Fifth in the general classification, Jakob Fuglsang (Astana Pro Team) believes he has room for manoeuvre in the Tour de France, for two reasons.
The 32-year-old 2017 Criterium du Dauphiné winner believes that both the dual leadership role he enjoys with Fabio Aru and the 97 seconds separating himself and race leader Chris Froome (Team Sky) make him less likely to loom large on the Briton's radar. As a result, he has more freedom to go on the attack - something he believes Astana can use to their advantage.
"I hope we can make the most of having two riders high on GC," Fuglsang said in the Tour's rest day press conference, where he sat next to Fabio Aru for the main interview, in what constituted a clear visual statement that both riders counted as overall contenders for the Kazakh squad.
ADVERTISEMENT
"Of course Froomey cannot go after both of us and I'm still at a distance where he may not concentrate so hard on me yet. So he'll follow [Romain] Bardet (AG2R) and Fabio" - third and second overall - "but we can still play this card [himself] in some way."
Victory in the Criterium du Dauphine was his first in five years, since the Tour of Austria in 2012. But the 2016 Olympic silver medallist has confirmed in the Tour's first week that his haul of two stages and the overall of the Dauphine cannot have been a fluke, particularly on the Tour's stage nine mountainous trek across the Jura to Chambery. As a rider whose best results in a Grand Tour date back to 2013, when he took seventh in the Tour de France, Fuglsang has bounced back into the big time with a vengeance this summer.
"Stage nine was an important stage, particularly after the Planche des Belles Filles on Wednesday" - where the Dane lost time - Fuglsang said. "At Belles Filles I didn't have the level I normally have, I must have overheated of something, so stage nine was important for my confidence. But these longer, tougher stages tend to suit me better than short, steep climbs."
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest News http://ift.tt/2t1RLLc
No comments:
Post a Comment