Kristjan Koren rode a solid first season with Liquigas-Doimo and is looking forward to going even better for the renamed Liquigas-Cannondale team. The 24-year-old Slovenian took part in the Tour de France, which he followed with a victory in the GP Citta di Camaiore in August. He has spent several weeks on the island of Tenerife with compatriot Borut Bozic (Vacansoleil-DCM) and is looking forward to starting his season at the Santos Tour Down Under in less than two weeks time.
“In terms of my form,” he said in an interview with bicikel.com, “I can say that I’m further advanced than I was last year. All the tests I’ve conducted show that my form is on the rise and that’s not bad.
“In the final part of my preparations the emphasis has been on hill intervals,” he explained. “The emphasis was on a change of pace and on strength; I trained an average of four hours per day.”
Once his training is over, Koren will be joining his team as it flies south to Adelaide, South Australia for the Santos Tour Down Under.
“I’m going there relaxed,” he said, “although the team is very interested in racing for results. The season is long and I’m going to Australia better than last year, but I don’t have any big goals there. The first objectives where I want to build some serious speed and be up to race pace will come in the races that I will ride after I return from Australia.”
One of Koren’s standout results of 2010 was his 23rd position in Paris-Roubaix, the best finish for a Slovenian in the race. The 24-year-old hopes to go even better this time around, and feels that this is the race that he would like to specialise in, in future.
“Everyone has one goal, one race where they want to establish themselves,” he explained. “I would like to ride well in the northern classics; the race where I really want to do well in is Paris-Roubaix, which will be my main goal for the first part of the season.”
As well as the Santos Tour Down Under and the classics, Koren will follow a similar race programme to last year, including Paris-Nice and the season openers in Italy. Once again, June will see him ride his home tour, the Tour de Slovenie, the Critérium du Dauphiné before heading to the Toru de France once more.