31 year old Frenchman, John Gadret, is aiming to target the Giro d'Italia again in 2011. The rider, currently spending his winter racing cyclocross, will make a late start to the season, but should have more than enough time to hit top form in time for the year's first Grand Tour.
Gadret, who finished 13th in the Giro d'Italia and 19th at the Tour de France in 2010, will start his road season at the one day Cholet-Pays de Loire on March 20th according to Wielerland.nl. After that, he will follow with the Circuit Cycliste de la Sarthe, followed by the Ardennes Triptych, the Tour de Romandie, and finally, the Giro d'Italia.
According to France Cycliste, Gadret's schedule is a little bit different than reported by Wielerland.nl. Following the Circuit de la Sarthe, Gadret will take part in the Criterium International, Tour of the Basque Country, Tour du Finestere, and then he'll only do two of the three Ardennes Classics: Fleche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege. After that, only the Tour de Romandie lies between Gadret and the Giro d'Italia.
It will be a fairly light spring for the AG2R climbing specialist, especially considering his late start to the season, conceivably two months later than some of his rivals.
His winter will be a busy one though. Gadret, who won a stage and the overall of the Tour de lain in 2008, plans to race between 20 and 25 cyclocross races throughout the winter, hopefully culminating with glory in both his French National Championships and selection to the French team for the World Championships in Sankt Wendel in January.
Gadret enjoyed a solid 2010 as the highest ranked French rider in both the Giro and the Tour de France, but that wasn't say all that much. Along with a 3rd place in the Giro's incredibly difficult uphill time trial to Plan de Corones/Kronplatz, his other prominent action over the last year was his refusal to give teammate, Nicolas Roche, his wheel following Roche's flat in a decisive moment. Gadret's unwillingness to help a teammate cost Roche dearly, to the tune of three or four spots on the final general classification - enough to almost move the Irishman into the top ten.