New Bikes and Kit
The second year in Movistar has begun with new clothing from a British company (Endura) and new bikes. The shoes too are new from Diadora.
“The kit is lovely and all custom made” Alex explained. “Something I haven’t had before is they custom make the chamois depending on how big your backside is. I have been training in the new kit for a few days and it’s been very comfortable.”
“Everything fits well. It’s not made to stand up straight, it’s made to fit a bike rider so I am looking forward to getting the race skin suit as I know they have worked hard on them”.
Asked how the time trial bike is, Alex explained how he’s still waiting for it but is expecting it to be very fast. Once he has his, Alex says he’s looking forward to taking it into the wind tunnel with a couple of his teammates and getting the position right.
”I have set up the time trial bike and they are now building it. I have gone with everything I think will work for me. I haven’t ridden it but its German engineered and everything has a purpose. It does look fast but more importantly, it’s about function. There are no bits added on just to look good but then it does look fantastic anyway.”
Asked what he looks for in his TT bike, Alex replied “a clean look. No cables flapping about or bolts and screws everywhere. Everything on the Canyon is tucked away. It’s about getting as close to a track bike where you can’t see the front brakes or the rear brakes. I can see from our aero road bikes that there is a lot of thought gone into them. Like the seat post clamp is the frame number holder.”
“A lot of the TT bikes which are considered the fastest, like Specialised, Pinarello and Trek, that could be just because Cancellera, Wiggins and Martin are on them. So hopefully we can prove that the Canyon TT bike is also one of the fastest TT bikes out there.”
Tour de France contender Quintana – Alex looking to support him in the 2014 Tour de France.
A year on
Finally, we touched on it at the start and that’s the subject of whether going to a Spanish speaking team from a British one was a good idea for a British rider?
Alex doesn’t need to think about the answer … “it’s been absolutely top draw! They did everything they promised right from the start. They put me in my first Grand Tour and the one that suited me best.”
“If you look at Team Sky’s Grand Tour team (Giro), if I had been management, I wouldn’t have put myself in it so that would not have been an opportunity I’d have got in Sky. I did all the Classics, did terrible in them but know what I need to do next time. After the Giro, I was able to have a long lay off and they gave me everything I could ask for”.
“It is a nice place to be.”
Having seen Movistar at the Tour of Britain where they wowed the crowd on the road and at the start and finishes, it is no surprise that Alex has had such success there and why a company like Endura too have got involved with them. 2014 is set to be a huge year for both Alex and Endura and we at VeloUK hope they all have the success they are chasing on the roads of Europe and beyond.