Inigo Mujika, carrying out a performance test. (Photo: Inigo Mujika)
You have mostly worked with endurance athletes. What basic differences do you find with respect to working with speed or strength athletes?
It is true that I have worked with triathletes, cyclists, runners, rowers and other endurance athletes, but I have also worked a lot with footballers, water polo players, and even tennis players and motocross riders, all intermittent type of activities requiring a specific preparation very different to that of endurance athletes. It is also true that I have never worked directly with sprinters, so I am not in a position to evaluate the differences in working with them. In any case, not all endurance athletes are equal, nor are all sprinters or team sport athletes. I think the particular characteristics of each athlete are much more determinant than those of the sport itself when establishing the way to work with them.
With Hektor Llanos at Zarautz Triathlon 2011. (Photo: Amaia Casado)
Ten years ago now Hektor Llanos gave me the opportunity to enter the world of triathlon through the front door by becoming his coach, nothing less, at a time when I barely knew that the sport consisted on swimming, cycling and then running. “It doesn’t matter” he said, “I trust you”. His brother Eneko also decided to place the same confidence in me. After I dedicated a couple of months to study the available scientific literature on various aspects of triathlon, to evaluate their competition results, their qualities and limitations, and to watch videos of both Olympic distance and Ironman races, we started working together in January 2002. Two years later Ainhoa came onboard, and in 2005 Virginia, but Hektor was the one who opened the doors of triathlon wide for me.
Joseba Beloki, in the Col de Peyresourde (Photo: French Saint. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons)
It was hard for you to get to the elite level. You had to overcome a lot of adversities. Does having to overcome problems at a young age help shaping the character to be a great champion?
I don’t consider myself a great champion, just someone who was fortunate to reach the elite of the sport he loves. It is true that it was difficult for me to get there and my career was full of adversities, but overcoming all that helped me become a much stronger person and to value what I achieved even more.
Did you ever go to the Tour believing that you could beat Lance Armstrong or did you always think that for that to happen you had to be at your best and he had to fail?
I have no doubt that both Armstrong and Ullrich were better cyclists than I was physiologically speaking, so I always worked very hard to get as close as possible to them and reach the key stages in better shape. After the surprise of the year 2000 my confidence grew and I planned the Tour better and better each year, until I reached my best form in 2003, but luck also counts and it was not in my side that year.
