Jostling For Position: Insights and First-Hand Accounts From the Golden Years of Spanish Cycling

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After clearing up the situation surrounding the COVID-19 outbreak in his home country, the Czech Republic, Jiří stated that he was happy to be riding outside with friends again and that the course of the last few months wasn’t that bad regarding Czech cyclists but it was certainly a challenge for anyone. “It was quite difficult for everyone, not only the athletes, and especially for the elderly. I’ve been helping with my bike and going shopping for those who couldn’t around my house.” She regrets that this was not the case with the RFEC (Royal Spanish Cycling Federation), though, who apparently not only did not make things easy for her but also discriminated against her. "I had so many duties and very few rights myself .” Among other things, she was summoned nine months after giving birth to a forty-day schedule away from home which involved travelling the world from one end to the other. She missed out on the support to travel with her child, something that the US Womens NBA does provide, for example. With the conversations I have had to write this article, I’ve come to realise that motherhood in top-level sport is still not yet an issue which is on the table. Even in women’s cycling, it is hardly a topic of conversation. This could be because of fears and uncertainties that still exist around it, whether it is about losing status in the team in a highly competitive sector, reconciling top-level competition with family life, economic issues or not returning to the desired sporting level.

Laura: Well, I would love it. But all of us also have a life outside of cycling even though we are all passionate about what we do. I really love what I do and, at least for me, it’s easy to spend as much time as I can with the peloton because I’ve already been following their stories all year so I understand very well their position and how they are. But the cycling calendar is so long, it’s so big and with so many races. I’d have to do some serious negotiations with home! But, of course, who wouldn’t love to cover more and more cycling?In the post-stage press conference he caught our attention with his measured way of speaking, and his intelligence. Growing up in Argentina and Chile, Laura fondly recalls memories of her dad’s office being under the house, requiring her to pass through the press room to reach home. She would say hello to all the other journalists on a daily basis, watching them write articles day-in, day-out, imitating them on the weekend when the room was free from people and it was just her and the room as her playground. He has been a very unique rider, and this is not said just by Spanish journalists. I mean, if you go inside the peloton and ask about this, you’ll hear the respect they have because no one better than a cyclist understands how much it takes to race and win this or that,” she said. “He’s a unique rider, not only because of his achievements, but the way he sees and enjoys cycling. He loves his bike so much, he doesn’t understand his life without it. Only a few months after that Vuelta, she left the construction company, and stepped into the unknown as a cycling journalist, heading to races with little knowledge, but a lot of willingness to learn. Sixteen years later, Meseguer has become one of the most esteemed journalists and is highly regarded in the professional peloton. A fourth Tour de France victory for Chris Froome, meanwhile, showed a new side to the quiet rider, maybe a more human side.

https://lnkd.in/dp4tzVPt #ciclismo #IgorAntón #BajoelMaillot #PedroHorrillo #LauraMeseguer #periodismo Warner Bros. Discovery will have uninterrupted live coverage of La Vuelta a Espana on discovery+, the Eurosport App, and GCN+. There will also be non-live content such as documentary Uphill Climb, The Women Who Conquered The Impossible Race. The 35-minute film looks at the athletes who made the Tour de France Femmes possible, and includes personal accounts of courageous female cyclists and insights from cycling commentator Phil Liggett. GCN+ houses another 200+ cycling films.Laura: I must recognise I like working, but just because I love what I do. For me it’s really difficult to say no to a project or collaboration, because I do really enjoy to do it. And I also say yes to projects outside cycling if they can fit into my programme. It’s a learning experience, you get to know other professionals and personalities and you can also develop other skills. Since I was a child I have had a special love for communications. Photography, music, movies, writing and every single way you can express something with it. I attended media studies and my intention was not to focus on journalism. In 2006 my plan had been to move to Cuba for a couple of months for a course of Direction of Photography for the film industry. But I started working for a new company and I suddenly understood the power of sport and everything changed. Rodriguez angrily claimied the last stage is cerermonial and many observers considered the jersey to have effectively been stolen.

PEZ: You are a writer for the Spanish cycling magazine; Pedalier Pro. Why did you go into cycling journalism? Yet since then, Team Sky’s monopoly at the French race has propelled him to two more victories, but none have been as emotional and inspiring as those initial achievements. PEZ: In Spain we saw you on TV commentating on the Giro d’Italia, was that scary and is it something you would like to do more of? There must have been tough moments, but he’s so humble, a normal guy. Of course, we will miss that. We miss that already.” A new generation That distinction between the Tour de France and the other Grand Tours is one every rider near the top of the classification knows all too well.Equally, some sprint stages were a bit dull, both for the public in general and the commentators who had to report on it, who were often seen at the end of the day leaving the box with weary eyes and dispirited smiles.

Laura: I see Ashley and Flecha as a strong combo. It’s great to have access to Flecha’s detailed knowledge of the sport and to speak with him about race and team strategy. It’s really very interesting. While, for me, it’s good to tell them what was happening at the start. Not just what I heard in the interviews, but also the pre-race atmosphere, who was chatting to whom, what the big names and teams were saying. Winner of best podcast at the Cycling Media Awards and a finalist at the inaugural British Podcast Awards. 2017 That is exactly what I'm referring to. I don't think the two of us have anything in common at all. I think she made a mistake of converting herself into a product on an TV-station who really knows how to "sell products". It’s problem when you act like a product and still want to be taking serious as a journalist. I don't feel I belong on TV but if so it should be on a serious network that doesn't sell the women as entertainment products but as the real reporters we are. Laura: Not at all, but sometimes they are more shy than when they speak to us than to other journalists. Two hardworking Eurosport journos: Laura with Petra Harangi at the Tour de France (image courtesy of Laura Meseguer)Laura: We lived in Argentina and Chile because my father was the local delegate for the Agencia EFE and our house was in the same building where the agency was located. In fact, to enter the house you had to cross the editorial office first. I grew up between teletypes, old computers, papers everywhere, telephones ringing all day long and journalists. When the agency was empty it turned into my playroom. Thanks to my father’s job we were used to have people at home visiting us: personalities from the Argentinean and Spanish cultures, show-business people and very often the Spanish journalists living in Argentina or Chile. I remember our house crowded with people for dinner such as for the typical asado argentino (Argentine barbecue). So I also grew up listening to amazing stories and surrounded by very interesting people. Soon I realised that journalism was a very demanding profession as my father spent most of the day working in his office. In addition to this he and his friends who used to come into our home were truly passionate and dedicated to their work.