Pedersen says Álvarez was cocky on Lidl-Trek team night out: 'Now he’ll have to start competing'

Álvarez has been one of the world’s greatest talents for several years now. While many of his compatriots excel at climbing, he is a true Flandrien. The 19-year-old Spaniard is even dating Frauke Bruylandt, the daughter of former cyclist Dave Bruylandts.

This year, the Spaniard was already able to compete with the main Lidl-Trek team in races such as Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, while in recent months he has shown that he has already outgrown the U23 ranks. He won both the road race and the time trial at the European Championships, finished second at the gruelling World Championships in Canada, and capped off the year with a victory at Paris-Tours.

Next year, Álvarez will officially join the Lidl-Trek pro team, adding to an already star-studded spring lineup that includes Mads Pedersen, Mathias Vacek, Toms Skujins, Jakob Soderqvist, Jonathan Milan, Jordi Meeus, Albert Withen Philipsen, Soren Kragh Andersen, and new signing Filippo Ganna.

According to Pedersen’s anecdote, Alvarez didn’t exactly come across as humble at the team camp in Germany. “He had to go through hazing, and that’s tough. I was sitting right next to him, and Ganna was sitting across from him. Héctor was really cocky, which was actually kind of funny.”

"He said, 'Mads, you're not going to win a Monument unless I'm on the team—just so you know,'" Pedersen recalls. “That immediately cost him a glass of Jägermeister, because he was being so smart-aleck. Then he looked at Ganna—Héctor had already had enough to drink—and said, ‘And you, what are you planning to win? Tre Valli Varesine or something?’”

Pedersen found it quite amusing. “Héctor immediately had to pay for another round, so it turned out to be an expensive evening for him. But hey, now he’ll have to start competing in the big races, haha!”