Yesterday’s prologue time trial winner Dave Zabriskie is primarly known as a time trial rider but, after taking the race lead on yesterday’s opening stage of the Tour de Langkawi, he believes that he might be in good enough shape to try to defend his lead on the crucial climb of Genting Highlands.
While he didn’t say that he would be able to hold onto the pure climbers on the steep slopes, he hinted in his post-race press conference that he wasn’t ruling out battling for the jersey.
“I think I’m climbing a lot better than I was last year,” he said, explaining that his winter training had gone exceptionally well.
“I stayed in California most of the off-season, I didn’t go to the team training camp – my training camp was a couple of months long, not two weeks long.
“I had a good time training this winter. I think I was pretty productive. I definitely worked on a few things that I was missing last year. I feel like I’m in good shape.”
The Garmin Barracuda team has a clear general classification contender in Tom Danielson. Eighth in last year’s Tour de France, he won the Tour de Langkawi in 2003 and has proven credentials as a climber. He will be the team’s primary bet for the overall, but the minute-plus buffer Zabriskie established yesterday means the team could have two cards to play, providing he holds the lead until then.
See the video below for footage from the American’s post-victory conference.