Next year Pablo Lastras will be doing his 18th season as a professional, all as part of the team that has evolved from Banesto into the Movistar squad. His secret is no real secret: “To work hard and be patient.”

Pablo Lastras has been loyal to his team for 21 seasons, three as an amateur and 18 as a professional. He has spent more than half of his life in the same surroundings and in an interview with ABC, the veteran who will turn 39 in January, explains his loyalty.

“I know my worth and that I am useful,” he said. “And I am still with the same team because of its structure, values and culture. I owe everything to this team. I never thought I would get this far. And I am completely at peace.”

Above all, Lastras remains competitive and professional.

“I have adapted to the new times in cycling and I have never tried to cheat myself. I know that I am not in the group around Nairo [Quintana] and Alejandro [Valverde]. But there is an alternative schedule that requires a strong head,” he says.

Lastras has built his career in the hard, steady way.

“You must work hard and be patient. Consistency brings you forward. That and the love for your profession. I can easily do what is asked of me. I like to train and want to suffer on the bike.

“Young riders want to improve too fast and get big contracts immediately. They want Contador’s car or Froome’s salary. But they don’t recognize how these champions take care of themselves. They train, they skip the nights out and focus on a strict nutrition. That’s why they are champions.”

The Spaniard has no doubts that cycling has improved since the years of doping.

“Today cycling is healthy. We have already paid for the mistakes of the past. We must have trust in the sport and let time put you in your right place,” he says. “Once cycling was more like a family and now it is more commercial. It is neither better nor worse. It is different.”

Lastras has only been tempted to leave his team once, tempted by Fassa Bortolo manager Giancarlo Ferretti.

“He told me that I could write my salary on a blank contract but I refused. That day I thought my career was over.”

Fortunately, that wasn’t the case and Lastras is now ready for another year in the peloton.

Lastras is part of the select group of riders that have won stages in all grand tours. He won a stage in the 2001 Giro and one in the 2003 Tour. He has won three stages in the Vuelta, two in 2012 and one in 2010. In 2008 he won the Vuelta a Andalucia and he has also left his mark on the Eneco Tour, the Tour de Suisse and the Vuelta a Burgos.