After a season of two halves, Fabio Felline (Trek Segafredo) will focus on the cobbled Classics and week long stage races in 2018. After wins and successes in the first few months of 2017, illness threw him back and forced him to end the year early, giving him the chance to analyse the season.
The Italian kicked off his 2017 campaign by winning his first race, Trofeo Laigueglia, in impressive fashion. He backed that up with fourth in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad before winning the prologue of the Tour de Romandie and holding the leader’s jersey until the penultimate stage. He went onto finish fourth overall in the race but the second half of his year was disrupted with illness. He quit the Tour de France midway and eventually had to end his season early in a bid to rest, recover and recalibrate for the new year. Speaking to Cyclingnews at the Rouleur Classic in London, the 27-year-old opened up about his plans for next year and his mixed 2017.
“Until May I had a really good season but after that it was a disaster,” he told Cyclingnews.
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“I got toxoplasmosis and the power and the numbers were totally different to my normal level. When we discovered this virus I needed the time to recover but when you have something like this it’s not about a week, you need months. Now I’ve had a really long break so I’m confident for the new season.”
Felline raced the cobbles and the Ardennes in 2017 but next year the Italian will focus more on the first portion of Classics. His result in Omloop was a major step forward for the Trek rider, and although Paris-Roubaix is not currently on the cards the all-rounder believes he can prove his worth in the races leading up to the Hell of the North. Omloop aside, he also finished in the top twenty at both E3 Harelbeke and the Tour of Flanders – both while riding in the services of others.
“So for the next years my goals are to understand what kind of other races I’m good at, such as the Classics. In my head I love the cobbles but a lot of people discount me because I’m not 80kg but if I look at it another way, the first time I rode the cobbles was back in 2010 and I only came back to them in 2017. I had good feelings and in the Flanders Classics I got a lot of experience and realized how to use my power and when to make the efforts.”
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