Esteban Chaves has had more than his fair share of injuries and illnesses to overcome in his career, but the EF Education-EasyPost racer has always refused to throw in the towel and plays the long game – two of his trademark characteristics as a racer. After a couple of uneven years, in 2024 Chaves is once again looking determinedly ahead for fresh success.
Climbing Port Ainé on Wednesday, you could have forgiven Chaves for getting somewhat nostalgic. After all, the mammoth Pyrenean ascent was where the Colombian took his last WorldTour win in the 2021 Volta a Catalunya when he was the only rider capable of breaking Ineos’ stranglehold on the race.
Instead, Chaves told a small group of reporters at the start of stage 4, he’s keeping his eyes firmly fixed on the future. And if another team is currently dominating in the Volta a Catalunya on the climbs and in the overall – although Visma-Lease A Bike have also been hoovering up the top spots as well this season – the 34-year-old has enough experience to know how to fight back, too.
“It’s very hard, but you have to keep trying with everything you’ve got, putting people into breaks, getting the right people in there, using your resources,” Chaves insisted.
“It’s true that you don’t have much of a chance, but if you just sit there with your arms followed, the chances are even lower.”
“So you have to try to adapt and go on and fight. Cyclists are warriors, and that means weighing up our options and taking different strategies to try to win.”
As for where and when those alternative approaches might kick into action, Chaves said that rather than overly planning things, it was a question of seizing opportunities as and when they materialized. He also highlighted the importance of the role set to be taken by the team’s sprinter, Marijn van den Berg, and indeed, a few hours later, the Dutchman duly lived up to Chaves’ hopes and expectations by winning stage 4.
“After today with Marijn, let’s see how we can handle the last three days, this Volta a Catalunya is a really tough race,” Chaves commented. “So the important thing is to eat right, drink right and be ready for whatever we can.”
As for Chaves himself, the season is going reasonably well, he said, but the main goal was to maintain a degree of regularity in his performances that would allow him to strike out for success wherever possible.
“I’m at ease with myself,”…
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