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Juan Antonio Flecha, Fassa Bortolo

15 November 2005

A Spaniard to be Reckoned With

 

Juan Antonio Flecha (Fassa Bortolo) can crank out the rhythm on the cobbled roads of the north. The Spaniard (28) is not to be taken lightly in races like Paris-Roubaix or Tour de Flanders. This year he set the Iberian peninsula on fire when he came oh so close to a win in Paris-Roubaix. Mark the name Flecha down in your score books because he will soon top the podium in the Queen of the Classics. Read the following BiciRace.com interview Flecha and learn all the details.

Barcelona is the Place to Be

BiciRace.com:  Complements on a very nice personal website. We really liked the old photo of you with the big bike. Was that taken in Argentina or Spain?
Juan Antonio Flecha:  Yeah, it is Argentina in front of the house where I was living before I arrived in Spain.
BR:  It also looks like you are standing on some pavé!
JAF:  Yes, the streets where my house was located were all pavé.
BR:  Very cool, a great way to start your appreciation for the northern classics. You have dual citizenship in both counties. But how many languages do you speak?
JAF:  I speak English, Italian, and a little bit of French.
BR:  But no Dutch?
JAF:  No ... no Dutch [Laughs, next year Flecha will ride for the Dutch squadra, Rabobank]. But you know I live in Barcelona, which is a part of Spain where we speak Catalan. It is a language that is close to Italian, French and Spanish. So I also speak Catalan.
BR:  So now your home is in Barcelona, and you live very close to the airport, do you find that has its advantages?
JAF:  Yes, I live just 15K south of the airport. It has its advantages when there is an early flight. For example when there is a flight at 9.00, I can wake up at 7.45 and be to the airport on time. If lived in the north I would have to cross Barcelona to get to the airport, which is in the south. So it is much better when you consider the traffic. The training is good here considering it is a big city, but if I need to go to the Pyrenees it is only an hour and a half by car.
BR:  On arriving to Spain you first lived in Puigcerdà, near France. It is an area surrounded by mountains ... How did the area affect your riding style?
JAF:  Yes, Puigcerdà is located between France and Spain and there are mountains all around. The town is at 1200 meters and there you can climb up to 2500 or 3500 meters. The good thing is that the town is in the Valley, so there is always sunlight because it is east to west. It is a very, very nice place.
BR:  Because you are known as a flat-lander, how did this affect your riding style?
JAF:  Yes, there are not so many flat roads. When I have to do specific training I prefer to be in Barcelona. Normally before the Classics I train in Barcelona, because of the flat options. It is what makes me stronger in races like Paris-Roubaix and Tour de Flanders.
BR:  To give you a nice strong engine?
JAF:  Yes! You need 20 to 25 minutes for doing intervals, up to four times. If you don't have that long of a stretch of road then it gets boring. It is not like it is for you in Italy. In Italy it is a great place for training, because you have all flats and mountains. Here is Spain ... well ... it is not so easy. There are always mountains or hills.

A Spaniard for the Pavé

BR:  You had a solid spring this year this year with 12th in Flanders and 3rd in Roubaix. Can you explain to the BiciRace.com readers what will it take to change those placings into a win?
JAF:  Well, in Roubaix I was there. I was third, and I was there at the end. If I wanted to win I would need to be a little fresher. At the end of that race it was Tom, George and me, and we were completely dead, so no one tried to attack. The only option was to sprint, there was no power to do anything else. So I don't know ... I hope next year to have a harder Paris-Roubaix ... Well, if it is a similar Paris-Roubaix to this year then I think I can be the top. ... And Flanders is a different race. I was happy because four or five weeks before I had an injury and Flanders was my first big race back. I was hoping for a top 15, and for me I was 12th, so for me it was great.
BR:  So if you could repeat Roubaix, but be a little fresher, you would want to put in your winning attack 5 to 10K out?
JAF:  Well, you never know where you are going to do your attack. Ferretti always told me that if you arrive at the final kilometers in front then you will know what to do: If you have to attack at 10, 7, 5 or 1K or sprint. If you arrive there in the finale then you will know, because every race is different. Before a race like Roubaix you can't say that you will attack at 5K because it is always different. You have to have trust in yourself to know what to do. I am a rider who can attack at 5K, 3K or sprint, so I don't have to focus on what I will do. It all depends on the race. For me it is just important to arrive at the end with the front group.
BR:  So back to the 2005 Gent-Wevelgem ... what are you thoughts on that finish now? [Flecha and Nico Mattan were involved in a questionable finish.]
JAF:  I think that I did not know what happened, but the analysts saw it on TV. I am not the one who has to say what happened. Everyone saw what happened there, including the UCI. There are the rules and there are also the commissaries. I can say "it is OK", but I know for me it is not OK. There are some people that say sometimes the rules work for someone and sometimes not. I think in that race the rules were not correct. In the last kilometer there is never supposed to be any cars between the first riders and the 2nd, and in that race there were two. So I can't say that Mattan was guilty ... The UCI guys that were at that race let two cars and two motorbikes in there, so it is up to them.
BR:  Yes, the rules are up to the UCI commissaries and the autos should not have been there.
JAF:  Yes, it was not right. I think that Mattan found a good situation and he took it. I don't know what I would do if I was in the same situation, but it is up to the commissaries who were there to decide.

Tuned-In To Classics (Then the Tour)

BR:  Were you able to watch Classics like Paris-Roubaix when you were growing up?
JAF:  I watched Paris-Roubaix since I was 15 years-old, if I wanted to see it I had to make sure I tuned into the satellite TV.
BR:  The race probably gets more coverage now that you have finished third.
JAF:  Yes, I think so. You know that after that race the sports minister of Spain sent me a letter. He congratulated me for finishing third. I was surprised ... And it was very nice. I did not even think that a third place in that race was so special for the Spanish government. The problem is that in 40 years no Spanish rider has had a good race in Roubaix or Flanders.
BR:  Congratulations on receiving that letter and being honored by the Spanish government.
JAF:  Thanks. Yeah, I was really really surprised getting that letter.
BR:  Would either one of these races, Flanders or Roubaix, be more important to you than your 2003 Tour win?
JAF:  Yes, I think no one can place a Tour stage win ahead of a big monument like Roubaix. For me winning Roubaix would be ... It would be everything. But, personally speaking, winning that Tour stage to Toulouse was very special to me because my girlfriend was there and it was in her town of Toulouse. But if I won a big monument like Flanders or Roubaix, then you can't compare that to one stage win ... There is no comparison.
BR:  So you are moving on to Rabobank next year, have you discussed with them if you will ride the Giro or Tour in 2006?
JAF:  I feel that I prefer to do the Tour de France. If I have to do another stage race then I would like to do the Vuelta. I also think that the Giro of next year will be a very hard one. I prefer to do the Classics, stop for a little bit, and then prepare for the Tour de France.
BR:  What do you think about the number of opportunities for a rider like you in the 2006 Tour de France?
JAF:  I think it will be easier than this year. But this year was so fast and so you can never say how it will be. It is never easy to win a stage of the Tour, but I think next year there will be more stages where I could have a chance to win.
JAF:  Looks like most of the opportunities for you will come in the first half of the race.
BR:  Yes, I think before the Pyrenees. Then before the Alps, but after the Alps there are not so many opportunities. But right now I am only thinking of the Classics, after Roubaix I will then focus more on the Tour and start thinking about the possible stages.

Worlds Spanish Armada

JAF:  The 2006 World Championships will be held in Salzburg. Your Spanish team should have strong options with Alejandro Valverde or Oscar Freire, and with you there to help them win.
BR:  I think that for next year I just hope to get selected. There are a lot of Spanish riders who can ride well in the Worlds. I think that next year will be a very similar to the Worlds in Madrid, so I don't know if it will arrive in a bunch sprint or not. But I will always work for Freire or Valverde in the Worlds, because those riders are always very good riders in the Worlds.

Flecha Leaves Giancarlo Ferretti

BR:  In your two years at Fassa Bortolo have you learned a lot from the other riders on the team and also Giancarlo Ferretti?
JAF:  For me it will always be a team to remember. It was a team where I learned a lot of skills and it was also a team where I became a good classics rider. I can never forget Fassa Bortolo or Ferretti. I think that over the two years I was special, and I learned a lot from Ferretti. I think that in Rabobank I have found a good team, they always think about doing something special in the race. If there is wind they think to do something in the wind, if they need to attack, then they attack ... I think it is very similar to Fassa Bortolo. When I went to Fassa Bortolo I did not even know about Ferretti, but in the end I learned so much. I hope for the same at Rabobank. I know that the races of Flanders and Roubaix are always special to them, so it should be very good for me there.
BR:  Yes, Rabobank always seems to do well in the classics and the team will be good for a rider like you. ... With Giancarlo Ferretti some riders get along with him and some don't. Did you have any problems in developing your relationship with him?
JAF:  It is normal with such a special person, you can always find riders that either love him or hate him. If you are a normal director then it is usually fine, but with someone like Ferretti you have people that say he is the worst or the best, there is no middle ground. He is such a special person. For me, I can only say good things. I will never forget Ferretti.
BR:  Is he the type of director that will fall back on stories of his past riders like Moreno Argentin and Michele Bartoli?
JAF:  Yes, there have been lots of good classics riders under him. He always will talk about those riders... he is a very experienced director.

Looking To Orange Future

BR:  After cycling do you have any desire to continue in a director role in cycling?
JAF:  Well, it has always been my dream to be a cyclist, and now I am a pro cyclist and I want to focus on being the best I can. I will wait until later to think about life after a cyclist. When I stop I don't know what I will do, but I would like to remain in cycling. To me cycling is very nice and I could not imagine myself without cycling. I could not say if I would be working on a team, or with a shop, or ... But I would like to stay in the sport of cycling and that would make me very happy ... I think I can find something.
BR:  It should not be a problem for you. There is always the need for someone with your talents and language abilities in the international sport of cycling.
JAF:  Thanks. [Laughs]
BR:  Next year you will be with Freire, Spain's other big one day racer, will this provide extra motivation for you?
JAF:  Yes. I raced with him in the Worlds at Verona and I think a lot of him. The way he raced that race was very spectacular. Everything was under control for him. Next year racing with him will be very exciting, and I think together we can have a very good team.
BR:  BiciRace.com thinks that it will be exciting to have the two best one-day Spanish riders on one team.
JAF:  Yes, thanks. Oscar is strong and fast, and I am also strong, so I think we will make a good pair. I think if we are at the end in a race together then it will be hard to beat us. Oscar is always up there and often better than me. Racing with him is important, he is a three-time world champion and he knows how to win races.
BR:  And you are moving away from your old friend, Fabian Cancellara, who will race with Team CSC for 2006. Will it be hard to race against Fabian in 2006?
JAF:  Well, we are very good friends. I think in some races we will be able to help each other out without any problem because we are very good friends. It will not be easy to race against him!

Winter Does Not Include Hamburgers

BR:  What kind of exercises are you doing right now?
JAF:  I am doing a lot of cyclocross riding now. I go to the mountains with my bike, and it is nice, even if it rains. It helps me a lot in my handling and agility. This month I am in the gym, but in the next month I will start on my specific training.
BR:  When is the first meeting with the new team?
JAF:  I think it will be 4 January.
BR:  So you will be getting new carbon bikes?
JAF:  Yes, I will have a Colnago and I will be using a full carbon bike in Roubaix.
BR:  Are you using a Colnago now for cyclocross?
JAF:  No, because I use the bike so infrequently that I don't need such a nice bike. I have my own bike for cyclocross.
BR:  And now in the winter are you enjoying any 'less healthy' food?
JAF:  Oh no, not really. OK, now I can eat more chocolate. I don't really eat that much chocolate anyway, but now I do eat more than during the season. But I don't like burgers or burritos. I remember when Tom Danielson [2004] was on Fassa Bortolo he was so excited to get back to the USA to get a Burrito. [Laughs] He was like, 'ohhh, Those Burritos are so good!' Here in Spain there are different items, but no burgers.
BR:  Yes in the USA there are burritos and hamburgers everywhere! [Laughs] So have you taken any vacations lately?
JAF:  Right after Lombardia I went to the Canary Islands. I was able to spend 10 days windsurfing. All 10 days were windy and my girlfriend and I were able to get in some great wind surfing. It was great. Well, it was a really relaxed vacation. Drinks, 2 to 3 hours wind-surfing, eat, sleep and get up and do it again!
BR:  Was that your first time to do wind-surfing?
JAF:  Yes! And at the hotel where we stayed the beach was a great spot for windsurfing. This year was my fist time to try. I was not great, but I can do it with out much risks. It is like riding your bike on the water, I really enjoyed it!
BR:  Juan that sounds great, I am glad you had such a great vacation. Thanks for joining BiciRace.com in an interview!
JAF:  Ah, no problems.
BR:  Have a nice winter and enjoy your cyclocross riding.
JAF:  Thanks. Ciao