Cannondale Pro Cycling has just finished its second team training camp in Tuscany. The 27 members of the team including Peter Sagan, Ivan Basso, Elia Viviani, Moreno Moser, and Damiano Caruso used this camp to prepare for the upcoming 2014 season with daily conditioning workouts, trainings, tests, gym activities and massages. The Tuscany training camp is also where team management discusses team goals, strategy and race schedules with each rider as they gear up for first part of the season leading to the Tour de France.
Peter Sagan
During his first two years as a pro cyclist, Peter Sagan raced in the “Hell of the North” (2010 and 2011), but due to crashes, he never got a result. Even if Sagan never brought home wins as a professional, landing second place as at the junior level (2008) is something of which to be proud. However, in 2014 the Slovak champion’s largest challenge will be taking on the pavè of Paris-Roubaix. It will be the last of the Spring Classics for Sagan who will aim for the victory. He will also plan to win Milan-Sanremo (2nd in 2013), Harelbeke (2nd in 2013), Tour of Flanders (2nd in 2013), and Gent-Wevelgem for a second consecutive win. Sagan’s second goal of the season will be earning a third green jersey at Tour de France and increasing his number of stage victories which stands at five.
“I’m very happy to have the chance to return to ride the Paris-Roubaix” said Sagan “It’ a unique race, hard and unpredictable, and this is why it intrigues me. I don’t feel I can talk about goals or make any predictions. The first time I raced it as professional in 2010 I didn’t arrive in Roubaix and one year later I finished the race in the gruppetto faraway from the leaders. I think it’s a race in which it’s important to have experience and luck, as well as to have a feel for it. Riders such as Cancellara and Boonen, for example, are specialist for Roubaix and they have a lot of experience, much more than me. I can only ensure that I’ll give hundred percent to have the best result I can. I’ll plan time with the team to test the pavè when we’ll be close to the race because racing Paris-Roubaix takes a different way to race compared to the other races. Before Paris-Roubaix I will target important goals and, at the moment, more within my range. For me will be just a new and exciting challenge.”
The Slovak’s 2014 season will start in January in Argentina at the Tour de San Luis. From there, Sagan’s schedule will be as follows: Dubai Tour, Tour of Oman (2 stage wins in 2013), GP Camaiore (2013 victory), Strade Bianche (2nd in 2013), Tirreno-Adriatico (2 stage wins in 2013). Between Classics and the Tour de France, Sagan will compete at the Tour of California, where he has won the points jersey since 2010 and has taken an impressive number of ten stage wins. Sagan’s approach to the Grand Boucle in June will be decided later in the season.
Ivan Basso
Cannondale Pro Cycling’s experienced team captain plans to reset as a main goal for 2014 after coming off a difficult 2013 season. He is looking forward to the Grand Tour and leading the team for GC at the Giro d’Italia. The Maglia Rosa has always had meaning to Basso after winning it in 2006 and 2010, and this year will be a huge push for redemption.
Basso is scheduled to make his 2014 debut at GP Costa degli Etruschi. From there, the team Cannondale Pro Cycling team captain will attend Trofeo Laigueglia, Tour of Taiwan, Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, Giro del Trentino and Tour de Romandie. Lastly, the Vuelta a Espana could a major win for Basso during the second part of the cycling season.
Elia Viviani
The Italian sprinter will be the co-leader for Cannondale Pro Cycling at the Giro d’Italia, the most important race of his season. He will seek to lead at the Grand Tour after his team debut in 2013 and 24 wins as a professional cyclist. Viviani’s first race of the season will take place in Australia at the Tour Down Under, and his schedule will continue with Tour of Qatar. At the end of February, Viviani will attend the Track World Championships in Cali, Colombia. After some time off, Elia will take on the Giro del Trentino and the Tour de Romandie before gearing up for the Giro d’Italia. Just after the Corsa he will attend the Critèrium Dauphinè (one stage win 2013).
Moreno Moser
The talented 23 year-old Italian will face his third season as a professional rider. 2014 will be the year in which Moser shows his real potential. The Cannondale Pro Cycling team has total confidence in the newbie despite low results in 2013 due to health problems. He did pull off an amazing win at the Strade Bianche, and the team is excited to see more of the same.
After the Tour de San Luis, Dubai Tour, Tour of Oman, Strade Bianche, Tirreno-Adriatico, Moser will attend the first Classic, the Milan-Sanremo. Just after these races, Moser and team management will decide if he will race at Giro d’Italia or at another Grand Tour. Moser will most definitely participate in the Ardenne’s Classics; the races most suited to his talents will be the Amstel Gold Race, the Fléche Wallonne and the Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
Damiano Caruso
After the unexpected change of the Grand Tour in 2013, Caruso will once again participate in the Tour de France to fight in the mountain stages and aim for the best results in GC in 2014. He will make his debut at Tour de San Luis and continue onto Dubai, Trofeo Laigueglia, GP of Camaiore, Paris-Nice, Milan-Sanremo, Vuelta Pais Vasco and the three Ardenne’s Classics. These will be Caruso’s main races through the winter. He will kick off the spring with the Tour of California and the Tour de Suisse as he approaches the French Grand Tour.
Classics and short stages races
The other 22 cyclists of the 2014 Cannondale Pro Cycling team will be supporting their leaders as they ride to win. During the Classics, Sagan will be surrounding by a group riders such us Oscar Gatto, Maciej Bodnar, Kristijan Koren, Ted King, Paolo Longo Borghini and Alan Marangoni, while at the Ardennes’ races Moser and Caruso will ride alongside Marco Marcato, Alessandro De Marchi, Daniele Ratto and young guns Matej Mohoric and Davide Villella.
At the Tirreno-Adriatico, Gatto and Ratto will be with Sagan and Moser, while at the Paris-Nice Mohoric, Villella, De Marchi and Marcato will ride with Caruso. At the Tour of California group riders will include King, Bodnar, Boivin and Sabatini.
If leaders for Giro d’Italia and Tour de France are already decided during the first part of the season, then the rest of the team will be selected throughout the balance of the season. Management will look to riders’ performances while in peak condition. There will be a specific schedule determined for the team’s younger riders, Mohoric, Bettiol and Formolo, who will have a soft introduction to the professional arena allowing them gradual growth and improvement throughout the season.
Ron Callahan is the chief cook and bottlewasher at Bike World News, doing everything from website design to bike reviews.