hi, my career with liquigas is going along nicely. just got to the end of march and the start of the classics season is almost on me. obviously i've got a nice trio of riders for these events in pozzato, backstedt and paolini. however i'm beginning to wonder about getting di luca ready for his assult on the giro in may. i'm thinking the best plan is to send him along with my A team during the classics to get him some good race time under his belt. there i'll have him act as a super domesteque and maybe get him into a couple of breaks to test his legs. There's also a couple of short stage races to help him get to full fitness.
his schedule for march and april is: Gent-Lokeren 3/3
Kuurne-Brussel-Kuure 4/3
Milano-Torino 10/3
Milan- San Remo 24/3
Coppi Ciclista International 27-31/3
GP al Pais Vasco 9-14/4
Scheldetour Vlaandere 18/4 ?(not 100%)
Maastricht-Valkenburg 22/4
La Fleche Wallonne 25/4
Liege-Bastogne-Liege 29/4
i'm also thinking about sending the giro squad for a short training camp before the giro starts on the 12 of may. does this schedule sound ok? also can a rider ride himself into form during a long tour? i.e can he get there not 100% but just hold on for the first week before coming into form in the third week and making up the time?
really, it depends on what you want to do. but make sure he doesn't start the Giro at full form in terms of training. So let him start the giro at about 70 out of 80 training form, and train him at 80% from then on until the end of the giro. that's probably the best way of getting him in form for stages 14-21 which are the really important ones where he'll need the form. If you hold him at high form for longer he'll get tired.
But it really depends on what you want to do with him the rest of the season. If you want to spare him, don't ride nearly as many races early. Maybe take out the cobbled classics and just do the other races you have there, maybe adding the Tour de Romandie so his racing form doesn't drop much until the start of the Giro. If you get him to ride all those races that you've selected, he'll still be fine for the Giro, but he won't be as good the rest of the season.
So it depends on what else you're aiming for with him. Worlds Road Race? Giro di Lombardia+smaller October classics?
EDIT: another reason not to ride the cobbled classics is the increased risk of injury compared to other races.
Edited by issoisso on 14-01-2008 20:00
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cheers. might leave him out of the cobbled classics then. he hasn't really got any goals through june, july and august so he can have a nice long rest before the vureta in september and the october classics.
you want him to do the vuelta, too??
a bit much of racing...
don't expect great results in the october classics then, because his training fitness and especially his race fitness will get lower
Edited by cio93 on 14-01-2008 20:14
i don't expect him to win it put in his personnal programme page he says it's all he wants to do in september. i'll see what his forms like before i decide whether or not to try to win it. after all, i've got plenty of classics riders to go for the october classics and he isn't going to be doing anything to hard during the summer months.
