“I notice that I have more and more responsibility”Alex Aranburu is sincere, the 26-year-old from Ezkio from Gipuzkoa who has just turned 26, who is being targeted by all the national team’s focus before the Flanders World Cup. And it is not for less, because in the expedition everyone agrees that it is the great asset of a National Team in which the gap left by the injured Valverde is very large. “Valverde is a lot Valverde ”, acknowledges the Basque, who nevertheless sees this weight as something positive:“ It is an opportunity, in the end I also motivated myself more ”. In fact, the federation’s technical body ensures that, despite the fact that this year there is no leader as clear as Murcia, Aranburu starts as head of a team with names like Cortina or Gorka Izagirre, who can also be alternatives.
But Aranburu, who has also taken a step forward in Astana (in the Movistar orbit for next year), has earned the opportunity to be the reference, with results such as his sixth position in the Omloop, the seventh in San Remo , a good number of second and third places, plus the victory this year in a stage of the Tour of the Basque Country, the first World Tour triumph of his record. “I did not arrive as well as I would like because of the fall of La Vuelta. Then I have trained well and I have had some good results, but not at the level that is going to be in this World Cup ”.
Even so, in the Belgian media they also mention him as one of the cyclists to take into account behind the great favorites, while he trusts that the National Team will be able to show its face … even though Valverde is no longer there. “In the end, those of us who are here have come with great enthusiasm and we can have a good World Cup.”