As Milram team leader for the Grand Tours and a former Maillot Jaune of the Tour de France, German rider Linus Gerdemann wants a big year in 2010. He didn’t perform to his usual level in 2009 and is working hard to get back to his normal standard.
“I will try in the coming years to taken an even more focused approach in coaching, especially prior to the Tour,” he told Radsport.de. “Furthermore, I also know that where my training is concerned, I must change a few things.”
After a strong 2008 where he won races like the Deutschland Tour, the Tour de l’Ain and the Coppa Agostoni, Gerdemann changed teams from Columbia HTC to Milram. However he was seldom at the front and isn’t pleased with how it went. “I can not be happy with my season,” he admitted. “My absolute goal was the Tour de France, which I had arranged my preparations around. Yet the way the Tour went did not meet my expectations.”
Things had appeared on track early on, with seventh in Tirreno-Adriatico and fifth in the Montepaschi Eroica preceding an overall victory in the Bayern Rundfahrt. However his form started to head downhill in the Tour de Suisse and despite some hard training in the run up to the Tour de France, he failed to shine. He was ultimately a rather anonymous 23rd overall.
Gerdemann tried to rescue his season in the Vuelta a España and went close to taking a win on stage ten. It was not to be, though, as bad luck struck twice after he broke clear alone. First of all, he punctured, and then he went down in a crash after getting a spare wheel. He was otherwise looking good for the victory.
“I think I could have won it,” he stated. He pulled out the following day, his Vuelta experience adding to a frustrating year. “I had to concentrate on stage wins, but unfortunately failed,” he said, with some regret. “In addition I was also unlucky to have a year where things just did not work.”
The Milram team also had a subdued year and everyone, Gerdemann included, will be keen to show that they can do better in 2010. Now 27 years of age, it’s time for him to deliver on the potential he showed two years ago when he won a mountain stage in the Tour and wore the yellow jersey.