Daniel Moreno finished 29th in this year's Giro d'Italia and he was quite happy with his performance. His main task was to help team leader Joaquím Rodríguez obtain a good results. Rodríguez was fifth in the end, so Moreno's work paid off for the Katusha team.
The Giro was tough but Moreno was well prepared. "My form during the whole Giro d'Italia was very good," he told Sprint especial. "Given the toughness of the route, I finished physically well."
It was more than just the racing that was difficult. "I have to be content after so many hard days, not only in the race but also with the transfers." When a Spaniard complains about a late dinner things really have gone wrong. "We had meals at inadequate hours and we couldn't rest like we deserve to," Moreno said.
The Katusha team had well prepared for the challenging route. "Before the Giro we did a lot of altitude training," Moreno said. "We trained very hard, which is why I felt so well during the race. I have never trained so much and climbed so many mountains."
Moreno did not look out for a high GC ranking. "That was not my job," he said. "I needed to be close to Purito [Joaquím Rodríguez] and I did that many days." He did have his own chances to go into breaks. "I tried it a lot in the third week, but I had no luck," he explained.
He did have one good opportunity on the day when Angel Vicioso won, but he had trouble with his free wheel in the final. "After it was sorted out there was no time to sprint," he said. Moreno was fourth that day that was overshadowed by the fatal crash of Wouter Weylandt.
He was in another break in stage 11. "It was a pain as I felt great all day. If the group would have given us four minutes instead of just two, I could have won." Moreno was in a promising move with Ignatas Konovalovas (Movistar). Moreno went on solo and was caught by stage winner John Gadret only a few hundred meters from the finish line.
Moreno is not demoralized about Alberto Contador's dominance, but his statement sounds like surrender. "To tell you the truth, we are already used to it. He is the number one in small and big tours and as of now he is unbeatable."
Moreno's next race is the Dauphiné Libéré, then he will take a break until the Klasika San Sebastian. A second Grand Tour is planned after that. "This year I will return to my Vuelta a España, where I hope to do a great race."