Long-term development of rider emphasised over short-term targets
Although his team told him that he’d be selected for the Giro d’Italia if he won two stages in this week’s Presidential Tour of Turkey, Andrea Guardini has said that he will give the Grand Tour a miss this time round.
“I didn’t think that I’d be beating those big names after four months as a professional rider,” he said, reacting to his bettering of Kenny Van Hummel (Skil-Shimano), Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Cervelo), Andre Greipel (Omega Pharma-Lotto) and Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-ISD) on the 135 kilometre stage to Manavgat. “But I know that I still have to improve a lot, so I’ve decided with my directeur sportif not to take part in the Giro d’Italia next week.”
While there is reason to believe that he could fight for stage wins in the race, the fact that he is in his first season and remains just 21 years of age means that playing cautious may well be a better long-term strategy.
“It hasn’t been an easy decision to take but I’ll go on holiday after the Tour of Turkey and I hope to come back in good shape to win again in the second part of the season,” he said. “It was a bit of a bet that I’d ride the Giro if I won two stages here, but that was kind of a motivational process.
“Realistically, though, this year’s Giro isn’t an easy thing and it would be too much, as I already feel tired after one week at the Tour of Turkey. I’m still young. I have a full career ahead of me. I know very well what I have to improve, and it’s climbing.”
This year’s Giro d’Italia is regarded as one of the hardest in history, with plenty of tough mountains awaiting the riders. If Guardini continues on the same trajectory, though, there’s every chance that he’ll be winning Grand Tour stages sooner rather than later.
Besides, if he wants a big project to aim for, this year’s world championships are deemed likely to finish in a bunch gallop. Chasing a medal in Copenhagen would be a superb end of season target.
So too the chance to exceed the debut season record of eleven wins, as set previously by Mark Cavendish in 2007. He’s on eight victories as of today, and remains hungry for more.