Heras wants to prove himself

Roberto Heras will lead the Liberty Seguros-Würth team in the Dauphiné Libéré, which starts tomorrow in Chambéry with a time trial. The Bejarano, who yesterday finished a reconnaissance of the Tour's critical stages, comes to the Dauphine in good form and without pressure to get results.

"Now I'm not obsessed about being 100 percent, because there is still so much time until the Tour and even more until the mountains," said Heras. "I have been in competition since last month and what I want is to prove myself a bit and to confirm that I am good enough with regard to the others."

In May, Heras has dedicated himself to training in the mountains. He spent 15 days in his home town of Béjar. "I was there because in these mountains you can do several long climbs, which is what I was interested in," he said.

After spending some time in Girona, Heras continued with a recon of the Pyrenean and Alpine stages of the Tour. "I have been impressed by this year's stages. It will be a very hard Tour, especially with this 55 km time trial in St. Etienne that is also difficult."

Heras hopes to complete his preparation by riding the Dauphiné. "The objective in coming here is also to ride on similar climbs to those of the Tour, to find the necessary rhythm, to prove myself a bit, and to see how I am with regard to my rivals...because the majority of them will be thinking the same: we want to see each other, but many will be absent this year because they preferred to go to the Tour de Suisse."

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