Kristjan Koren wins GP Camaoire – Worlds next?
Slovenian Kristjan Koren will race the World Championships in Geelong, Australia, October 3 with a newfound confidence. He won his first professional race, the GP Camaiore, yesterday against top Italians aiming for the same goal.
“I’m emotional,” said Koren, “because this is my first professional win.”
The 23-year-old won ahead of Italian Champion Giovanni Visconti (ISD-Neri) and Francesco Ginanni (Androni) with a last-minute burst at 100 metres to race. It was a disastrous result for the two Italians, who hoped to win for national sports director, Paolo Bettini, who is planning the Worlds team.
Koren, though, wanted to use his form from the Tour de France to gain his first professional win. Last month, he rode his first Grand Tour in support of Ivan Basso and even featured in an escape on the stage to Tourmalet.
“After the Tour, I recovered well and never fully stopped, I just kept training to keep my condition,” he added.
“Ivan encouraged me after his win in GP Carnago. My win is for the team, we have had a good week.”
Racing as an amateur last year, Koren won two stages of the Under 27 Giro d’Italia (GiroBio) and a stage at the Giro del Friuli-Venezia-Giulia. He signed for team Liquigas at the end of the year.
“The season is long, but now looking ahead to the Worlds in Australia. I will restart hard with Canada [GP Québec and GP Montréal], two races in Italy and then leave for Australia on the 25th.”
At the 2008 Under 23 Worlds in Varese, Italy, Koren finished seventh in the time trial. Two weeks prior, he won the Military World Championship road race.