ON THIS DAY: Alejandro Valverde, a World Championship, my old Orbea and an unforgettable day

It was 5 years ago today that Alejandro Valverde won the Innsbruck World Championship. I have to say that I was lucky enough to witness the race live as a fan and I rode up the morning of September 30, 2018 the Patscherkofel with my old Orbea.

The day dawned beautifully in the heart of the Austrian Alps and from the first moment I realized that the organization was perfect. I had enjoyed the women's race the day before through the streets of Innsbruck and that day my body was asking for another plan. I arrived at about nine o'clock in the morning and I could park without problems about 500 meters from the pit area (there is no one who beats the Austrians in organization).

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I was able to walk along the course, passing through the pits and the finish line where Alejandro Valverde would raise his arms hours later. Insisted by Ana, my partner, I decided to climb the Patscherkofel;

She would do it walking little by little and I would do it by bike, then we would go down and watch the race at the point where she had arrived. So, I enjoyed a climb full of public, I chatted at the top with a couple of Madrileños and a couple of Basques and we were placed to follow the race in a meadow with a TV screen (you can see better a race in Austria in the middle of a mountain than the Vuelta a España in the Castellana) and with a couple of curves that allowed us to see the riders pass up to 9 times.

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The day was spectacular and again and again we could enjoy the passing of the riders always putting the focus on a Valverde who wore very good face and Julian Alaphilippe who was very scary, but ended up exploding.

The moment of the Murcian's triumph was simply sublime. Surrounded by Italians, Dutch, Germans, Austrians, French... there was no other Spaniard in that Heidi-style meadow, I was able to scream my head off.

Then, with the sun slowly going down, I waited patiently for the queue in the parking lot to get lighter to start the 6 hours back to Bratislava, the city where I live. Burst, but with an immense happiness that today, five years after that skinny Murcian made us so happy, I can still feel;

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