He’s only 20 years old but already getting ready for his second season with one of the top cycling teams in the world come January 2009: André Steensen has had a tough season as a neopro but has gained lots of valuable experience in the process.
“It’s been a rough season with lots of accidents and injuries. But I’ve come out on the other side a lot wiser on how to deal with adversity and I especially learnt a lot from my injury early in the season. At first the team doctors recommended I take a week off to see how it went because it might just be strained, but after a while it turned out to stem from the Achilles tendon because my shoe was rubbing. It taught me how to react in situations like that so hopefully it won’t have to come to that in the first place,” explains Steensen.
He finished off the season with a broken wrist in Circuit Franco-Belge in October which meant a quiet winter break for the young Danish talent.
“I haven’t wanted to go anywhere on vacation with that wrist but it’s a lot better now and I got through the team training camp just fine, so I’ve started my training again to get ready for next year,” he says.
In 2008 Steensen began the season with his former team Glud & Marstrand Horsens and later switched to Team CSC Saxo Bank in May, but in 2009 he’ll be with the team from the beginning so his race program looks somewhat different this time round.
“I’m starting in Clasica de Almeria and then GP Rennes, which is a new race on our calendar. A few of us young Danish guys are doing a number of races together, which will be a lot of fun, I’m sure,” concludes Steensen.