Kreder to return at Brixia Tour and Peraud to make comeback in Poland
Two riders who were forced to leave June’s Criterium du Dauphine as a result of injury are set to return to racing. Garmin’s young Dutch talent, Michel Kreder, will return at the Brixia Tour while Omega-Pharma’s French time trial specialist, Jean-Christophe Peraud will head first to the Tour of Poland, then make his Grand Tour debut at the Vuelta in September.
The 22-year-old, Kreder, from La Haye crashed badly in the Dauphine’s long time trial and left the race with a fractured collarbone after colliding with a wall on a descent.
A few weeks of rest were in order following the crash, but the young gun is back to serious training now. He recently finished a training camp in the Ardennes, and will return to southern Belgium again in the coming days with Dutch teammate, Ricardo van der Velde. Kreder will take part in the Brixia Tour from the 21st to the 25th of July.
The multiple stage winner at the prestigious U23 Circuit Montanes has enjoyed a banner season so far with a string of solid results, including 2nd at the GP Miguel Indurain, 7th on a stage at the Tour de Romandie, and two 4th’s and two 5th’s on stages at the Volta a Catalunya, which netted a 7th overall. The great success in Kreder’s first season with Garmin earned him a three-year contract extension with Jonathan Vaughters’s squad.
Meanwhile, the 33-year-old neo-pro on the road, Jean-Christophe Peraud, will make his return to racing at August’s Tour of Poland. Peraud withdrew from the Dauphine following the time trial as well, suffering from a high fever. Not long afterwards, the silver medalist in cross-country mountain biking at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 was hospitalized for blood poisoning. There was hope that the 2009 French TT Champion would recover soon enough to defend his title, but his return to health was slow in coming.
While Peraud looks to be coming back to form, he isn’t quite there yet. Peraud could have taken part in the French mountain bike championships this weekend in Val d’Isere, but opted to take a pass: “If I go to the championship, it is to try to win. Given where I am in my preparations, it was not possible to go there and play a leading role. So I’m not interested.”
The Omega-Pharma rider, who finished a stellar 4th overall at the Vuelta al Pais Vasco in April, will take part in the Tour of Poland from August 1st to the 8th. He will then race the GP Ouest-France on the 22nd, then head to his first grand tour start in Spain. If Peraud can manage a solid performance at the Vuelta , he admits to ambitions of a trip to Australia: “Why not go for selection at Worlds?”