Italian Classics specialist to change early season schedule in hopes of returning to former level
The 31 year old former world champion Alessandro Ballan is looking to return to the heights of his 2007 and 2008 seasons, following a disappointing first year with BMC Racing.
The native of the cycling hotbed of the Veneto in Italy enjoyed two torrid seasons in 2007 and 2008. These were highlighted by victory in the Ronde van Vlaanderen and the Vattenfall Cyclassics in 2007 plus a stunning World Championships triumph in 2008, to go along with a stage win at the Vuelta, third at Paris-Roubaix, and fourth at the Tour of Flanders.
2009 and 2010 didn’t quite live up to the previous two seasons, though. Ballan only managed overall victory along with a stage win at the Tour of Poland, whilst 2010 was even worse – third at the Italian National Championships, fifth overall at the Tour of Poland, and second in the Tour de France’s infamous dropped-chain stage to Bagneres-de-Luchon.
To his credit, Ballan was not allowed a chance to shine for almost two months of 2010, including Paris-Roubaix. Ballan’s name came up in a doping investigation centered around his old Lampre team. BMC took him out of competition until the team could conduct their own inquiry into the situation. When they were satisfied with their findings, Ballan was cleared and returned to racing in June.
But before and after his team’s preemptive withholding from competition, the spark just wasn’t there for Ballan, and that’s something the lanky cobbled classics specialist will be looking to regain in 2011.
Speaking with La Gazzetta dell Sport, Ballan confesses that he yearns to return to the form that made him one of the hottest talents in the sport.
“I want to be the rider I was in 2007 and 2008. My big goal is the Tour of Flanders, which is a beautiful race, and Paris-Roubaix, which is historic.”
To arrive in top form to those first two crucial weeks in April, Ballan is looking to shake up his early season preparation by not taking part in the two Middle Eastern season starting stage races: the Tour of Qatar and the Tour of Oman.
“I asked the team to change my program. Qatar and Oman do not suit me, because there aren’t any climbs, a crucial part of my preparation.”
Instead, the Italian will look to an even warmer climate, Australia, for his season debut. Ballan will take part in the Tour Down Under before returning to Italy and running out the early season Italian schedule leading up to Tirreno-Adriatico and Milano-Sanremo. Following La Primavera, Ballan will head north to the Three Days of De Panne, a race he won in 2007, in hopes of rekindling his Tour of Flanders winning form of that same year.
The hilly, but not too terribly difficult parcours of the Tour Down Under should suit the all-around talent well, and the Italian spring schedule has been kind to Ballan in the past:he netted a win at the Trofeo Laigueglia in 2006. Ballan is also no stranger to success at Tirreno-Adriatico: he took four top seven’s en route to a third overall finish at the Race of the Two Seas in 2006 as well. Two good placings at Tirreno-Adriatico in 2006 and 2008 were followed by solid finishes at Milano-Sanremo: eighth and 16th respectively.
There’s no question that if Ballan can right his ship, he’ll once again resume his spot as one of the sport’s best all-around talents. While it’s common to speak of Philippe Gilbert as a rider capable of winning over nearly any terrain, Ballan has shown the same ability in the past: victory at Flanders, podium at Paris-Roubaix, victory in a mountain stage at the Vuelta, victory at the World Championships, top placings in mountain stages at the Tour de France out of a break.
Ballan has yet to show himself in the Ardennes, but it seems a distinct possibility that he can be a threat there as well. It seems only a matter of time before the one-day specialist returns to the form of a few years ago and resumes his rightful place in the pantheon of favorites in the Monuments.