"Until 2019 I didn't have a power meter or nutritionist" - Movistar's Vuelta leader on unlikely rise through cycling ranks

Venezuela's Orluis Aular is one of the riders that over the past years has impressed the most, and he has well and truly become a leader at Movistar Team. This Vuelta a Espana, he is the rider who has been towards the front the most, and he has talked about his current form, objectives but also his rise through cycling through very limited conditions.

"We are happy, even though we have not yet achieved the victory. We have been very close to achieving it and that gives us motivation to keep fighting," Aular said in an interview with Marca. "We are happy, even though we have not yet achieved the victory. We have been very close to achieving it and that gives us motivation to keep fighting."

The 28-year old finished third on the opening stage in Novara, and after a few Top10's and even breakaways, he finished second to Mads Pedersen on stage 15. "We knew he was the top favorite and where he was, I had to be. In the end I came second and it showed that Pedersen was one point ahead. I'm left with that bitter taste, but also the conviction that we are at the top level." Movistar is looking for their first Vuelta win here, but it hasn't been easy with the crashes of Pablo Castrillo and Javier Romo affecting their odds.

"We are in the top category, and winning is never easy. I think we've had a good year, with victories, although we always want more. After the Vuelta come important classics and I want to finish on a good footing. All this busy calendar is going to strengthen me a lot for next year. There is always pressure, people demand a victory from us. It's different without Enric [Mas], but we're psyched. It's not impossible. If we continue with this dynamic, we can achieve it."

However Aular has a clear goal in the final week, which is stage 19's slight uphill sprint: "Friday's stage suits my conditions. I've lifted my foot on the hard days to psyche myself up for that goal. We're racing every day like it's a classic, and you have to be ready when the opportunity comes." After the results he has shown across the 2024 and 2025 seasons, next year he wants to make a Tour de France debut - which will have been deserved most likely.

"Every cyclist wants to be there, and I'm one of them. This year I've shown that I can be fighting at the top level. Hopefully it will be in 2026, and if not, I'll continue to focus on making a great calendar. I want to be in that Tour eight. I want to keep growing. Every step, every hard race, makes me better. This is just the beginning."

The Venezuelan has also revealed an interesting detail about his career, which is that only at 22 years of age did he begin to train and race like a professional rider, in stark contrast with the grand majority of the riders below his age in the current peloton: "I raced in Mexico, in Japan, in Spain... until 2019 I didn't have a power meter or nutritionist. Now the youngsters start with all that from cadets and that's why they perform so early. It cost me more, but every year I'm making a leap in quality."