Dutch prodigy still firm in his intent to pass on Worlds and focus on Lombardia
Robert Gesink’s master plan for 2010 has gone perfectly so far. The Dutch climbing talent set his sights solely on the Tour de France for the first half of his season – the result was a 6th place overall in his debut Grand Boucle. After that, Gesink took 7th at the Clasica San Sebastian before taking a hard earned rest. Heading into his rest period, the 24 year old detailed his plans for the final months of the season to Dutch news source, NOS.
“…I’ll go to California for a month for a break. I’ll spend the first two weeks driving around, then the second two weeks training.” Following the break, the plan was to return to racing with the two new ProTour races in Canada, then back to Europe for what would hopefully be the coup de grace in a great season: “I want to go hard through the end of the season and do a good ride at Lombardia. I want to go into the winter strong. I’ll feel better and that will make my winter easier.”
A month and a half on from those comments immediately following the Clasica San Sebastian and everything is looking just peachy for Gesink. A 3rd place in Friday’s GP Quebec was followed up by a splendid solo victory on Sunday at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal.
After his win, his second of the season, Gesink spoke with his Rabobank team: “This is the greatest victory so far in my career. It’s my first win in a ProTour race and my first victory on a course like this. Above all though, I dug very deep.”
Gesink confesses to feeling very good for both of the races, but the hardest thing of all for the precocious ascender was exercising patience and waiting for just the right time to make his move.
“Five laps before the end, the race really got going. In the finale, we had to work hard, but the boys did very well. I felt good the whole time, but I had to stay quiet. It was hard to be patient again. If you go too early, you ruin your chances. It was just waiting, waiting, waiting. I always had the idea that I would give everything on the last hard climb and then ride and see whether it was sufficient.”
Making the right move was only part of the puzzle though. After that, the hard part remained – driving all the way to the finish and holding off a superstar laden group chasing behind.
“It was terrible pain. In the last kilometer, there was a turn of 180 degrees. I had to come to a standstill. That’s the last thing your tired legs want to do. The flatter final kilometers were pretty windy, and I was alone. It was a very hard fight and I suffered a lot of pain.”
The riders behind Gesink on the day were not lost on the rider who has enjoyed great success in North America, including a stage at the Tour of California.
“To finish ahead of riders like Hesjedal and Samuel Sanchez, that gives me great satisfaction. Yes, I realize that I’ve done something special.”
While it’s apparent that Gesink is in top form, win or no win, he’s not considering changing his mind to make the long trek to Australia at the end of the month. Gesink feels the trip would be pointless considering the lack of difficulty (in his opinion) in the course. One race that always promises a giant heap of difficulty, however, is October’s Giro di Lombardia. Gesink has promised he’ll be ready for the year’s final Monument.
“24 hours on the plane is not good preparation for a one day race. The course in Australia is also not difficult enough for me. I really do not think that I can make the difference. No World Championships for me. We’re setting everything up for Lombardia.”
It hasn’t been made official just yet, but it looks possible that the finale of the Giro di Lombardia will be altered significantly for the 16th of October race. The penultimate climb of the Civiglio will be replaced with a harder, longer, steeper climb – one that comes only a scant few kilometers after cresting the summit of the Madonna di Ghisallo. If that rumor turns out to be true, Gesink will be in with a great chance for victory.