Beloved Baby Face | Cyclingnews

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Beloved Baby Face: Oscar Sevilla(Image credit: Caroline Yang)

An interview with Oscar Sevilla Ribera, August 9, 2004

Oscar Sevilla: I've come to a number of conclusions about the Tour. First, on the sporting side, I ended up happy because my performance was as I expected to be. Personally, I felt satisfied because I was able to finish the race. Almost no one knows, but I suffered a cracked rib and I had to have surgery on one of my knees after the Tour. I had a problem in my knee because of the fall I suffered in the race's first day. So, I rode injured almost the whole race.

Actually, I felt bad psychologically as well as in my body. I was not able to ride in the front of the peloton because of my injury, and I thought my place in the race wasn't right, being so far behind in the peloton. I wanted to ride in the front, attacking, trying to get in the leader's group, and I wasn't able to achieve that in any part of the race. I rode the whole race suffering on the bike, chasing the others, and I actually had a very bad time.

We knew our place in the team and I think Tyler was happy with all of us. We stayed together, we worked together, sheltering Tyler from wind, from pave and from the crashes on roads I dislike during the first and second week. And the truth is that Hamilton was happy with the team. We had many problems later though, beginning with the team time trial, then Tyler's crash and my own crash. It was a truly difficult Tour de France for Phonak.

The same with Tyler - Tyler is a great rider, and I should say he is a very good teammate. He cares about everything, about every rider, about the technical things on bikes. He wants us to be happy; he wants us to work with joy. I think we have a very good [team] environment thanks to all and to Tyler because he cares about all of us. He looks not only after himself, but also after the rest of the team. We are very happy to work not only for a teammate, but for a friend. Because I consider I have a 'friend' relationship with him.

However, it was truly wonderful since the moment I joined the squad in a team training camp in Switzerland last November. Everyone treated me very well: the riders, the technical team, Phonak's people. All the people are marvellous and I think it's a team with a big future. I hope Phonak will be the number one team because of the quality of people. And I think the good relations inside the whole team are very important in order to succeed. The good environment is our biggest asset in Phonak.

OS: At first I felt, I don't know how to say it... very bad, because he made very serious accusations that may harm a sportsman. I think of myself as a healthy sportsman and I made a big sacrifice in order to reach the place I occupy now. Everything seemed to be really blasé the way Manzano told things. Everyone was supposedly doping, using a needle. I believe he was filling people's minds with untrue things.

The people who know us, the cyclists, know we sacrifice ourselves very much, we train very much, we make things right. Manzano just talked about doping. Doping always existed and will always exist. But it's also true that is a small thing and that sooner or later cheats are caught. I think Manzano wanted to take revenge on Vicente Belda [Kelme's sporting director], Kelme's management and medical staff. I think he harmed cycling very much; I think he just wanted to harm these people. He talked about many savageries, many things I've never seen. I spent six years on that team and I can guarantee that, and I am confident about what I am saying.

I think he talked about many things without any evidence and the saddest thing was the attention the media paid to him. The As newspaper paid him attention without evidence and that's very harmful for many people, for many cyclists, for many children who hope to become cyclists. We are willing to do everything, to make blood controls and urine controls, out of race, by surprise, whatever. And we are proud of that. It is really sad to be treated the way we were treated because of this rider's declarations who is unknown to most of the people. But if there's someone who is guilty, that person must pay.

OS: Yes, sure. I was very close in 2001, but I was very young. I was not very aware of what I had done because everything came to me very fast and I didn't realize what I was doing. I wore the leader's jersey on many stages, but then I had some problems with my team and ended up fourth in 2002. I consider I could have reached the podium that year. Last year I had many crashes and problems. I think I am mature now; I'm 27 years old and I already know what I want.

As you say, it is something I need to change and I hope if not this year that I win next year. I think that Oscar Sevilla has the Vuelta a España in his legs. I am a rider who was not able to train like I can know and how I wanted in the last two years. I consider that my biggest strength is that I know what sacrifice is. Sacrifice to train myself, to be careful in every aspect, to often be far from home. And this is very important, so the only thing I ask for is the health to do it. I think I am able to win a Vuelta a España!

OS: Yes, and luckily [the Vuelta] is the best race for me to win with so many people who love me and cheer me. I would like to win the Vuelta a España once for these people, for all these people who cheer me and are beside me. Feeling loved is the nicest thing in the world. I like to sign in autographs and pose for pictures with my fans in every race because I appreciate very much the treatment they give me. Thanks to them, one has strengths to overcome the bad moments.

OS: Yes, it's really difficult to equal their achievements, especially Induráin's feats. I guess "Perico" [Delgado] did very much for cycling in this country [Spain]. Thanks to him, I am now a cyclist because I remember watching him in '88 when he was there fighting. And the truth is that I have great admiration for Delgado. He is my idol and I hope I am able to become just a bit what he was. He is my idol as a rider and also as a person. He is a great person, he gives me much advice and I hope some day people compare me with Delgado, but I have to earn that.

OS: I don't know, it depends on my knee. If I recover, I will begin training next Monday. I will probably ride some races this month like some one-day classic in Spain like the Clásica de los Puertos or the Luis Ocaña trophy. Then I guess those in the team will have a training camp to prepare for some of the important and difficult stages in the Vuelta that we don't know, like the one in Almeria and Sierra Nevada. So we can train together and see them.

I guess I will also attack in La Covatilla and in the Madrid sierra that are the toughest stages. The Madrid sierra is hard as we have saw last year when [Isidro] Nozal lost the Vuelta in there. This stage in Madrid is not excessively tough, but the tiredness may show up in many riders. And then my goal would be to have a good margin to face the final day, although I like this last time trial. It's like the world championships in Madrid, made for specialists but with hills and curves.

I would also mention Alejandro Valverde. Valverde is not surprising me because I've known him for a long time and he is a good friend of mine. I know Alejandro is a rider with much quality. What really surprises me is the speed how he is achieving everything. However, Alejandro is preparing himself for the Olympic Games and that means he will start the Vuelta a bit tired, but he is a high-quality cyclist and he must be included in the candidates' list.

OS: Yes, I would like to ride the world championships because I will be in good shape by that time and also because I will probably be not too tired in that part of the calendar year. And also Lombardia and Milano-Torino and the Giro del Piemonte. Especially Lombardia, because I raced it last year and I liked it very much. It's a race I would like to ride. To win there is very difficult but I think I will be among the top positions.