have people like Emma or Annemiek van Vleuten here, who is a rider worthy of admiration… I would be very proud and happy to help her win any race. When a team victory is achieved, it feels like yours”.
“I am a rider who needs to ride and find the pace in the race to give my best performance. I am also a cyclist who works better in the heat than in the cold, although the conditions we have had in Binda are not bad for me either. I want to take advantage of the month and a half, two months ahead now to find that rhythm. In mid-May, the Pan-American road race is held in Argentina and it is logical for the national team to claim me, because it is an important year in order to classify quotas for the 2023 Central American and Pan-American Games, which are played almost in a row. Therefore, he would return to America by then and prepare a second block, surely focused on the Giro Donne. For the rest, I have no preference for any race. Just do your best.”
“Perhaps the biggest change has been the preparation. It is the first time that my training follows a regimen other than that of the Cuban Federation. I had been with the same coach since I was 16 and now I am 29. It could be, and I hope that the change goes well for me. It is a more technical job; we worked by sensations and here you can see the power and many other parameters. I have to link both methods to adapt well and continue offering the best”.