Carlos Barredo in Italy (Image credit: Gregor Brown)
Young Spaniard Carlos Barredo had the weight of the ProTour on his mind in late 2006, although he would have preferred to focus instead on his upcoming spring campaign with the leading classics' team, Quick.Step. Cyclingnews' Gregor Brown spoke with him in southern Italy during the team's first training camp for 2007.
Barredo, 25, is unassuming and he could easily be mislabelled in a squad mostly consisting of Belgians and Italians. He is a Spaniard who is not of the typical mould but one who loves the cobbles of the north; a perfect fit for Quick.Step. He and Juan Manuel Garate are the only two Spaniards on the Belgium-based team for 2007, a team that is better suited for Barredo's talents.
But Barredo had some problems joining the team. He had spent the later half of his 2006 searching for a new team but he was still listed as a rider for Active Bay, the management company of Manolo Saiz's defunct Liberty Seguros-Würth team. When I met Barredo in December he did not want to talk publicly because he was still concerned about Active Bay, and if it would keep its ProTour license.
"I want to wait until tomorrow [December 14] to talk more, and then we will know for sure about Active Bay's license. I am not tied to Marc Biver [new Astana team - ed.] but to Active Bay. ... I don't talk to Saiz, he sent me a text message two weeks ago but we are not really talking.
