Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida) says he will be reverting to his former goal of prioritising stage wins in the Tour de France rather than making the overall his top objective - as has been the case for the last two summers.
Costa’s most successful Tour de France was in 2013, when he captured two big Alpine stage wins. But in 2014, when the then world champion began to target the overall classification, he had to quit because of pneumonia and then in 2015, he abandoned after a crash in which he injured his back and leg.
Now, although the GC is not totally forgotten, Costa is switching towards a different strategy for July, he says. “I will change my plans there, and try to go for a stage win,” the Portuguese national champion tells Cyclingnews at the stage 2 start of the Vuelta al País Vasco.
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So far this season Costa has been in the frame for a win, with fifth at Oman, 10th at Paris-Nice where he was seventh in the toughest two mountain stages, and 11th on the opening stage of the Vuelta al País Vasco. For now, though, he remains on the hunt for his first win since winning that Portuguese road-race title back in mid-2015.
“My condition is better than I expected, to judge by yesterday” - when he finished in the front group - Costa said. “The first stage is always a fast, very complicated one, here, so that was good.
“First I want to be good here then I’ll go on to the Ardennes Classics” - he was fourth both in Amstel Gold and Liège-Bastogne-Liège last year - “where I want to do well.
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