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Two leaders but no tension on Caisse d’Epargne

Published: Jul. 12, 2007
Pereiro expects no gifts this year.
Pereiro expects no gifts this year.
Photo: Andrew Hood

Will there be a Spanish civil war between Alejandro Valverde and Oscar Pereiro to see who takes control of the Caisse d’Epargne team?

The Spanish team starts this year’s Tour in what could be a delicate issue if the protagonists involved weren’t such carefree characters.

The pair says there’s no tension between them and, from the ease at which they smile and joke when they’re together, you have to believe them.

“The road will decide who we will ride for,” Pereiro told VeloNews before the start of Thursday’s stage. “If Alejandro is flying, then I will work for him. That’s not to say I’ve discounted my own chances, but that’s the real picture of how things stand.”

Pereiro starts his fourth Tour as the man who could inherit the crown of last year’s race if Floyd Landis loses his bid to fend off doping charges, but the team has all but anointed Valverde as their GC hope for the future.

Valverde, despite the hype, has yet to finish the Tour in two starts and refuses to speculate about his goals this Tour other than surviving to Paris.

That could create fractures, but Caisse d’Epargne is counting on the goodwill and friendship of their two captains to avoid any messy conflicts on the road.

“I’m tired and it’s been a stressful week,” Valverde told VeloNews at the end of Thursday’s chaotic stage. “The first week has been tranquilo and Oscar and I will share the team responsibility into the Alps. There’s no problem between us. It’s better for me and for the team to have two options. If one goes badly, the other will be ready.”

The Alps should tell Caisse d’Epargne which rider it will back fairly quickly.

Pereiro is notorious for having at least one bad day (sometimes two), but more than rose to the occasion last year when he rode into the yellow jersey on the road to Montelimar when Phonak let him ride away in a breakaway that took back 30 minutes.

Pereiro knows this year he can’t expect such charity and insists he’s completely focused on this year’s race despite the unresolved issue of the Landis case still hanging over the Tour.

“My head was spinning from all the Floyd business this winter. Now I am focused on the Tour,” he said. “I’m not thinking about what happened last year anymore – not in the race or out of it. I have options this year and we have a team that’s unified to work for who’s strongest.”

Caisse d’Epargne seems to be giving Pereiro the benefit of the doubt. The team can’t throw all its marbles behind Valverde when Pereiro could become the first Spanish rider to win the Tour since 1995 if Landis loses his doping case.

Last year, Pereiro lined up as a “joker” behind the rising candidacy of Valverde, but this year, the team’s official line is that they’re co-captains.

“Alejandro has shown the potential that he could win a Tour but he still must arrive to Paris. Oscar has finished on the podium, so it’s natural we will support both riders,” said sport director Eusebio Unzue. “Alejandro is still a rider with promise at the Tour while Oscar has proven that he can be a candidate for victory. It’s better for the team to have both riders.”

Valverde is hoping to make it through the Alps in good position to be able to take on the Pyrenees for the first time of his Tour career.

In 2005, Valverde won at Courchevel – a climb very similar to Tignes – to herald his arrival only to abandon with knee troubles before reaching the Pyrénées. Last year, he broke his collarbone in stage three and bounced back to finish second in the Vuelta a España.

“We’re ready for the mountains,” Valverde said. “I will be content to get through this first week without mishap. The mountains will tell us where everyone stands.”

Including Pereiro and Valverde.