Fran Muñoz: ‘I have learned to manage my energy and be competitive’
With self-confidence and character. Being a protagonist in all the competitions he races and announcing a promising future. Fran Muñoz’s first season as a professional cyclist fills Polti Kometa with enthusiasm, which has seen him shine in the Giro d’Italia and now faces the second part of the season starting this Tuesday in the Tour Poitou Charentes.
Without a doubt, his participation in the Corsa Rosa was both unexpectedly good news and a huge boost to his career: ‘I didn’t expect to be in the Giro, but it’s something that completely changes your season, it gives you hope and at the same time fills you with the responsibility of being able to live up to such an important race’. In Italy, Fran Muñoz was soon part of the breakaway and even climbed the podium as winner of the Intergiro, something he explained in his blog during the race.
‘With half a season done, having been in the Giro d’Italia gives you a different perspective on the rest of the competitions’, says the Catalan rider. ‘The pace and the way of racing in a top-level race makes you realise that you have the capacity to be competitive in these races as well.
In this first year as a professional, Fran Muñoz has experienced a process of adaptation that in the eyes of sports directors and performance managers, has been exceptional. ‘Every day, not only in the Giro but in all the competitions, for example the PRO Nationals, the Strade Bianche… every race has been a first experience from which I have learned a lot. I have learned to manage the forces in a breakaway, in a group when you are behind and you have to save for other opportunities, to recover after the race, the protocol after the race…’. And of course, many anecdotes: ‘I’m curious and I like to go for walks, to investigate, to know what’s behind…. Which is the opposite of what you have to do in the Giro, for example (laughs). Stefano Zanatta, the sport director, had to tell me to rest and recover’.
But the future of this rider is still unknown. With no known ceiling and with signs of being able to reach or specialise in different facets: ‘The more versatility, the more opportunities and also the more options to contribute to the team’s objectives. I’m not going to be a pure climber (laughs), but I’m a powerful cyclist that allows me to go far in breakaway efforts or on breakaway days’.
And if there’s one thing Fran Muñoz doesn’t like, it’s those down times in the quieter stages. ‘I love the days when you have to be constantly involved in the race. The two-hour breaks on breakaway days (when I’m not at the front) are very hard for me, so I think I can be competitive in the classics’.
After a very busy start to the season, and after the break to prepare for the final competition calendar that begins at the Tour de Poitou Charentes, Muñoz hopes ‘to make a leap in quality, I’m working and training hard for that. In the calendar I make, I hope to be at the front and aim for good results’, concludes a young rider with a bright future.
