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‘Supermn’ Lpez: “My peasant parents taught me the value of work and sacrifice”

Friday, 22 January 2021 – 22:50

The Colombian runner comes to the Spanish team as one of the great signings of the season. You are already thinking about the new course in which Tour and Vuelta are your objectives

Michelangelo Lopez
MOVISTAR

He has been stranded in Madrid since January 8 due to the covid. Colombian Miguel ngel Supermn Lpez (Boyac, 1994) was first confined to a hotel and now he is at a friend’s house, far from the Movistar pre-season concentration in Almera. The climber joins a team with which two years ago he had a dispute over a fan on a stage of the Vuelta. That was forgotten (they are things of the races) and now to be the benchmark of the Eusebio Unzue squad in Tour and Vuelta.

Stopped by the virus. Strange start at Movistar
I was infected before coming to Spain. I am waiting for the new PCR to be able to train with the team. I’m fine, but the in-laws and a niece were also affected. For me it is better that this has happened to me now than in the middle of the season.
Everything being different after the pandemic. Cycling to be the same again?
I don’t think it will be the same again. Cycling is not like soccer. With us, the spectators are in the ports cheering. Hopefully the situation soon normalizes, but now everyone is scared. We already had the mirror last year. Let’s see if this season, we have more knowledge, everything is different.
His beginnings were not easy, he comes from a humble family
Yes, my parents are farmers. They taught me the value of work and sacrifice, to be helpful and to appreciate the little things in life. I learned to sow, to milk cows, to take care of sheep … It was a good apprenticeship.
Supermn’s nickname comes from that virtue of valuing and defending one’s own.
They call me that because of something that happened to me when I was 17. Then I faced two older boys who wanted to steal my bike. I was not willing to have a bicycle stolen from my father, who had a hard time buying it. He couldn’t let me steal, and they hit me twice in the right leg, but in the end I got the bike.
His career has not been easy, injuries and falls haunt him.
It seems that there have been many misfortunes, but I have to say that I have been lucky. If you ride a bike, you have risks, that’s as if you drink wine or beer and think that you will never get drunk. They are hazards of the trade: you fall because you are not attentive or due to bad luck.
Indurain never falls
He sure fell sometime … In the end, the good times outweigh the bad.
Despite the falls, he was third in the Vuelta and in the Giro. Where is your limit?
I don’t know. The limit is set by oneself, but we can never know what it is. If we were a machine, an analysis could be done.
I ask you in another way, what are your aspirations?
Win a big lap. In 2020 I was third until the final part of the Tour, so
They condemn the time trial of the penultimate day.
Yes, I have to improve in all aspects, not just the time trials.
The competition is enormous for the irruption of young people like Pogacar, Bernal or Evenepoel. Where is the secret of that generation?
These pelates from the age of 14 are prepared like professionals, with specific diet and training. They take care of all the details and reach professionals doing everything perfect. We didn’t look at technology that much. They are aware of the latest to come out.
Who of them will go further?
I don’t know, because in the end we are all human. The one that impacts me the most is Pogacar, whom I have known for a long time. Let’s see what happens this year on the Tour, because everyone will be watching him and he will have to adopt a different strategy … It is difficult to calculate what will happen to these pelatos because their peaks are getting them quite soon. I don’t know what Pogacar will be like when he turns 35. Maintaining that great form for 10 seasons and playing the big three is very difficult.
The logical thing is that they burn out soon and that none are active until 40, like Alejandro Valverde.
There is only one Alejandro. I am not yet 27 and I already look old
What do you contribute to Movistar?
It depends on how they see me and how they carry me, what plan they have with me. I like to aspire to the big three, but they may have another role for me.
Will you accept a supporting role?
I am here to take orders. They are the ones who rule. If I have the opportunity to go to the Tour and then I have to shake hands for someone else in the Vuelta, no problem.
Movistar has always looked to Colombia for sports and advertising interests. Before I bet on Nairo Quintana and now on you. In a way, do you feel like Nairo’s successor?
I don’t know if Nairo’s successor. I also like to fight the Grand Tours, I think the three-week tests are good for me. I’ve always been an attacking runner. That’s how I did it since I started in juniors, when I won the Tour del Porvenir, or in the sub 23 category, I always won attacking. When there are legs, I try. When I don’t attack it’s because I don’t have what to attack with. I never want to.
The farewell of Nairo Quintana from Movistar was not friendly, among other issues, due to the disputes with Mikel Landa and Valverde. Are you afraid the same will happen to you?
It all depends on how things are done. I haven’t even been in contact with the team yet because of the quarantine. The secret is to plan your races well. If the objectives do not come out due to a fall or injury, everything can be rethought.

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