13/10/2023

Óscar Freire, about his son: "There are already teams enquiring. He's a first-year junior and we'll see how he does next year"

Oscar Freire, in declarations collected by Diario del Triatlón, has spoken of the great differences between cycling in his time and today, giving the example of his son:

"Now I've gotten a little closer to cycling with the Vuelta a España with Plenitude. My son also rides a bike and, because of all this, I've got hooked again from a different point of view. It has nothing to do with pedaling. Now I have a different period. I've been cycling all my life. I always had a way of life related to cycling, when I stopped I enjoyed other things and now it's calling me back because I spent my whole life there. In the Vuelta a España I enjoyed it, I like it because I'm not there all year long as if I were a sports director. I'm passionate about this sport because I'm still riding my bike".

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The three-time world champion has stressed that he does not believe that the way things are run today is the most correct and that it is not good for young people to believe that at the age of 17 they are already starting to have professional contracts:

"My son had a good season. The difference is that, when I was racing, nothing would have happened if they won 10 races at that age. But now everything has changed and the juniors are going to the pros, as has happened with Markel Beloki. Next year he will take it more seriously. He'll work a little harder to see if he has that chance. There are already teams asking. He's a first-year junior and we'll see how he does next year. But I'm a realist, I know how difficult the sport is and we have to wait. If he improves a little, he can be a professional, but now he is 17 years old. There are riders at 20 who are already successful, but not all of them are the same. He's lucky that they look at him more because he's my son, but unlucky that they compare him".

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Freire concludes his argument by stating that racing in the U23 category is important for the full development of most cyclists:

"Whether riders make it to the pros so early depends on how those young people develop. I think there are young people who need two years in U23s even if they are in pro teams. There will be the exception of a couple of riders who are already 19, but they will be exceptions. In the case of Beloki, he has signed for a WorldTour team, but he will also race a lot of U23 races and I think that's ideal. There will be cases where they will put more pressure on them and others will not. The teams know that too, and they want riders who will work for them when necessary".