With his strongest start to the season since his much-hyped move to Team Sky back in 2010, there has been a nagging sense that this time, it might all be different for Edvald Boasson Hagen. It still might be, as the 28-year-old takes aim at Paris-Roubaix on Sunday in search of that elusive major Classics title that his talents are universally considered to justify.
The Norwegian won Gent-Wevelgem as a 21-year-old at Highroad, but, despite the comparisons with Eddy Merckx, his Classics performances have been underwhelming ever since, to the extent that he became more of a support rider towards the end of his Team Sky tenure.
After winning the Tour of Britain towards the end of last season, there was a sense that Boasson Hagen was finally finding his feet at his new team, Dimension Data – then MTN-Qhubeka – and when that promise spilled over into 2016, with wins in Qatar and Oman, excitement grew ahead of the spring.
ADVERTISEMENT
“The pressure happens every year. But I make my own pressure. I try to do my best all the time,” Boasson Hagen tells Cyclingnews at the Roubaix velodrome as Dimension Data complete their recon ride ahead of Sunday.
His Classics campaign has been disrupted by illness that caused him to miss E3 Harelbeke but he doesn’t think it has been a real setback and is confident that strong start to the season can bear fruit on Sunday.
“I was pretty good at Flanders; I didn’t get a good result but I was feeling quite OK. I think I’m better now, though,” he said. "I felt I was doing really well at the start of the season, and also the end of last year, so I feel I’m continuing that, and I think there’s more to come.”
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest News http://ift.tt/1MWvbIa
No comments:
Post a Comment