You can't say no to the call of the Tour. Eduardo Chozas (Madrid, 1960) had not traveled for four years – in 2020 he underwent a bone marrow transplant – but yesterday he took a flight that took him to France, to the Alps, where today the stage ends at the Col de Granon. “Three or four months ago they called me from the Hautes-Alpes department, which are the ones that have organized everything. It is a pride”, says the former cyclist and commentator. He was the winner of the only time the port was climbed in the French round, in 1986.
It was the second of his four Chozas wins on the Tour. “It was a solo escape of many kilometers (155). The wear was brutal because before two long ports were climbed like the Vars and the Izoard ”, he recalls to this newspaper. He got to have 18 minutes of advantage. He crossed the finish line with six. “What a surprise I found the Granon. They were 12 km very hard –at 9.1% on average–. The last three seemed endless to me. I was in agony. I emptied myself, I ran out of fuel. What is said a pájara ”, he confesses.
Before, videos of ports were not in style, nor were there applications like Strava to get an idea. “So hardly anyone knew him. The Vars and the Izoard were common. The recognitions in person only made them four favorites. It was also a very hot day, which makes it harder”, he points out. Like now.
Looking back at that 1986 is to be nostalgic. “We won five stages from five different riders. Sarrapio, Peio Ruiz Cabestany, Perico Delgado, Gorospe and me”. Plus nine wins in the Vuelta and one in the Giro. Nothing to do with these times.
The former cyclist, who raced for seven different teams, regrets that the requirements have left only Movistar on the World Tour. “In 1990 there were 11 professional teams and five or six of them were top level. Now they ask too much from sponsors, it has become more expensive. They ask you to have three teams in one. You need 25 cyclists, more buses, assistants, cooks… It's a problem”.
Chozas was a specialist in escapades. “On your own you have no problems. No one can beat you,” he laughs. "Of all my victories, only two, the Saint-Etienne stage (1990 Tour) and the classic Piggy Bank, were not like that."
He is an expert in the matter, he has his recipe but he warns that there are no secrets. “I was looking for life in the mountain stages, where it is more difficult for a peloton to chase. In the mountains, if you go well, you will go forward. And try it from afar. There is no more secret. Just train the resistance to be able to endure 150 km escaped ”, he advises.
A Chozas is clear about who he wants to be his successor. What he would like is for “a Spaniard to repeat” his escape. Castroviejo and Verona tried it out in Châtel. Luis León Sánchez caressed him in Megève. But he leaves another name: “Vingegaard”. “It is the day to find out if the Dane can beat Pogacar”, he warns.
