Óscar Pereiro: "It was the best Tour I can remember"

• Tour Vingegaard-Pogacar and the great rivalries in the history of cycling

• Vingegaard The climber who cleaned fish

Still with the aftertaste of the "best Tour of the last 20 years" and with high expectations for the next Vuelta a España that starts on August 19 in Utrecht,

(Mos, Pontevedra, 1977), ambassador of the sustainable initiative of Ecovidrio analyzes the rivalry between

and the crisis in Spanish cycling.

Has this Tour been so good? From what I have in my mind, it has been the best Tour that I remember, in the last 20 years.

There may have been specific moments in others that equaled or surpassed this one.

But I think that in 21 days, the way the runners have competed, I don't remember anything like it.

Since the Tour entered France, it was crazy how it was run.

winning in yellow, getting into the breakaways... We've seen few boring stages

.

All.

Everything that breaks the normality, gives something extra.

And more so in a runner like Pogacar, who tried it in places where no one could expect it.

He was hurt in his pride, I think he never imagined that no one could hit him in the face like they have.

The Granon was a moment of weakness, but after seeing Hautacam and the chrono, the reality is that Vingaard was stronger.

Now it is a matter for his team to analyze.

Last year he was far superior to the rest, when he wanted he left.

Already in the first week I saw him with a lot of anxiety for wanting to put seconds even in stages where he has to save himself.

I don't know if he felt insecure.

After Granon, with Pogacar already desperate, we knew that he was going to attack at any moment.

Saving the distances, it was like the last Vuelta de

.In cycling, which saves effort, can excessive confidence play tricks on you? I have not had the fortune to have such quality, but it is true that, especially in something that I was quite good at, which were the leaks, there are moments when you feel superior.

And you want to go a little more cock.

Experience is important.

What I would not like is that this Tour will mark a before and after in Pogacar.

I don't want to miss the Pogacar from the beginning of the year, from the classics, which competes to win in everything it competes, the Strade Bianche, Flanders... Who has more charisma? Vingegaard is very boring.

When he first wears yellow and doesn't smile... he's very cold.

I have seen even the most overwhelming Armstrong in history enter the finish line celebrating.

Pogacar, even losing, is smiling on the podium.

Pereiro, in yellow in Paris. THE WORLD

It seems like a rivalry for years.

Do you see someone capable of meddling? I don't know if Roglic is 100%.

I want to think so, because he was about to win a Tour against Pogacar.

If he ends up in Ineos as it is sounding, he can open a very good range.Are they too superior?You just have to see the final classification of the Tour.

That only 15 cyclists were under an hour, it seems surreal to me.

I've done four times in the top 10 on the Tour and I think the most I've lost was 15 minutes, being 10th.

Every time they pressed they left on their own. If Van Aert became a 'vueltomaniac'... I saw

try for a year.

He lost a lot of weight to climb better, but then he lost it in the time trial and lost what he was.

I think that Van Aert is going to try to win a Tour at some point, because he is an ambitious guy.

But it will not be the Van Aert to attack from the start, to get into the sprint.

He's going to have to save.

We're going to lose the show.

He's a dumbass, but he's a goddamn dumbass.

I wish he were Spanish, he would be a national idol. This Tour has been another step in the crisis of Spanish cycling... Talking the other day with

, which has been the best, the 14th and was in the period of a full belly, seemed incredible to him.

I am clear, it is evident that Spanish cycling has failed in the Tour de France.

The problem is that expectations are always very high. Where does the problem lie? At the base.

Our generation, which is still finishing Valverde, we are children of

, they created a brutal nursery.

The 2008 economic crisis did a lot of damage, nobody gave you any help, we gave a general message to everyone that this is wrong.

Now, you are going to see a cadet race and the monitors are still the same with 30 more years on them.

We have to get the patronage law as soon as possible, tax benefits for companies that support the base above all.

In France they have 4,000 cycling races a year.

In Spain we did not even reach 1,000.

There is a large accumulation of circumstances and then we are not going to ignore the evidence that to be a cyclist in today's child you have to instill very screwed up values.

I always said that cycling was a sport for people who had a little need.

Playing Play doesn't hurt at all and I'm the father of a 17-year-old boy.

Borja Martiarena, Marketing Director of Ecovidrio, together with the general director of the Vuelta, Javier Guillén and Óscar Pereiro. Victor CasadoEFE

What happens with Enric Mas? He is a great runner, one of the best we have at the national level, a long-distance runner.

But he has a lot of pressure on him.

When you read about him, especially on social media, it seems like this guy is hurting everyone, every day.

The only thing he does is try to compete, suffer to the fullest, give the best of himself.

We expected more from Enric, but I am clear that Enric is not

and a lot of people got confused.

She has a mental shock, not only on the downs.

The tension, seeing that everyone criticizes you, that you don't have people happy... Is there really a danger that Movistar will drop? If everything goes normal, no... I'm a little worried that Enric won't the return.

Alejandro, Sosa... I think there is no risk of relegation.

But racing with the pressure they're running... Enric gets sick and they're shit. How do you see La Vuelta? Pogacar has crashed, but Roglic is doing everything possible to come, I know and we have to give him credit.

Hindley, Haig, Carapaz, Valverde, Mas, Carlos Rodríguez, Alaphilippe... I think it could be one of the best in recent years. Pereiro will be there for another year. With Ecovidrio and the great work we have been doing for seven years a more sustainable Vuelta.

Cycling is a sport closely linked to nature, so the participants of La Vuelta must be an example for the spectators to follow.

At times like these, when dozens of forest fires are taking place, the need to take care of our natural heritage is more than evident.

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