Although he’s now 38 years of age and is about to begin his fourteenth pro season, Nicki Sørensen has planned a busy 2014 schedule with not one but two Grand Tours in his plans.
The four time Danish national champion will likely miss the Tour de France, but is due to do both of the other two three-week races. He will also aim to be good in the Ardennes races in April.
“The goals for 2014 are to do some great Classics, a good Giro d'Italia and also to do well in the Vuelta,” Sørensen said. “I've been training well on the road so far and have also been doing a few runs. Mentally I'm regenerated by spending as much time with the family as it has actually been possible to do so.”
The former Tour de France stage winner was confirmed last week as extending his time with the Tinkoff Saxo squad, with at least one more year on the cards. The team’s general manager Bjarne Riis underlined his value then.
“Nicki might be a veteran by now, but he is still very strong and motivated,” he said. “He takes a lot of responsibility in races and training and is one of the riders who act as an extended arm of the sport management. With his experience he can race every single race in the calendar.”
Sørensen spent much of 2013 riding for others, but rode solidly in the Ardennes Classics. He was fourteenth in the Amstel Gold Race and seventeenth in Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Like team-mate Karsten Kroon, he regards the Dutch event as his top moment from the year.
“My most memorable experience this season was doing the Amstel Gold Race where Roman won and the whole team rode riding superbly well. We all made a huge effort before Roman took matters into his own hands and soloed his way to victory. I finished fourteenth in the race,” he said.
“Two months later at the Danish national championships, I had this year's most disappointing experience. I was alone in the front of the race in the finale but unlike other years, the field caught me with seven kilometres to the finish line. The disappointment was quickly replaced by the joy of seeing Michael (Mørkøv) sprinting to victory in a bunch sprint.”
The team is thought likely to add another rider before the start of the season but, according to El Pais, it will not be the previously-anticipated signing of Samuel Sanchez.