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Quatre ans après son contrôle positif sur le Tour 2006, dont il avait ramené le Maillot Jaune à Paris, Floyd Landis avoue avoir eu recours au dopage. Et il dénonce...

Three weeks ago, Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Doimo) was at the Tour of Romandie, building for a projected start at the Giro d’Italia. Tuesday he defended his lead in the best young rider competition at the Amgen Tour of California.

The neo-pro from Zilina, Slovakia, entered the day with a six-second advantage over Peter Stetina (Garmin-Transitions) and Andre Steensen (Saxo Bank) for the white jersey. Sagan took the group sprint from the first chase group, 17 seconds behind David Zabriskie (Garmin), Michael Rogers (HTC-Columbia) and Levi Leipheimer (Radioshack). Stetina tucked safely in the back of the group, while Steensen crashed hard and finished with the gruppetto, losing more than 16 minutes.

Sagan first hit radar screens at Paris-Nice in March, when he won two stages — one a group sprint from a thin selection on the mountainous stage 3 and the other a tough, uphill kick ahead of a 26-rider group. The field in the south of France was no joke; Sagan’s name appeared on the results sheets above riders like Alejandro Valverde, Joaquim Rodriguez and Jens Voigt.

The 20-year old went on to finish fourth in the final young rider competition after stage 7. His teammate Roman Kreuzinger took the final white jersey in Moinard, 2:55 ahead of Sagan. Kreuzinger is co-leading the Liquigas squad at the Giro, having traded schedules with Sagan when Franco Pelizotti was excluded from the grand tour for abnormal blood values.

Sagan ticked up a notch in the young rider competition at the Tour de Romandie. He finished that race third for the jersey behind Simon Spilak (Lampre-Finesse) and Marcel Wyss (BMC Racing Team). En route to that result, Sagan finished second in the prologue and stage 4 and won stage 1.

“I’m very happy with how I’ve begun the season,” said Sagan. “I’ve had many successes and I look forward to more successes this year and in the future.”

Sagan appeared to be comfortable on the Bonny Doon climb Tuesday, though he was not in position to match the acceleration made by Leipheimer low on the ascent. “On the climb I felt good,” he said. “I had a teammate on the front with me on the climb and we drove it hard on the descent.”

Sagan came to the front of the chase occasionally as the group cut more than a minute out of the leaders’ advantage before the finish in Santa Cruz. For the most part, he remained hidden in the wheels near the front, and was fresh enough to take out the group sprint for fourth.

After stage 3, Sagan sits in fourth overall, 21 seconds in arrears of Zabriskie. His nearest rival – and perhaps only challenger – for the white jersey is Stetina, who is six seconds back.

“This race is both long and hard and I don’t know (about defending the jersey),” said Sagan. “There are many stages left to go, so we’ll have to wait and see out there.”

Stetina hopes to see Sagan in the rearview mirror when the queen stage arrives in Big Bear Lake Friday. Another neo-pro, Stetina has been on the roster with Jonathan Vaughters since the beginning of the Slipstream program in 2003. He graduated from the Holowesko Partners u23 roster this year and has started his pro career well.

Making the California roster was a central goal this spring for the 24-year-old, who relocated full-time from Colorado to Girona, Spain in January. Strong rides at the Tour of the Mediterranean and Liège-Bastogne-Liège landed him on the squad. Though Stetina is riding in support of GC leaders Zabriskie and Tom Danielson, the back-to-back national under-23 time trial champion (2008-2009) does hold hopes of riding his way into the jersey in the stage 7 time trial in Los Angeles.

“I want to show I’m strong, that I deserve my spot here,” he said. “I have no idea how I am compared to these guys right now. I haven’t raced since Liège.”

After three days, Stetina appears to be on good form, finishing in the first chase with Sagan in Santa Cruz. Assuming he can get to the penultimate stage time trial in Los Angeles, Stetina, who Vaughters has groomed to excel in the long tours for seven years, will look to make a statement.

“I’m going to go for it in the time trial,” he said.

L'édition 1966 de Paris-Nice est marquée par le sommet de la rivalité entre le Limougeaud Raymond Poulidor et le Normand Jacques Anquetil.

PARIS, May 14, 2010 (AFP) – Dutchman Kenny Van Hummel (Skil-Shimano) won the sprint on Friday to win the first stage of the Tour of Picardy, run on a 181 km coruse between Boué (Aisne) and Doullens (Somme).

Van Hummel received the full benefit from the work of his team, who along with team Euskaltel and Katusha, organized the chase to catch a group of escapees who had up to a twelve minute lead after 50km of racing.

The escape, which contained Japanese rider Fumiyuki Beppu and the French rider Niels Brouzes, as well as Tristan Valentin, was caught with just three kilometers from the finish.

On Saturday, the second stage will lead the pack of 186 km Friville-Escarbotin-Belloy (Sum) to wax-lès-Mello (Oise).

Ranking the first step:
1. Kenny Van Hummel (NED / SKS) 4h 15 min 55.
2. Ben Swift (ENG / SKY) to 04.
3. Fumiyuki Beppu (JPN / RSH) 04.
4. Danilo Napolitano (ITA / KAT) 06.
5. Niels Brouzes (FRA / AUB) 06.
6. Tristan Valentin (FRA / COF) 08.
7. Yohann Gene (FRA / BTL) 10.
8. Robert Wagner (GER / SKI) 10.
9. Yauheni Hutarovich (BLR / FDJ) 10.
10. Giovanni Bernaudeau (FRA / BTL) 10.

PARIS, May 14, 2010 (AFP) – Dutchman Kenny Van Hummel (Skil-Shimano) won the sprint on Friday to win the first stage of the Tour of Picardy, run on a 181 km coruse between Boué (Aisne) and Doullens (Somme).

Van Hummel received the full benefit from the work of his team, who along with team Euskaltel and Katusha, organized the chase to catch a group of escapees who had up to a twelve minute lead after 50km of racing.

The escape, which contained Japanese rider Fumiyuki Beppu and the French rider Niels Brouzes, as well as Tristan Valentin, was caught with just three kilometers from the finish.

On Saturday, the second stage will lead the pack of 186 km Friville-Escarbotin-Belloy (Sum) to wax-lès-Mello (Oise).

Ranking the first step:
1. Kenny Van Hummel (NED / SKS) 4h 15 min 55.
2. Ben Swift (ENG / SKY) to 04.
3. Fumiyuki Beppu (JPN / RSH) 04.
4. Danilo Napolitano (ITA / KAT) 06.
5. Niels Brouzes (FRA / AUB) 06.
6. Tristan Valentin (FRA / COF) 08.
7. Yohann Gene (FRA / BTL) 10.
8. Robert Wagner (GER / SKI) 10.
9. Yauheni Hutarovich (BLR / FDJ) 10.
10. Giovanni Bernaudeau (FRA / BTL) 10.

On the eve of the fifth Amgen Tour of California, a pair of American overall favorites — three-time winner Levi Leipheimer and two-time runner-up Dave Zabriskie — spoke with VeloNews, assessing the riders most likely to win America’s biggest race.

Earlier this year Leipheimer pointed to Zabriskie as the man he was most worried about, particularly given Zabriskie’s overall win at last September’s Tour of Missouri. However the two riders squared off two weeks ago at the SRAM Tour of the Gila, where Leipheimer, the overall winner, was stronger in both the time trial and on the climbs.

Below, each rider shares his view on pre-race favorites Michael Rogers (HTC-Columbia), Andy Schleck and Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank), each other — and weighs his own chances.

Michael Rogers (HTC-Columbia)

Age: 30
Previous ATOC results: 2007, 7th overall; 2009, 3rd overall
2010 results: 1st overall, Vuelta a Andalucia; 2nd overall Criterium International; 3rd, Monte Paschi Strade Bianche; 6th overall, Tirrenno-Adriatico

Zabriskie: He’s having a very good year. Probably the best I’ve seen in a long time. I think he’s coming to take care of business. He’ll be good.

Leipheimer: He’s a huge threat. He’s riding very well this year. He’s won some races. He led the Tour of Romandie. I’m watching his results and I know he’s going to be motivated. He’s a great guy, I get along with him very well, and I was proud to be on the podium with him last year. I know he’s motivated and he’s coming here to win.

Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank)

Age: 24
Previous ATOC results: 32nd overall, 4th best young rider in 2009
2010 results: 6th, Liège-Bastogne-Liège; 9th Fleche Wallonne

Zabriskie: He’s having an up-and-down season, but he’s always good. He can be a threat. He’s a crafty little dude. He knows how to race his bike.

Leipheimer: I’ve thought about him. Before I saw the Big Bear stage I thought, ‘maybe he’s my Robert Gesink for this year, the guy that I can get away with on the climb, and we work together and he gets the stage win and I get some time.’ Of course he would never do that with Cancellara as his teammate. I am presuming that I can beat him in the time trial, but I don’t know how his form will be. He’s young, and he’s kind of unpredictable with his form. He could be the best in the world, because he’s that talented, and if he’s that good, I’m in trouble on the uphill. But again, I don’t know if he would ever work for me, because a guy like Cancellara or Jens Voigt could give me a run for my money in the time trial.

Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank)

Age: 29
Previous ATOC results: 1st prologue, 2008 (4th overall); 1st prologue 2009 (DNF)
2010 results: 1st, Paris-Roubaix; 1st, Tour of Flanders; 1st Tour of Oman; 1st Prijs Vlaaderen

Zabriskie: He could possibly hang on those climbs. He could have some trouble on the steeper ones, Bonny Doon could work (to drop him.) I don’t know if the Big Bear stage will be hard enough to drop him. It just depends on how light he is. If he’s lightweight enough, he can climb. We’ll just have to wait and see what he’s up to. I wouldn’t count him out.

Leipheimer: If we haven’t gotten rid of Cancellara before the stage 7 time trial, then we have something on our hands.

Dave Zabriskie (Garmin-Transitions)

Age: 31
Previous ATOC results: 2nd overall, 2006 and 2009; 6th overall, 2008; 2nd n 2006 stage 3 time trial
2010 results: 3rd overall, SRAM Tour of the Gila, 3rd on stage 3 time trial.

Zabriskie: I haven’t felt super this year. Hopefully the Tour of the Gila gave me the last little build up I needed to do well. It would be a dream to win California. I’ve come close a couple times. It would be the biggest win of my life. I could tell my grandkids about it. It’s an important race for Garmin, and we’re bringing a strong team. We come to the race very serious.

Leipheimer: When I said he was my favorite, I was judging off of Missouri last year. And he rode a great Tour de France, too. He’s getting better (this year); we saw that at Gila. And he will be very motivated to win the time trial on home roads in Los Angeles.

Levi Leipheimer (RadioShack)

Age: 36
Previous ATOC results: 1st overall-2007, 2008, 2009. 4 stage wins
2010 results: 1st overall, 2 stage wins, SRAM Tour of the Gila; 2nd, 3rd, stage 3 Tour of Algarve; 3rd, prologue Paris-Nice.

Zabriskie: He’s the defending champ. Obviously, he wants to win. He’s the favorite.

Leipheimer: I’ve been training extremely hard the last month. My plan was to race in Europe, do some hard races like Catalunya and Paris-Nice, and get that big load under my legs. Then come back and take a good break, a good eight days of barely riding the bike. I started up again and my energy was great. The main thing for me is to get to the race and know that I’ve done everything I can to win. And if that’s the case and everything is going well, I’ll push myself as hard as I can. And, in my opinion, that’s a pretty dangerous combination — as well as having the strongest, most dangerous team as any of the favorites.

PARIS, May 12, 2010 – The French anti-doping agency (AFLD) will ask the International Cycling Union and the World Anti-Doping Agency to be able to conduct their own additional anti-doping controls on the Tour de France.

“We are a national agency, we are not qualified for an international competition but we can ask for supplementary controls,” AFLD president Pierre Bordry told Bicycle.net on Wednesday.

“So we intend to ask them while applying rules adopted this weekend,” he said on the sidelines of French parliamentary round-table talks on doping.

The World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) executive committee, meeting in Montreal, on Sunday clarified a point in its anti-doping code which specifies that national agencies can conduct controls during competition in their respective countries, on top of tests carried out by the relevant international federations.

The AFLD can thus put in a request to the International Cycing Union (UCI) at least 35 days before the start of the July 3-25 Tour de France, and in case of a negative, or lack of, response make a similar demand of WADA at least 21 days before.

The AFLD has long been at loggerheads with the UCI over who is responsible for anti-doping controls during the Tour de France.

After working together last year, both parties accused the other of incompetence and vowed to never work together again.

Because of these differences, the UCI has since the start of the year relied on a Lausanne laboratory to undertake analysis of tests taken during races in France.

They used to be analyzed at the Chatenay-Malabry laboratory in France, which is administratively linked to the AFLD.

MONTREAL, May 10, 2010 (AFP) – Pat McQuaid, president of the International Cycling Union (UCI), said that “the French Agency (AFLD) has no more credibility in the fight against doping, “explaining why the federation has decided to get rid of their services for doping controls during the Tour de France in 2010.

Q: What are the reasons you no longer want to work with the AFLD?
A: “In our view, they have no more credibility because of the way they behaved with the UCI last year. A year ago, I had meetings with the AFLD on pre-doping programs for the Tour de France. They wanted information about the location of runners who trained in France, what we have done every day. But it was later discovered that despite all the information they had only completed 13 controls, five of which were unusable due to a breach of confidentiality. Just that was enough in itself to show the lack of seriousness in their approach during the Tour de France, while three of their physicians worked with us a few problems occurred. I have spoken directly with the AFLD, and for me it was over. We discovered afterwards that their doctors reported in Paris the little things here and there.
Which is fine if the report actually is and was introduced to us and if we had been discussing. Normally, a collaboration works like this. But before giving it to the UCI, they gave their report directly to the media. This shows that there was malicious intent to destroy the credibility of the UCI anti-doping program. “

Q: What has happened since?
A: “We responded with our own report, in which we have dismantled most of the points they raised. I said it was impossible to work with a national anti-doping agency who behaved well, as we have very good collaborations with others in the world. It was not the first time, there is a long history with the AFLD. Like last year, they want information to locate the front runners Tower, we’ll give them. We have no problem with national agencies, including the AFLD, when it does its job on its territory, the clash comes when it wants to do the work of an international federation .

Q: What do you say to those who see this collaboration as a denial of transparency?
A: “I do not agree at all. Under the rules of WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency, Ed), if you have positive control over the Tour or any other race, the result is received by the AMA and at UCI. UCI has no other choice than to treat. If she did not, WADA would ask us what is happening. It’s the same thing with the biological passport.
Our record this year shows: when we have had positive cases, they have been announced and we’re busy. How to be more transparent? We will have a team of independent observers from WADA. The AMA is independent of the UCI, and she will check daily that everything is done correctly. “

Q: About the biological passport, the profile of Franco Pellizotti showed abnormalities before the 2009 Tour but he has been accused of doping that May 3 Will it be possible in future to reduce this time while respecting the process that includes several consultations with experts?
A: “It’s difficult because each case is different. Every batch of results that are individual experts see. From there, they can ask the blitz on that runner. They may request more information on testing. There are also 30 days to comply (the rider is notified and has one month to respond, Ed). All this takes time. But in the case of Pellizotti, he knew a long time it was suspected, we worked on his case and that his blood parameters were abnormal. Two months earlier he had received a letter asking him to explain why its parameters were marginal. The announcement of his case had nothing to do with the fact that the Giro started five days later. In the passport system, I do not see how we can speed things up. “

Interview by: Stephanie Pertuiset (translated from French)

Dear Explainer,
I know the basic, broad principles of the biological passport, and what it is trying to accomplish. However, I don’t know any of the specifics.

Exactly what biological values and ratios does the biological passport track, and what types of changes in those values and ratios would be considered abnormal?
Sincerely,
Steve Wells
Seattle, Washington

Dear Steve,
The UCI’s Biological Passport dates back to 2007, but the idea has been around for a while. The UCI began assembling longitudinal medical profiles on all Division I (later ProTour and Pro Continental) riders more than 10 years ago. That effort was formalized with the Biological Passport program and it now – as the Pellizotti case reminds us – has the added teeth of an enforcement mechanism.

In 2008, the UCI required that all ProTour and Continental Pro riders, as well as a select group of other riders, participate in the program which maintains an individual medical record on about 800 riders. That record is used to establish a profile based on medical samples taken over time. Over the course of a year, that includes both in-competition and out-of-competition blood and urine tests, as well as the results of general medical check-ups. According to the UCI, the data represents an average of about 10 tests per rider, per year.

With a baseline established, results from subsequent tests are compared to the general parameters of that original profile. The UCI has appointed a nine-member panel to review the data, but has not spelled out specific guidelines on how a specific sample might be considered to be statistically aberrant. Instead, each member of that panel is given relative freedom to examine the data and to flag what he deems to be suspicious.

Once flagged, the panel member can raise his concerns with other panelists, who review the data. If the group reaches a consensus that there is “sufficient evidence which determines guilt at agreed level of certainty,” the panel can recommend to the UCI that it pursue a doping case.

In essence, the approach is a condensed and accelerated “peer-review process” with one or more member making a case for further investigation, which is then subject to review by the rest of the panel. They’re not slouches, either. Former UCI Anti-Doping coordinator Anne Griper put together a solid group of specialists in their respective fields. The group includes Michael Ashenden, the head of Science and Industry Against Blood Doping Consortium; Michael Audran, a pharmacy professor at the University of Montpellier; Bo Bergland, a professor of chemistry and medicine at Stockholm’s Karolinska University; Giuseppe d’Onofrio, a professor of hematology at the Policlinic A. Gemelli in Rome; Pierluigi Fiorella, the director of the Olympus Medical Center in Ravenna, Italy; Giuseppe Fischetto, head of the medical department at the Italian Athletic Federation; Oliver Hermine, a professor of hematology at Necker Hospital in Paris; Robin Parisotto, an independent researcher, who has worked with the Australian Institute for Sport and Olaf Schumacher, a member of the sports medicine faculty at the University of Freiburg in Germany.

With records of blood and hormone profiles available, panelists look for statistical variations that wouldn’t occur due to natural causes. For example, an unexpected spike in hematocrit levels (the percentage of red cells in a blood sample) might be attributed to natural cause, such as dehydration. Ashenden, however, focuses on more subtle factors, like changes in the production of reticulocytes (new red blood cells). Changes in those levels – a statistically significant increase or decrease – might point to EPO use or blood doping.

Others might look for unexpected variations in hormone levels. In both cases, the Passport provides a much more precise tool than do the simple, one-time blood or urine tests.

The Passport program may, or may not, be the be-all-and-end-all means by which the sport can monitor and control doping in the peloton, but it’s surely one of the most effective tools available.

Essentially the Passport narrows the window of opportunity to manipulate natural blood and hormone levels. Think about the old “50 percent rule,” that the UCI imposed in 1997. Based on data that showed that the average adult male endurance athlete showed a hematocrit level of 45, the UCI took that number and applied a limit that represented the mean, plus two times the standard deviation, meaning that it covered about 95 percent of the sample group. Then those riders whose normal hematocrit levels fell above that upper limit had to provide extensive medical records to show that their results were natural in origin. Otherwise, the UCI required riders to “rest” for two weeks until their levels returned to normal. It was that ? and not a positive doping test ? which resulted in Marco Pantani’s ejection from the 1999 Giro d’Italia.

The problem with that broad standard was that it essentially established an upper limit for doping. If a rider’s natural hematocrit level was, say, 41 or 42 percent, he could then use EPO to dope himself up to 49.8. The introduction of the urine test for EPO in 2001 added another layer of control, but you might recall that the test could only detect the isoforms of recombinant erythropoietin for three or four days after injection, while the benefits could last for weeks.

The Passport cuts that down. Now, if our hypothetical rider wants to manipulate his blood values, there is a baseline of comparison and, even if he does dope, the benefits would have to be much smaller as he tries to keep the resulting blood profile changes within a narrow window that won’t trigger suspicion when a sample is examined.

Will the Passport stop doping? No, but it sure makes it harder and it and it reduces the performance enhancements a doping cheat might expect to enjoy.

Charles

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Email Charles Pelkey

“The Explainer” is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you have a question related to the sport of cycling that our editors might be able to answer, feel free to send your query to WebLetters@CompetitorGroup.com and we’ll take a stab at answering. Not all letters will be published and some questions may be combined with those of other readers. Please include your full name and hometown.

Back in 2004, when Craig Lewis was recovering from his horrific crash at the Tour de Georgia, one race helped him fight through the pain and fear – the Giro d’Italia.

Watching the Giro each day from the hospital bed inspired Lewis to recover from his injuries and race once again. Now, nearly six years later, Lewis makes his grand tour debut in the Giro.

The 25-year-old is especially motivated that his first three-week tour is the Giro. With HTC-Columbia lining up with sprinter André Greipel, Lewis will be wearing many hats during the race, helping set up the sprints in the opening two weeks before testing his legs in the grueling climbs of the Alps and Dolomites.

VeloNewscaught up with Lewis ahead of the race, here are excerpts from the interview:

VN: How have you been since the classics?

CL: Good. I’ve been doing a lot of driving. Since I was not able to get up to Amstel Gold, I rented a car and drove up to Belgium by myself for the Ardennes. That wouldn’t have been bad, but I had a trip to Italy planned to see stages, so I drove from Belgium to Italy. Yesterday I drove from Como to here (Girona). I missed Amstel, but I made it for Flèche and Liège. In total, I drove about 4,500km. I’m preparing for the long transfers at the Giro.

VN: Was that your first chance to see climbs of Giro?

CL: I saw them once years ago, but I forgot how long and steep they are. They are some tough climbs, plus coming three weeks into the race, it’s going to be hard. I went to the Alps. I wanted to Zoncolan and Plan de Corones, but it was too far to go to the Dolomites. So I did Tonale, Aprica, Gavia, the Mortirolo and the final time trial. It has quite a climb on it. It does the (2004 road) worlds course backwards, so that’s a good steep climb for the final day.

VN: How has your season gone so far?

CL: It’s been going well. I had some good time trials. I felt good in the longer stage races. I’ve been pretty happy. Everything has gone pretty much to plan. I’ve had a couple of crashes. I crashed in the first road stage at Paris-Nice and hit my head pretty hard. I was a little out of it after the stage, but I felt good the next morning and I gradually got better throughout the race. I was able to finish Paris-Nice. After Catalunya, I got strep throat, so I was 10 days on antibiotics and I had to skip País Vasco. That’s not a race you want to go into less than 100 percent.

VN: Will races like Flèche and Liège became big goals for future?

CL: I definitely like them. I really like Amstel Gold, so I was bummed to miss that this year. Liège is the hardest race on the calendar. It doesn’t have cobbles like Paris-Roubaix, but just the climbs and the speeds they go over them is pretty ridiculous. I certainly enjoy them and I like being in the most important races. Last year, I did all three. I also like Giro di Lombardia, too. I love that race and I want to give it a shot this year.

VN: You’ve had some good TT results, at Algarve and Catalunya, are you working on that aspect more?

CL: I’ve been feeling good on the time trial bike. Even at Paris-Nice, considering the level of competition that was there, I was happy with my performance. This is the first year that my training bike is identical to my racing (TT) bike, so that really helps. I’ve been training about 10 hours a week on the TT bike. The position is dialed, I am comfortable on the bike. It’s good to get used to using those muscles, because they’re not the same as how you race the road bike, or in climbing. It’s important to keep those muscles active and stay strong in that position.

VN: How is the form coming into the Giro?

CL: I would say it’s good. You have to be good to finish a race like Liège. I am more focused on being rested and prepared for the Giro. I have no idea how my body’s going to react in three weeks. I don’t want to I go in too tired or dig myself a hole before it even starts. I am just waiting to see how I progress throughout the race. Right now I am feeling strong and healthy.

VN: What significance does this first grand tour have for you?

CL: It’s huge, looking from where I came from, from being so badly injured to 2004 to come back to do Giro this year, it’s really special for me. When I was in the hospital after that accident, it was April and May, and the first time I started thinking about trying to race again, the Giro was on TV. I watched the Giro every day. That’s what I looked forward to every day was watching the Giro. That kept motivated when I was lying in bed all banged up. It’s been a long road to get back to here. I am fully recovered from that crash. Whatever effects I have will be life-long, but I can race and I am as recovered as I will be.

VN: What are your expectations and goals?

CL: We have (André) Greipel for the first two weeks. Our No. 1 priority is to win some stages with him, do well in the prologue and the team time trial and maybe grab the pink jersey for the team. Once we get to the big mountains, it’s every man for himself. If you survive with the front group in the big mountains, that’s great. If not, just wait for the next day. It’s pretty simple.

VN: How do expect to react in the big climbs, you’ve done some big climbs in Dauphiné?

CL: I’ve raced the Alps in the Dauphiné and there are some huge climbs in Paris-Nice. I’ve done similar climbs in similar races, racing against the same guys all year. I am not too concerned about getting in over my head. I feel pretty confident going into the mountains.

VN: So you will be working for Greipel in first two weeks?

CL: Yes, that’s the top goal for the team. It would be hard for the team to say, ‘OK, Craig, we’re going to save you for the last week when it’s your first time at a three-week race.’ I will be the guy with 100km, 50km to go to ride. I believe you can do that and not kill yourself if you don’t dig too deep. For sure, Greipel has a chance to win a lot of stages, and we’ll be working for that.

VN: Who does the team have for GC?

CL: We have Albasini and Pinotti. Those two guys are good climbers, they’re not the best climbers, but they can hang with the best on a good day. If they do well in the first mountain stage, they will keep riding for a place in the overall. If not, then they will have a chance to go for winning a stage.

VN: What are your personal ambitions for the mountains?

CL: I want to be there for Greipel, have a great prologue and finish that race. I would like to my chances when I have them to go into a break. It’s not a goal to try to be high in the overall GC. I want to see how my body will grow from racing three weeks.

VN: Is there any particular climb or stage you’re looking forward to?

CL: All of them! Racing over the big climbs in the Alps and Dolomites should be incredible. To be in the Giro, I will be fulfilling some dreams as well as making some new ones.

VN: What’s your racing schedule after the Giro?

CL: It’s still kind of up in the air. I will take a break, maybe race the Route du Sud in June. Otherwise it will be a light month. I’d love to do the races in North America, the Canadian races, maybe the world championships or come back and have a good ride at Lombardia.