Carlos Verona reveals INEOS walked back on deal: "I decided to accept. From then on I do not know what happened"

After a more than disappointing season in which he did not shine in any of the races in which he competed, Carlos Verona ended up signing for Lidl-Trek after saying no to Movistar Team's renewal offer once INEOS Grenadiers refused to sign him despite having previously offered him a contract.

The Spaniard explained his complicated 2023 to Marca in an interview during the last Madrid Criterium: "This year I was looking to change the calendar with something else, something alternative. I asked for the Giro and it was granted. I also knew at the beginning of the year that I was going to change teams. This is about stages and I think it was my turn to change, as it happened in the past with other teams. I went to the Giro and then I wanted to prepare for the Tour.

He comments that it hurt him to be left out of the Tour de France and then he didn't race the Vuelta: "Eusebio already told me that he couldn't guarantee my place. After the Giro I did altitude and went to the [national] Championships. Eusebio told me I wasn't going in. It hurt me, but I understood. There were teammates who had prepared thoroughly for the Tour. They asked me to rest and prepare for La Vuelta. And I did it. I was hurt because I had made a lot of effort to be in France, but in the end I couldn't be in either the Tour or La Vuelta".

He explains the reasons why he did not race the Spanish race: "After Burgos I felt a cervical pain, I thought it would be something postural. But it wasn't. The team wanted to be cautious. The team wanted to be prudent. I think I could have been in the race, but it was the team's decision. They opted to leave me at home and take Imanol [Erviti]. It made me very angry, but it was a health issue. Some people think it was a punishment, but it's not like that. I leave with an incredible relationship with Movistar. After here, in Madrid, I'm going to have lunch with Eusebio. It's been five very good years and I can't have bad words for him. The end is not the one I would have liked to have, but destiny did not want me to go to these races."

"It was a bit strange, to be honest. I had a very good offer for three years. I wanted a change of scenery. Ineos was one of the options, the one that was positioned the strongest. I decided to accept. From then on I do not know what happened, I only know that I saw myself at the end of June again on the market. With many budgets closed and with teams without space. Unzué opened the doors for me again, something I have to thank him for after five months where I thought I was out. And he did it with good conditions. But I wanted to change."

"This structure was one of my priorities. In fact, in February I talked to them, but at that time they didn't have the reality of the new sponsor (Lidl). I had to wait. Then I decided to knock on their door, which was my thorn in their side, and after several conversations with Josu Larrazabal it all came together. It was destiny. The plan at the beginning was one, another one came out, but today I am very happy with the result.

Article written by Juan Larra.