Talented young climber believes he has matured, chasing An Post Rás yellow jersey today
Having taken the unusual step of voluntarily walking away from a contract with the top HTC Highroad team in October 2010, Rasmus Guldhammer has said that he believes he is now ready to resume racing at the WorldTour level.
The Danish climber highlighted his talent when he won the Under-23 Liege-Bastogne-Liege Classic and the GP Portugal in 2008, then placed fourth in the 2009 Tour of Denmark at just 20 years of age. “We've all got used to seeing Rasmus's back wheel on the climbs!" said Tejay van Garderen at the time.
Signed to HTC for the following season, he never settled in with the team and asked to be released at the end of the season so he could return to being based in Denmark. Seasons with the Team Concordia Forsikring – Himmerland and Christina Watches teams followed and now, at 24 years of age, he feels ready to return to the WorldTour level.
“It was a bit of a mix,” he said, when asked about his reasons for walking away. “I missed my family and my friends and it was a hard time, because the year before there were results in almost all the races. But then I didn’t manage to finish all the races and it was a really hard time,” he told VeloNation in the video interview below. “I was maybe not mature enough in that time but I think I am now and I will hopefully get a contract.”
Guldhammer has been racing with the Danish Blue Water team this year and is feeling good. He’s currently third overall in the An Post Rás, level on time with the race leader Marcin Bialoblocki (Team UK Youth) and hoping to grab yellow before the race ends on Sunday.
The race heads into the Wicklow mountains today and will likely be his best chance, although with the gaps being non-existent, he could also strike tomorrow.
“Two days ago when were on the queen stage it was really good for me,” he said. “Hopefully I can attack again and then we will see after the stage if I have the jersey or not. But I have to try anyway.”
Guldhammer is clear on what he needs to do this season. “I hope to race for a Pro Conti or ProTour [WorldTour – ed.] team. But I have to have the results. So far it is okay and I hope to be working together again with Brian Holm. That would be a dream for me, but I have to get some results to make that happen.”
Holm is working with the Omega Pharma Quick Step squad and Guldhammer states he would jump at the chance to compete there. “I talk with Brian all the time, I still speak well with him. He is like a mentor for me, when I need some help he is there to help me,” he said. “It is nice to have a guy like him with a lot of experience and who knows what to do.”