Spaniard says Evans' departure opens the door for Grand Tour leadership
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Lone cowboy: Daniel Moreno (Caisse d'Epargne) brings it home for the win.(Image credit: Wenceslao Rodriguez/ WRS IMAGENES)
Giro del Piemonte runner-up Daniel Moreno (Caisse d'Epargne).(Image credit: Sirotti)
The Giro del Piemonte podium (l-r): Daniel Moreno (Caisse d'Epargne), 2nd; Philippe Gilbert (Silence-Lotto), 1st; Francesco Gavazzi (Lampre - N.G.C.), 3rd.(Image credit: Sirotti)
Daniele Moreno signed up with Omega Pharma-Lotto to help Cadel Evans in the 2010 Tour de France, but in the wake of the Australian's subsequent departure for BMC Racing Team the Spaniard now expects to assume a captain's role at Grand Tours.
“Now that Evans is gone and there is no leader on the team for the Grand Tours, I think the role will be for me, because there is no star to sign at this stage of the season,” the Spaniard told todociclismo.com. “I will have my freedom at the races and that excites me greatly.
“The challenge does not bother me in the least. It's a sure bet for me. I'm delighted and I know I can be a leader in the three-week races.”
That would not be the only challenge facing the 28-year old, who will transfer from Caisse d'Epargne. Going to a team where no one else speaks Spanish “is a situation I love. It is a challenge for me to learn the language so as to show them they were not wrong to sign me.”
Moreno said that he expects to keep improving as a rider, “because every year I feel better and have more experience. Next year I will have more freedom and if it is like the years before, I think I'll do very well.
“I said long ago that I can be among the top five in the Vuelta a España, and with a little luck I think I reach the podium one day.”
Moreno anticipates riding the three Spring Classics “which best suit me”: Amstel Gold Race, Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. The highlights of his season, he said, would be the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España.
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