Seeking to rebuild full strength before next year’s Tour de France, Robert Gesink has said that he is thinking about riding a Grand Tour before the race in order to accelerate his return to form.
“Keep in mind that I really had to start again from scratch with cycling and walking. It’s definitely going to be tough at the start of the season ,” he told De Telegraaf, referring to the his ongoing recovery from a bad crash in September. “I have no concrete plans for my season. It is clear that in the first few months I won’t be going well. I cannot say how I will be by the Spring Classics. I would ride the Giro d'Italia next year in preparation for the Tour. I wouldn’t race in Italy to get a result, but to build my fitness. That seems like a nice new challenge to me.”
After suffering due to a crash in the Tour de France, Gesink showed strong form heading towards his end of season goal of the Giro di Lombardia when he finished second in the GP Cycliste de Quebec and rode aggressively in the GP Cycliste de Montreal. However his ambitions were foiled when he crashed hard while training on Sunday September 18th, ending up in hospital in Doetinchem with a fractured femur.
He had a pin inserted to help his recovery and by the end of October, just over a month after his crash, had already clocked up his first 200 kilometres of training on the road. He has continued to work since, but knows that he’s got a lot of effort ahead.
“I've been training about two and a half hours a day on the mountain bike, and at a pretty respectable level,” he said. “The muscles respond well. I have no problem with the pin that is attached. The tendons are not affected by the screws. Of course it is still a long way to go before I can get the optimum power out of this leg. But I know now that it's becoming better. It gives me peace.”
His solid season should also give him encouragement. While his Tour form was ruined by a crash, he took two stages and first overall in the Tour of Oman, was second in both Tirreno Adriatico and the GP Cycliste de Quebec and third overall in the Tour of the Basque Country.
He is regarded as one of the top Dutch talents in the sport. Gesink has never ridden the Giro d’Italia, but has shown well in other Grand Tours. He made his debut in the 2008 Vuelta a España and was seventh there, then returned to finish sixth one year later despite a bad crash. He was sixth in last year’s Tour de France.
The Rabobank rider is still just 25 years of age, and is seen as a potential future winner of the Tour.