24-year-old Saxo Bank-SunGard rider now looking forward to il Lombardia on familiar roads
Eighth place in the GranPiemonte represents the best result of André Steensen’s career so far. The Danish rider, who only turned 24 years old on the day before the race, is in his third full season with Saxo Bank-SunGard, but has only recently identified the cause of a persistent injury that has blighted his career to date.
Having pulled out of the second stage of the Vuelta al Pais Vasco in April, Steensen was finally diagnosed with a cyst close to his Achilles tendon; this has since been treated, allowing him to restart his season. Twelfth place in the Tour of Denmark and eleventh in the Circuit Franco-Belge have showed his potential, but getting himself into the long break of the day in Piemonte was even better by far.
“I'm very happy about this result as there was a large number of strong and experienced riders in the break,” said the 24-year-old Dane. “Since Tour of Denmark, I've been feeling strong and the result today tells me that I keep developing.
“Manuele [Boaro] and I made an early escape from the field and at first we were being chased by the field and the chase took its casualties from our group,” he explained. “However, a line of new riders joined us before the finale and in the very last turn, I was in a great position for the sprint and finished eighth.”
Having made the winning break in Piemonte, Steensen is even more excited about the prospect of racing il Lombardia at the weekend. The changed course and the finish in Lecco, while unknown to some, are very familiar to the young Danish rider.
“Now, we're all looking forward to Lombardia on Saturday,” said Steensen. “The organisers have found a new route, which goes through the landscape that I've been training in since I was ten years old so I'm going to feel right at home and I'm hoping for another great result.”