"Antonio, quillo, will you do me a favor and wash mine today?"

The romantic side of cycling has these small drawbacks, that there is no replacement jersey or bib shorts for the next stage.

Luis Ángel Maté

, after completing his 16th great lap (he did not abandon any of them) arrived in Santiago de Compostela on Sunday and on Monday he began his return home, like everyone else.

But he did it by bike.

And his house is in Marbella, 1,000 kilometers to the south. "Now are we ...? I don't know where we are (laughs). Wait ... Oliveira de Azeméis. Tomorrow (Wednesday) last night in Portugal, in Vila de Rei", responds the

Euskaltel

cyclist

, 30th overall of his tenth Vuelta, 8th Spanish. The latest madness of a guy determined to claim the other side of a sport that for him is not just a profession, "it's a way of life."

"We are going very quiet, without haste, without anyone squeezing you and taking your eyes out. Thus, to the end of the world." There were 3,417 kilometers during the Vuelta, three weeks of frenzy as he did not remember, and perhaps this is not the best thing for his legs, he acknowledges. But yes for the mind, "to balance the scales", of a 37-year-old runner overwhelmed by the technological evolution of cycling. The return of La Vuelta, as he himself baptized the project that he shares with his usual pal (

Antonio Ortiz

), is also a return to the essence.

He explains it, with his lean of criticism of modernity. "Cycling has become highly technical in recent years and this has brought advantages. We prepare super athletes from cadets. We know a lot about everything, performance, recovery ... But it has a bad side, the psychological. We are creating monsters that only know compete. It's difficult to channel all that. " And he talks about "numbers and more numbers." "

In professional cycling you get up and you have to give the weight, they measure the oxygen saturation, the pulse, the watts in each training, you have to weigh the pasta you eat

... That generates stress, you enter a loop in the that it is difficult to enjoy, "he admits.

So if you see a river now, you stop and bathe. If they find an appetizing restaurant, refreshments. And there are no 'sticks' or out of control. "I vindicate the origins, so a child begins to ride a bike, which is that capacity for emancipation, to get to know you, to get lost in the neighborhood, to ride to ride." Everything, with the approval of the Euskaltel Euskadi and helped by the new

komoot

application

, "which is wonderful, because it takes you through all the picturesque roads, along paths, if there is a point of interest, a monument, a viewpoint, it takes you out to see it It's like a box of surprises. "

Also without a backpack, with

bikepacking

, "the essential". And the bike with which he competed in the Spanish round modified with wider wheels to be able to ride on roads. "We have planned where we are going to sleep, but nothing else," says the 'Lynx' of this unparalleled adventure, although other professional cyclists have also sought to disconnect by pedaling, but enjoying the scenery and calm. For example,

Thomas de Gendt

, another romantic, who, among others, completed

a 1,000-kilometer route

with

Tim Wellens

in 2018 to return to Belgium from Lombardy.

If all goes well, on Saturday at noon, after completing six stages in which they will have crossed Portugal, Extremadura and Andalusia, Maté will arrive in Marbella, where, now, "a paella on the beach with my wife and children" will await him. .

Although it will not be the last incident of a cyclist who is also a media icon with his YouTube channel and his social networks.

After finishing the season in October with the

Tour of Croatia

, in November he will compete in the TransGranCanariaBike, a three-day Mountain Bike test.

"I have too many ideas, many proposals that I appreciate and less time than I would like," he concludes.

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