He is not the ancient king of the Huns, but he also wants to leave his mark on history, in his case, in that of cycling. Promising and dreamy in equal parts, Attila Valter (Csömör, 24 years old) fervently wants to succeed in the Olympus of cycling, the Tour de France. To carve out the opportunity to attend the Big Boucle, the Hungarian, who has already shown his remarkable quality as a climber in events as prestigious as the Italy spin (it was pink jersey for three days in 2021) and last Strade Bianche (4th), has reached the ranks of what he considers “the best team in the world”: Jumbo-Visma. during his debut with the Dutch squad in O Gran Camiño, Attila, with a perennial smile, attends to AS.
-What are your feelings for this start of the season?
-I feel really incredible, also physically and mentally. I’ve only been in this team for three months, with the preparation, a little over three, and I don’t regret having come. It’s amazing how they work and how we work. So I had a long and very intelligent preparation also with the training, with the nutrition, with everything. So I already feel like I’m a different person and runner. Here I will be able to see what is the difference between my past and this team. Of course, it will not be easy and it will be demanding, but I am confident that it will be really great.
-This is your start at Jumbo-Visma. How do you see your new team?
-I haven’t seen all the teams, but from what I know about cycling, I’m pretty sure this is the best. For me personally, it’s not like top three or top five, it’s the best. Like I said, I don’t know how UAE or Quick-Step is working, but I can’t imagine I would feel any better than on this computer. They really pay the best attention to the runners, physically, they bring out the best in you, but they also pay a lot of attention mentally so that you feel ready in the race, to handle the pressure, but also as a person. For me, this is also very important. I was able to come today (Wednesday) to this race, because they let me go home one day to see my girlfriend for our anniversary. Not very often a rider can decide something like that, but they understand this and they support you.
-What is your goal here in O Gran Camiño?
-Yes, we came to win with Jonas, obviously he is a rider who goes out to win in all the races. I’m here to support him, but you also have to see how the races go and sometimes it’s better to have more riders, so we also have Steven Kruijswijk and Rohan Dennis and the young guys as well. They are really strong from the development team, so we have to play more cards and we really want to dominate this race. I think the whole field will look at us so we will have some hard work this week, but we hope to win.
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-This is also the start of the season for Jonas, but is he here to take the victory?
-Yes that’s how it is. He was my roommate at Teide for the last 90 days, so we talked a lot about everything, but obviously about this race and yes, especially with the long time trial at the end, which he likes a lot and put a lot of effort into as well. on Teide to improve it, so yes, I think it will be difficult to let go on any climb and then in time trial he can be better than everyone in this peloton. I think he will have another good season, but then he will have much bigger goals.
-Regarding the next Tour de France, do you think you will have more pressure to be the champion?
-Yes, I think that when you have won once, it is an extra pressure, we talked about this, that is, I asked him about his opinion. Last year Tadej Pogacar had an amazing season, but he lost the Tour with him and then everyone said he failed, so you can win everything and you are number one in the UCI ranking, you are doing the calendar from February to October, winning the bigger races, but you lose the Tour, and already it seems that the season is lost. It’s crazy to me. Jonas knows that he already won the Tour de France, so if he doesn’t win next year, he considers his life to go on. That is also a good approach, but he is extremely motivated to defend the title.
-Will you be on the next Tour to support him? What will your grand tour schedule be this year?
-I don’t think that in the first year I can fit in such a big team. They also have to think about performance, of course, and there are riders who are stronger than me, but also in terms of the team, who know each other better, because I just arrived. For them it is very important to have this cohesion and I need to learn this first, but I will have many other opportunities this year, as well as this week maybe I can have my opportunities. The Strade Bianche is also a very good race for me and I will do the Basque Country again with Jonas. It’s important to me to help him win and have my chances in the Ardennes classics, races I never did but should be good for me.
“Vingegaard will have extra pressure to be the Tour champion”
-Apart from Itzulia, can we see you in La Vuelta?
-I want to fight for it, because I don’t have the Giro or the Tour in my plan. I never started the Vuelta and I always like to watch it and I train a lot in Spain, like every professional cyclist, so I know a lot of stages so I will really do everything I can to be in the team.
-What race do you dream of winning in your career?
-The Tour de France.
-Because?
-I never did the Tour de France, but I did the Giro, I did great races and you feel that the difference is not very big between the Giro and the Tour, but seen from the outside, if you tell some people that I won the Vuelta or the Giro , it will always be different from the Tour. The Tour de France is the most prestigious, the most difficult to win due to pressure, because most people see it and that makes it more valuable. From a sporting point of view, I don’t think it’s more difficult to finish or do well in the Vuelta or the Giro than in the Tour, but in my country if I say that I win the Vuelta, everyone will know it, but if I say that I win the Tour, that is already another story.
