• Favorites.The proper names of the Tour of Spain 2019
  • Low: Richard Carapaz loses the lap due to injury
  • Tour: All stages of the Tour of Spain 2019

Passion invades Javier Guillén when he talks about cycling, when asked about this stage or that stage, a runner or another. The director of La Vuelta during the last 11 years continuously repeats the word «show» and on it has built the new identity of the Spanish round. This year's edition begins tomorrow in Torrevieja, where Carapaz will not be, he falls last minute due to injury. Despite this decline and that of a good handful of illustrious more, Guillen says he is "very happy" with the participation.

We have four years without a Spanish winner and it seems difficult to break the streak. Is that good or bad for La Vuelta? La Vuelta is a very international race, not only one of the big three for having three weeks, but for repercussion and influence. As a career, we are interested in the best coming and that it is a competitive race. We need Spanish reference runners, of course, but we are not obsessed by the winning of a Spaniard. What do you think makes La Vuelta a unique, special test? To begin with, it is an original race, full of new proposals, both in the outings and looking for unprecedented ascents, also this year: Javalambre, Engolasters, Arraiz in Bilbao, a new slope in El Acebo, La Cubilla ... Secondly, it is an unpredictable race, we propose tours in which you can spend any thing. These two aspects make La Vuelta a spectacular race. In fact, I think that we have seen the biggest cycling show in recent years in La Vuelta. Movistar, Jumbo and Astana are called to control the race. I think this year it will be a Team Tour against teams and I really like that . Other years there are more defined leaders, but what these three teams bring this year is scary. Movistar with Valverde, Quintana and Soler; Jumbo with Roglic and Kruijswijk; and Astana with Fuglsang, López and Izagirre. Any of them can win La Vuelta, although it will be necessary to see how they manage the leaderships. I think that Pau's time trial will define many things. In the absence of Simon Yates, number 1 will be for Valverde. He is the eternal Alejandro, an example for all. I keep what he enjoys what he does, if everyone worked with his vocation everything would be much better. The Basque Country is again present in the tour of La Vuelta. It is already more than natural. Radically natural. Since we arrived in Bilbao and Vitoria in 2011, La Vuelta is here to stay. It is not an anecdote, it is a consolidated reality that we face with normality, with tranquility and with desire to continue going to the Basque Country where it is one of the best hobbies in the world, if not the best.In the end, what justifies the bet of La Tour of the Basque Country is that response from the fans.Absolutely, it is a joy to see their passion, their respect, the joy with which they understand cycling ... We owe ourselves to the amateur, who is at home on TV and who goes out to see her live. And in that aspect, Euskadi in an 11 out of 10. Is a Tour of Spain female close? It is a very long way to go, it is not a process that next year there will be a Tour of eight or ten stages. We want to have a viable and sustainable project in the long term. We cannot do an eight-day race overnight, without knowing how it will work, I would be doomed to failure. The vocation exists, but it will be a long-term project.

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