Spaniards against each other for medal

By Monika Prell

After reaching the bronze medal in the individual pursuit in the Track World Championships in Palma de Mallorca, the Catalan Sergi Escobar was "very satisfied" and considered the medal as a "fair prize after last year's failure." He stated that "the medal could not escape. Competing here in my home country and after last year's failure, I prepared myself differently and this was successful."

But to score the bronze medal, he had to fight against his compatriot Toni Tauler. "We know each other really well, we competed many Spanish championships together, but I managed to change the ‘chip'", Escobar said. According to Marca, the 32 year-old explained that he started "slower than normally, but lap after lap I became faster. With only four laps to go, I already felt that I had the medal very near and I preferred preserving energy for Friday's team pursuit."

His rival, Toni Tauler, was of course somewhat disappointed. "I would have been glad stepping onto the podium in front of my home crowd," said the Majorcan cyclist. "What a pity that at the end the nerves and the tension became important in this race. When you are already very high above, you want more and more, but I can't complain."

Tauler immediately congratulated his teammate. "His medal makes me as happy as if it was me who reached it", he said. "Now I have to work to take to their level in the next races", Tauler joked.