Madrid-born
Saunier Duval-Prodir rider José Ángel Gómez Marchante has a well-defined goal
for 2006: the Tour de France. To become part of Saunier Duval’s Tour team he
must follow a strict training program and avoid working too hard in the
beginning of the season. "I was told that I should take it easy [in] the
beginning of the season - and that’s what I’m doing! I’m lucky because I don’t
put on weight in winter and I keep fit. Thus, I’ll be perfectly able to follow
the training [the coaches] have prepared for me. I hope I’ll have a nice debut
at the Tour of the Basque Country."
Gómez
Marchante adds, "We’ll have a good squad at the Tour of the Basque Country, and
we are all intended to be in good shape for the race, which is very important
because it’s part of the UCI ProTour and also because Saunier Duval-Prodir want
to make a good impression from the very beginning. After the Basque Country
tour, I’ll ride in the Amstel Gold Race, the Fleche Valonne, and the
Liège-Bastogne-Liège. It’ll all be new to me as I’ve never participated in any
of these classic races."
"After
that, I’ll [focus solely on] my main aim this year: the Tour de France. I’ll
take part in the Dauphiné Libéré, where I hope my performance will be at least
as good as last year (2nd place, stage result). Then, I really expect to have a
good 2006 Tour de France, so that I can finally erase those bad 2005 memories,
where I fell and broke my clavicle."
As
for the end of season, Marchante says he prefers not to think too much about
that. "Last year, I’d planned to ride in the Vuelta and couldn’t because of my
clavicle injury. It’s better not to make long-term plans. My focus is on the
Tour right now."
