Attila Valter: "There's no beef with Benoot, but we could've communicated better"

Frissítve 07/03/2023 - 17:04 GMT+1

Hungarian cyclist Attila Valter gave an exclusive interview in Eurosport's podcast, and cleared up any confusion about Strade Bianche, where he finished 5th. He talked about the most important situations of the race, and also about his and his team's role in the Tuscan race and in Tirreno-Adriatico, which started on Monday.

Ötvenes szóló Pidcocktól, Valter Attilát a célvonal előtt előzte meg Rui Costa - összefoglaló

Hungarian cyclist Attila Valter of team Jumbo-Visma talked with Eurosport Hungary journalist Gergő Bodnár in our ESB Podcast. Here are the details of the interview which we found the most interesting.

No beef with Benoot

Valter started with declaring that he didn't bring rivals Matej Mohorič and Quinn Simmons back to Tiesj Benoot's group.

Liège - Bastogne - Liège Men

Tömegbukás egy parkoló motoros miatt a Liège-en, Van Der Poel és Valter is érintett

00:01:36

21/04/2024 - 14:30

"It's clear that I didn't pull that group back. It would've been an amateur move. I waited until they got tired of the effort on the penultimate gravel sector, and when I saw they are struggling, I jumped to the Benoot group alone. This could clearly be seen on TV too."

"I didn't see Tiesj's hand gesture, but later it became clear that he misunderstood the situation, I didn't even think for one second that he thought I pulled the group back. Jumbo-Visma is not the team that does these kind of things and I'm not that man either. Of course, I make mistakes but this wouldn't have been a mistake, this would've been selfishness on my part."

"Naturally I have individual ambitions, too, but I'm not a selfish racer, and I was a bit surprised he thought I would do this."

Valter also added that Benoot asked him later in the race what happened in that situation, but he didn't even understand what the question was directed at.

After the race, a picture was taken of Valter and Benoot that looked like there was some kind of argument. Attila told Eurosport that he said to Benoot he was sorry for the mistakes he made, but Benoot replied there was nothing to be sorry for, both of them made mistakes, and that they would discuss it further in the bus.

After the podium ceremony they did discuss different situations in details and came up with scenarios in which they could've won the race. On Sunday, they trained for the TT together and there aren't the slightest hard feelings between the two.

About communicating with the team and with Benoot

"First of all, this is a missed opportunity only in Jumbo's standards. Most other teams would've been very happy with coming 3rd and 5th in a race like this. I spent 20 days with Tiesj on Teide, but this was our first race together and we have different racing styles."

"He missed pulls a bit more often than I did, he wanted to attack from behind, and he did this in a very smart way. You could see this work very well in Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne. My style is a bit different, closer than to what (Valentin) Madouas and (Rui) Costa did. We were thinking about riding a higher tempo on the climbs, while Tiesj and Mohorič too, were trying to make surprise attacks."

He said that he was trying to rely on Benoot during the final of the race, and trying to race according to his teammate's instructions. Valter also thinks that once he has more more racing with Benoot under his belt, a better chemistry will form between them. They will be able read each other's body language better, and this could bring huge results to the team.

Valter Attila a 2023-as Strade Bianchén

Fotó: Getty Images

"We knew that there could be a million different scenarios during the race, but what we wanted was having both of us in the front group. We also knew that if this happens, the team car won't have good insight on the race as they will be miles behind and they can only watch the TV broadcast."

"We knew that we had to communicate in the heat of the action and make decisions ourselves. There were situations that looked completely different from the outside, attacks that were being brought back for example. Tiesj never asked me to sacrifice myself for him, he also wanted both of us to be near the podium in the end. After the race he told his viewpoint, I told mine, the directors told theirs as well and we had a very positive discussion about what could've been done differently."

"Tiesj even said after the race that this 'disappointment' can be a good thing, because had we won the race, our mistakes wouldn't have been dealt with properly."

About racing in the colours of Jumbo-Visma

"It's very different compared to even Groupama-FDJ. You must race actively, make active decisions and this situation is new for me. When someone has to work, most teams are looking at us to pull groups back. My role in the team was also new to me, this was my first race where I was co-leader with Tiesj, and this also means pressure."

"My performance was very good, but subconsciously this was in my mind for sure. I was given an opportunity from the team and I had to take it. There are different race situations. When (Tom) Pidcock attacked, I was looking at others, but at the same time others were looking at us to react."

Valter Attilával a Strade Bianche után - ESB podcast

"After the race my teammates asked me if I thought I could've gone with Pidcock, and I think it was a possibility as I felt strong and I even attacked a few minutes later, but by that time Pidcock's advantage was too big to bridge over to him."

"However at that point in the race I thought someone else should go with him, but in this jersey I need to make braver decisions. This is why our sport is so beautiful: you need to make big decisions while close to maximum physical effort."

About the reactions

"It's a bit weird for me that the public are talking this much about the mistakes that we made, instead of being happy with the result we achieved. It's something I have to get used to, but if you look at Wout (van Aert), it's the same with him. Fans and journalists mock him for coming second in a lot of races, while he is one of the best riders in the world with a lot of victories and beautiful results on his palmares."

"I don't really like this, but it also makes me proud, because it means I'm on a level where people expect results from me, and that people saw during the race that I was among the strongest riders, and they start to speculate about what could've been done differently to win or achieve a better result."

"I can understand this, I'm also a bit like this when I'm watching football, it was maybe a surprise that very many people gave a voice to their opinions publicly, but this shows that cycling is becoming increasingly popular all over the world and in Hungary, too. It's something we have to live with."

About his role in Tirreno-Adriatico

"I'm in our roster because Sam Oomen got injured in Algarve. My form is good, I was in Italy, so it was an easy decision. I'm really looking forward to racing with this team (that includes Wout van Aert and Primož Roglič) which is the strongest team I've ever been a part of. I want to help our leaders, I'm waiting for the moment when I hear my name on the radio that I have to work and I want to give everything for my teammates. This is a team I will gladly be working for."

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