"Really looking forward to getting started and seeing what the race has in store for us."
OBJECTIVES.
"We come with clear ideas, knowing what our place is, we have no options in the general classification, we plan to attack the race and in the breakaways and see if we can one day wear the mountains jersey or the combativity awards or opt to win a stage, something that would be nice."
ROUND ROUTE 2023
"In the other grand tours there are more opportunities for the sprinters, but here there are few opportunities for them and more stages with traps or with a second pass near the finish, that translates into opportunities for the breakaway, if we add to that that we start with a team time trial and a mountain stage, something that will mark the positions of the first, of the leaders, that will give more freedom to the brave. We're going to see a very active first two weeks for the breakaways".
THIRD WEEK.
"The third week, apart from the hardness of the race, you add the hardness of the accumulated fatigue, stages 15,16, 17, there 180 km do more damage than in the first week and the legs are fresher. The issue of the third week I don't know if it's a bit because in the previous Vuelta I raced (in 2021) I did quite well, if the recovery factor or that I was at home, in Asturias and I was more motivated. This year it's the same, so let's hope that for one thing or another we can do well".
HARDNESS
"It's harder, we have the Tourmalet stage to finish off the second week and then the rest day, and then in the third week in the north they're all hard, either for breakaways or for men in the general classification with stages like those in Asturias like the Angliru or the Cruz de Linares that are really crazy and accumulate a lot of elevation gain."
HARD PARTICIPATION.
"Jumbo has the best team and they will try to win the way they always win, by crushing, and the rest will try to break that dynamic. I think that because there are so many men for the general classification and because it starts with an unusual hardness (time trial and mountain stage), I think that differences can be generated from the beginning that will discard some strong men for the general classification and then they will be looking for breakaways or the mountain jersey as we saw last year with Carapaz, who won 3 stages and the mountain."
CAREER SITUATIONS.
"There could be two possible race situations: that Jumbo gets the general classification right from the start or that everyone is in the race and everything is at a standstill like in the Giro, which is what could be the best for us, because I'm telling you that if top people start to get into the breakaways, the race could be very uphill".
2023
"Both personally and for the team, things are going pretty well. The team is getting wins and I am personally happy after a difficult year last year when I had to overcome mononucleosis and we have turned it around since the beginning of the season."
FUTURE OF PELAYO SÁNCHEZ.
When asked if he sees himself with the strength to end up competing in a WorldTour team (Movistar Team is a possibility), Pelayo is clear: "I hope that opportunity comes, it would be a dream. Once the Vuelta is over, in which I'm totally focused, we'll see".
