In addition to his reputation as a "crash pilot," Alex also has the title of "most famous eyeglass wearing pro cyclist." It particularly bothers him that so many people make so much of his short-sightedness. Thanks to modern technology, rain rolls right off the special plastic or glass lenses, which also don't fog up, so he has not problem with his glasses because of the weather. Ironically, he rode for six years for Once, a team sponsored by the Spanish lottery for the benefit of the blind. The team offered repeatedly to pay for laser surgery to correct his vision, but Alex refused. At the beginning of his career he wore whatever safety frames he could find that would hold his thick lenses. In 1996 he was finally able to wear racing glasses that were ground to his prescription.