German veteran looking forward to his sixteenth year as a pro
Cycling fans could be treated to one further year of Jens Voigt after the German refused to confirm he would retire at the end of the season.
“We will see how it goes. I turned 40 four months ago and I would say it would probably be my last year as an active pro but I wouldn’t say definitely,” said Voigt, speaking ahead of the opening stage of the Tour Down Under in Adelaide.
“If the season goes good, I still feel well and I can still hang on with the best, do my job, do my work – not necessarily win 20 races but be part of the winning team – then maybe I will do one more.”
Now in his sixteenth year in the peloton, a factor in Voigt’s consideration about remaining relate to the feeling he has about the new RadioShack Nissan Trek project. He spoke of his excitement about the setup, despite what he admits was a “bumpy start” after Johan Bruyneel’s RadioShack team merged with the Luxembourg-based Leopard-Trek outfit this winter.
“People are getting on well and working together well. We think we have a great team,” said Voigt, drawing on a cup of coffee in an Adelaide bike shop ahead of a morning training ride. “We’ve got an enormous strength in depth and I’m looking forward to some spectacular races we’re going to do this year.”
That strength in depth includes the likes of time trial and classics specialist Fabian Cancellara, American veteran Chris Horner, German all-rounder Andreas Kloden and – most prominently – the Schleck brothers, who finished on the podium behind Tour de France winner Cadel Evans last July.
Despite a Tour route that features almost 100 kilometres against the clock, Voigt is upbeat about three-time runner-up Andy Schleck’s chances in the season’s showpiece event.
“This year there’s two longer time trials which could be a disadvantage but there’s a lot or enough of hard climbing, so he has got plenty of chances to make up time.
“It’s an open race. Cadel (Evans) will be motivated as the defending champion. There will be some other guys coming back. We see how it goes. But definitely we have a chance and we will have a go.”
A lot has been said about how Bruyneel – who guided Lance Armstrong to seven successive Tour victories and Alberto Contador to two – might give the Schlecks the killer instinct they lack in the Tour. Yet old-hand Voigt is quick to pour cold water on any supposed ‘Bruyneel factor’.
“Yes, Johan will definitely help getting everything in place before – get the wind tunnel testing, get the ITT bikes, get all the equipment and everything ready, make the puzzle fit together – but at the end of the day it’s cycling and we have to pedal,” said the German, himself a winner of three stages on the Grande Boucle.
“If the sports director yells in the car ‘Go faster! Go slower!’ you either can or you can’t, but what can you do? It’s up to us to just ride our bikes and say ‘shut up legs’. If you get dropped on a climb by Cadel, then nothing’s going to change that – not even having another 25 domestiques.”
Voigt’s RadioShack-Nissan Trek squad makes its WorldTour debut on Tuesday with the opening stage of the Santos Tour Down Under, a 149km ride from Prospect to Clare.