Following six years in Portugal, a place he calls his second home, David Bernabeu received the call to return to home to Spain in 2005. And with his Comunidad Valenciana team confirmed for the Tour de France, the 30 year-old from Valencia tells Cyclingnews' Hernan Alvarez he's poised to realise his dream of riding the Tour de France.
Bernabeu is a surname that reminds people all over the world of soccer. Santiago Bernabeu was a famous Real Madrid president in the twentieth century, and Madrid's stadium was named after this significant person in the history of that Spanish club. Now there's another Bernabeu in the spotlight: his first name is David and he rides for Comunidad Valenciana.
Victorious in the Trofeo Pollenca round and the overall winner of the Challenge Illes Balears, Bernabeu defeated some big names that included Paolo Bettini, Alejandro Valverde, Constantino Zaballa and Mario Aerts. This was not his first triumph, though, because in 2004, he won the Tour of Portugal and his second Trofeu Joaquim Agostinho. Cyclingnews caught up with him while he was resting in his native Spanish province of Valencia.
Cyclingnews: How do you feel after your victory in Majorca?
David Bernabeu: I feel good. The truth is that I'm happy. I had much expectation because I had prepared the very beginning of the season in order to start well. I think we are going the right way.
CN: Maybe the fact of beating two star riders like Paolo Bettini and Alejandro Valverde is not insignificant, right?
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DB: Well, it also depends on the period of the year that you catch them. Maybe they didn't prepare the beginning of the season to be up front. I don't think it's meaningful right now, at this time of the year.
