Melcior Mauri: “Having a Velo on my bike is a source of pride”
A few days ago, Melcior Mauri wrapped up his 2019 Campus. Today we’re speaking with the winner of the 1991 Vuelta a España so he can tell us the highlights of his Campus and his future plans, including Titan Desert 2019.
Melcior, tell us how the Campus went this year. And how did the addition of Roberto Heras as an expert go?
The campus went great, with 70 participants of different nationalities, Spanish, French, English… Everyone was very happy and enjoyed the three days filled with rides and informative talks. You don’t always get the chance to ride with two pros. As you said, Roberto Heras was the star attraction of this edition, and I must say that Roberto interacted very well with the participants to the point that he was just one more rider. Mission accomplished.
Why did you pick the TwoNav GPS for your Campus? How did the other riders like our devices?
The TwoNav experience is always very nice. This time, we took advantage of the campus to introduce to a potential and direct audience all the possibilities of the Velo, the TwoNav GPS for road cyclists. For me, having the Velo on my bike and having all the Campus guides show it to interested cyclotourists is a source of pride. The experience was very rewarding and the riders reacted to it very well.
What does TwoNav provide that other brands on the market don’t?
As a professional cyclist, I’m familiar with lots of GPS units, and I push them to the extreme. Of all the TwoNav features, I’m always impressed by the quality of their maps above other GPS units. With Velo I can see my location in real time on highly detailed maps. And the new connectivity options you’ve added to the new generation of GPS units are really useful. For a professional cyclist, a workout is as important as the analysis afterward. With Velo I can upload all my workouts to the GO Cloud and from there send them to other social networks, like Strava, where I can share them with other riders. That’s a great feature!
What new things can we expect for your next event, the Melcior Mauri Costa Brava Campus?
The campus will take place from 19 to 22 September. This year the routes will be different, since we’ve changed the location of the campus, which will be held in Lloret de Mar (Girona). I’m very pleased to announce that Laurent Jalabert will be there. Laurent won the Vuelta a España in 1995 and was my teammate on the ONCE team. He was a great sprinter who became an all-around rider. I’m sure the campus participants will benefit greatly from his presence.
By the way, Titan Desert 2019 starts on 28 April. We know you’re going to take part. How are you getting ready for this adventure?
This year, I’ll be leading the VIORCAM KH-7 team. I’m looking forward to this challenge since in order to take part in Titan Desert, you need to prepare well. You need to build up endurance, so each week I’m planning 1 or 2 workout days to gain endurance. The rest of the week we’re doing moderate workouts. Each rider will have a Trail Bike GPS. I chose the Trail Bike because it’s a device with a bigger screen and long battery life. This is important because each Titan Desert stage is expected to last 6 to 8 hours. The Titan Desert race has no specific route. Once organisers send us the official tracks, that’s when I’ll start planning the route that the riders will take. As with every year, the route has to go through the waypoints required by the organisers. To find shortcuts, I normally use Land, which gives me the shortest route possible. Once the routes are laid out, I send the GPS tracks to each rider. After that, all we can do is trust in ourselves!
Campus Melcior Mauri 2019
http://www.campusmelciormauri.com
From 28 to 31 March, 2019
Cambrils (Tarragona, Spain)
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