With less than twenty-four hours before Italy’s biggest one-day classic, Milan-Sanremo, American George Hincapie of Team BMC discussed his preparation as well as the situation for tomorrow with his new team.
Hincapie has had a quiet beginning of the season, and during Tirreno-Adriatico he posted on his Twitter account that he was feeling the affects of a cold.
When asked how he was doing on the eve of La Primevera he said, “I feel good. I’ve been taking it easy these past couple of days. We went and saw the course and the finale of Milan-Sanremo and I spent some time with the team. I feel recovered.”
The closing kilometers of tomorrow’s race is where the winning move is typically made. Knowing every meter can give a rider a tactical advantage.
Hincapie, who has participated in the event thirteen times, knows that just because this classic is familiar doesn’t mean a reconnaissance ride isn’t necessary. Big George explained why he and his team took the time to survey the course. “It’s good to remind yourself of the corners and the climbs and road conditions. I’ve done it many times but it’s important to have a good memory of what is coming up in the final.”
“It’s a beautiful race and with the best scenery along the coast. It’s very technical, very stressful and dangerous, but it’s good for me to get the kilometers in before my real goals of the season.
“Last year was the most memorable. Helping Cavendish win was right up there with any of my other big accomplishments in my career. It was exciting to be part of that leadout train for Mark to win.”
Now as a leader on BMC, Hincapie considered the team’s options for tomorrow: “We hope to put in a good race. Alessandro Ballan had been getting better at Tirreno-Adriatico, Karsten Kroon has been getting good results. I’m hoping to do well also. We hope to get our guys in the early break and get a good result at the end.”
With so many favorites for Saturday’s race, Hincapie said he has a hard time picking one rider adding, “I hope one of us are on the podium. One of the big favorites is [Tom] Boonen, but Alessandro Petacchi and [Filppo] Pozzato are looking good. Boasson Hagen is looking really good also.”