Finally, Philippe Gilbert Junior crowned a Belgian this Sunday. In any case, by adoption. Certainly, Hector Alvarez is Spanish and signed the double blow on the final stage (see rankings), that of the Redoute, but apart from its partner who is Belgian, the Junior 2 with ten victories mainly wore the colors of a mixed team with Air Collège-BConcept, a Belgian club. “I want to salute the team who accepted me before the World Cup, they offered me to come here, I thank them very much”. It was absolutely not a choice by default, he who dreamed of discovering Belgium. “I need to run these races in Belgium, the Philippe Gilbert is one of the most important in the world. And I’m here, with this great team”.
Right away, Hector Alvarez felt very welcome. The president of Air Collège-BConcept also tells him that he is now part of the family. A term also chosen by the 18-year-old boy. “We feel like a family, I was at home. And when you feel good like that in a team, everything works very well”. This was the case this Sunday. His opponents, however, tried to get rid of him. “There were some very good climbers who tried to let go of me in the Redoubt, but I followed as much as possible”. The yellow jersey, Jasper Schoofs, was already in difficulty, and it was ultimately Kasper Borremans, Edouard Claisse and therefore Hector Alvarez who fought for victory in the last kilometers.
“WHY NOT CONTINUE AFTER THE WORLD”
But Hector Alvarez didn’t want to wait until the final half of Redoubt to make a move. “On the descent, instead of telling myself that it was time to recover, I told myself that it was time to attack. I made the descent to try to approach the Redoute in the lead and take advantage in the finale in front of the crowd etc. I saw that Jasper was not in front, I took advantage of it.. Mission accomplished, no one managed to follow it. After his 6th place at the World Cup, the member of Lucta-Granja Rinya was therefore right to extend his season a little, where other Juniors preferred to put the bike down. “I said to myself why not continue after the World Cup, I’m in good shape. I ended up a little tired in Zurich, but I recovered very well, so I came here to end my season”.
Absent from the Chrono des Nations for the last weekend of road competition, Hector Alvarez is leaving the Junior category through the front door. “I finished with a victory, it’s very important for next year and my arrival with the U23s”. A new category that he will discover in a reserve team. “I can now rest, I will continue my studies and I will attack my season with Lidl-Trek”. And under these colors, he risks very quickly returning to Belgium with which he has become passionately attached. “I saw the races here, I wanted to come, it’s a bit my type of race. It was my first in Belgium (besides the European Championship, Editor’s note). It surprises me, everyone is encouraging and passionate”. Hector Alvarez will come back, that’s for sure.
