After an impressive season that included overall victory in the Tour of Oman and top 10 results in the Volta a Catalunya and Paris-Nice, Rafael Valls has been signed as one of the stage race leaders at Lotto Soudal.

In an interview with his team, Valls told about how it all began and underlines his ambitions for the one-week stage races.

“I started cycling twenty years ago; when I was eight I already took part in races," he said. "My older brother already competed and my father loved cycling; the love for the bike ran in the family. In the first years I often finished in the top three, but I couldn’t win any race. I got my first victory when I was about eleven or twelve years old, so it took me some time. Also as a junior I animated the races and could show myself, but winning remained difficult. Although I was often close.

“As a young boy I climbed a lot, in the area where I live there is no other way. In the region of Valencia the course gets tough quite soon. Also in youth races the organization heads into the mountains. Pretty soon I discovered I was good at riding uphill. For me it just comes natural.

“When I was eighteen I realized I might become a professional cyclist. Although my first year in the U23 category was difficult, there is a huge difference between the youngest and oldest riders in those races. It was difficult for me to adjust to the rhythm. At the time I was riding together with among other Andrey Amador, Jonathan Castroviejo, Angel Madrazo and several riders of the current Caja Rural team.

“Afterwards there were many beautiful moments. My best memory up until now is completing my first Tour de France in 2010. Entering Paris was magical, a dream come true. Those are the moments why you decided to become a cyclist and that you are happy you showed perseverance.

"My parents have always been important for my career, because they took me to all the races and bought my material. Also my wife has been by my side for a long time. We are together since I was fourteen years old, she’s a big support. I’m really grateful to my parents and wife.

“First of all, I now want to get integrated in my new team as soon as possible. I really had fun at the team building in November, there was a good atmosphere.

"Next season I want to set a new step in the stage races of one week, that’s my specialty. My climbing skills are of course very useful there, but also time trialling is a crucial factor. I want to train more on that aspect, because it’s not my strongest point. At the moment I train on the time trial bike once a week, then I do different exercises and series. I’m building up the distance week per week; first I did rides of ten kilometres, then twenty and so on. During the training camp we went to the velodrome one day to adjust our time trial position, it’s essential to strive for perfection.”