Marquez swaps engine for pedals ahead of Dutch GP

On the Friday after the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya, Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) swapped engine for peddle power as he took part in Oakley’s #OneObession ‘Cycle Tour’ around Barcelona.

Oakley have organised for the tour to take place in some of Europe’s most popular cities, including London, Monaco and Amsterdam. This week, Marquez was joined by professional athletes Ibon Zugasti, Carlos Coloma, Alberto Losada, Claudia Galicia and Catalan actor and TV host Santi Millan, to cycle roughly 60km around Barcelona.

“These kinds of events are different, at others you are inside a room with many people in a different kind of way but this one I enjoy it a lot because you come and share different opinions and it’s incredible,” said Marquez. “You follow and you like sports such as cycling, but you don’t know how they work inside and I like to know and yeah, we shared many comments and it was fun, plus we trained a little bit.”

Inevitably, Marquez and his fellow athletes got a bit competitive at some stages of the tour. “Yeah it was fun, it was easy, we were just talking a little bit but of course, we are athletes and competition is inside our bodies and on some uphill bits we pushed quite hard but the rest of the day we took it easy.”

Away from cycling, the reigning World Champion has other competition to focus on, with Round 8 of the MotoGP™ season next up in Assen, but how is the number 93 approaching the Dutch GP?

“I always approach races in the same way,” commented Marquez. “I start on Friday, full gas, 100 perecent! I try to find the best setup, find the best rhythm to be ready for Sunday. Then, I sit with my team and I say “okay, this race we can fight for fifth position, for third, or for the victory. Then, after the warm up, we check a little bit but, of course, the mentality is to win.”

Winning is something the Repsol Honda rider hasn’t been able to achieve in the previous two rounds, with future teammate Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team) dominating in Mugello and Catalunya. But what does the 25-year-old think about his compatriot’s sublime form?

“If you asked me in Qatar, I would say no, I wouldn’t expect him at this level,” said the Spaniard. “But Jorge is Jorge, he has a lot of talent. When you are fast in the past, you can be fast in the future and you can be fast in the present, so he now looks like he has a good setup, a good base, a good compromise and he’s riding very well and very fast. So, it’s time to stop him a bit. He’s already got two victories in a row and now he’s riding the Ducati like he wants.”

And what about a Yamaha challenge in Assen? It was the scene of their last GP victory, with Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) taking the win last season. “This is strange because it’s one year without a Yamaha victory but they are second, third and fourth in the championship so, they will be there. Here in Assen, there is a high chance there will be a Yamaha victory, but we will try to avoid that. We are there to fight but Assen is one of the best circuits for the Yamaha bike.”

Can Marquez halt the number 99’s momentum and keep the chasing pack at bay in the Netherlands?