Carlos Verona talks move to Lidl-Trek, Movistar's decline and Nairo Quintana: "I've seen him training in Andorra with enthusiasm and desire"

Carlos Verona has just returned from his vacation in the United States, where he went to see the facilities of his new team, Lidl-Trek, in Wisconsin. After a few days of relaxation in New York he has returned to training and has been interviewed by El Cuaderno de Joan Seguidor, talking about his past in Movistar Team and his future in the American team.

"I'm starting to get back to training, but in a very light way. I've been on vacation for four weeks, as we usually do, without a bike for two and a half weeks," he commented on his return to activity.

This is how he faces the return: "Now it's quite simple, to start little by little to get a base, especially aerobic, moderate intensity exercises, to intersperse other sports if possible and to gradually get in shape to gradually pick up the bike to be competitive in February".

He talks about his time with Movistar Team, from which he says he has very positive memories:

"They have been five very nice years, I have enjoyed a lot, I have had a lot of confidence from the team, I keep them with good memories. In the end I felt it was time for a change, new challenges, new opportunities with a different environment and I think I found it."

On his best and his worst moment in the telephone team he commented the following to @joanseguidor: "Undoubtedly my victory in Dauphiné for how it was, but the five years have been very good although this last one has not been easy because of the change of team, some change of calendar and that health has not been with me. But the overall memory is very good".

On whether the fact that he was negotiating with INEOS Grenadiers (the deal was closed but the British finally backed out):

"Not one hundred percent, but it's clear that these types of decisions are made. There were also 10 teammates who had prepared for the Tour to the maximum and I had ridden the Giro. In the end there were 8 places for 11 riders and for sporting reasons because I had ridden the Giro and the fact that I wasn't going to be there the following year, that teams also have to look at the medium and long term, I'm sure it was an extra weight on the other side of the scale, it's normal, I knew it could happen."

The worst thing for him was not racing the Vuelta a España. He explains why: "As much as it has been rumored it wasn't because of that (because he went to Lidl Trek), it was a health problem, I contracted a herpes zoster after Burgos and, although it didn't hurt me so much, you never know, you can't start a Grand Tour like that. I had prepared very well after not doing the Tour and being left at the gates is not to my liking, but it all came together a little bit".

Movistar Team's fall in the UCI ranking after the departures of Alejandro Valverde, Mikel Landa, Nairo Quintana: "Yes, in 2019 Movistar was one of the top teams. In these 5 years many teams have evolved, there have been many sponsors, teams with a lot of money and for Movistar it has been difficult to evolve with the departures of Nairo (Quintana), Richard (Carapaz), (Mikel) Landa and they have not been able to fill that gap. It's true that the level of the team has dropped, but everything is cyclical, when I arrived at Quick-Step they came from winning seven races and look at them later, or Jumbo-Visma that today dominates and a few years ago they were Blanco or Belkin".

Unlike his teammate Matteo Jorgenson, who came out criticizing the work methods of the Spanish team, Verona was very classy when asked if there might be something apart from economics that they were not doing right, simply answering that "they work very well and in some things they are cautious".

Nairo Quintana's return: "I think a rider like him can come in handy, he can get a lot of points, in addition to the importance he has in Latin American cycling for Movistar. It can be a good marriage. I've seen him training in Andorra with enthusiasm and desire".

"I wanted to live something else, experience a different environment, here I had a lot of stability, but I think you should not get comfortable, that goes against performance, I have tried to improve year by year, I think I'm on an upward curve and I want to squeeze my career and for that I needed a change."

"In Lidl-Trek I can find what I need: an international team, attractive environment to develop and grow. Lidl is going to invest a lot of money in performance, which today is the most important thing to be able to progress, everything that has to training, nutrition, altitude, planning of the load blocks. Also having a factory behind us like Trek, which is the owner of the team, at the level of material I think we are at the forefront".

Article written by Juan Larra.