Calpe training camp for American ProTeam
Following its most successful season to date in 2011, the Garmin-Barracuda team is putting in some good training kilometres in advance of the 2012 season. Although some of the squad are already in action in the Santos Tour Down Under, the majority of the riders are yet to turn a pedal in competition and are using this time to ramp up their fitness prior to pinning on their first numbers.
Many of the team are based in Girona, Spain, and have travelled south to Calpe to meet and work hard together. Team building is also important, with the time enabling riders old and new to get acquainted and to build the kind of bonds which will be so beneficial when the going gets tough in a few weeks.
One of those at the camp, Christian Vande Velde, is particularly excited about the 2012 season. After having a couple of years affected by injury, he had a strong end to season in 2011, finishing sixth overall in the Tour of Utah and then second in the USA Pro Cycling Challenge.
Those performances gave him a new motivation and strong training in recent weeks have put him in a good position. “I feel really good, I don’t feel like I’ve stressed myself,” he told VeloNation, about what has been a smooth buildup towards form. “Sometimes you are burning the candle too much at both ends. This year I was pretty relaxed about my training and I came out of the season really good.” As a result he’s feeling upbeat about his form and also about the thoughts of the season ahead.
Click the images below to access the full gallery of Vande Velde and his team-mates training in Calpe.
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