It is said that a change is as good as a rest, and Pierre Rolland is embracing the changes in his first season at Cannondale. Rolland had spent nine seasons on French teams, including seven with Jean-Rene Bernaudeau – whose team is now known as Direct Energie – before he made the surprise move to the American team.
It has been an eye-opening experience for Rolland, not least due to Cannondale's different approach to racing. “Last year I rode 95 race days and this year it is very low. I have just ridden a few races,” Rolland told Cyclingnews at Cannondale’s altitude training camp on Mount Teide, another first for the Frenchman.
“Before, I was preparing to race in the races, but now I am preparing to race in training. This is probably the biggest thing for me. Before I was starting my season in February and doing race after race, but now I do one small race in February, then a month’s training, another race and then three weeks training.”
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In 2016, Rolland has competed in 21 race days so far, compared to the 35 he’d ridden by the same time last year. The other major difference for Rolland has been his teammates. Last year, he had just three non-French teammates (and one of those was French Canadian) but he is now the sole native French speaker of the team’s 30 riders. It has been a steep learning curve for the 29-year-old, who up until his move to the team had no cause for learning English.
“In Europcar it was very much a family team, and it was 90 per cent French riders. In here, there are 15 nationalities and all sorts of environments. It’s very good for opening your mind, speaking a new language and it is a very big change,” Rolland explained.
“In October, I arrived at the first camp in Aspen not speaking English, and now I speak a little bit. I understand ok, and I am able to speak to my teammates or in meetings. I was a little bit apprehensive that I wouldn’t be able to understand, or that I wouldn’t be able to communicate.”
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