Bernhard Eisel (HTC-Highroad), the winner of the 2010 edition of Gent-Wevelgem has been suffering from a cold during his preparation for the defence of his title. The 30-year-old Austrian is confident and determined that he will be ready to take the start in Sunday’s race in the right condition though.
“I was 100 percent preparing for the Classics, but I've had a very uneven build-up to these races," Eisel explained, "I got sick before the [Montepaschi] Strade Bianche race [on March 5th – Ed], then I got better again in Tirreno-Adriatico [Mar 9th - 15th – Ed], then these last few days I've been really ill with a cold.
“I started feeling like I didn't want to go training,” he continued, “which was strange, but since yesterday [Wednesday – Ed] I know why, because that's when my cold really kicked in."
Eisel spends most of the season in the service of his teammates, particularly as a vital part of the leadout train for super-sprinter Mark Cavendish. The classics at either end of the year are the big races where the Austrian has ambitions for himself though, which makes his recent illness all the harder to take.
"I was a bit upset at first because every day when you go training after the previous year's Paris-Roubaix you're thinking and thinking about the Classics and then this happens,” he said. “But the good thing is when I went training today [Thursday – Ed] I actually felt ok. So my legs are all right, and today is the first day that my head is back where it should be and I really want to race these Classics all the way through to Paris-Roubaix again.
"I'm sure I'll race Gent-Wevelgem,” he said defiantly, “all I have to do is keep on getting better over the next two days and pray for good weather on Sunday!"
Should Eisel be unable to be on top form for Sunday’s race, he knows that his teammates will be able to step up; particularly Milano-Sanremo winner Matt Goss, who is currently enjoying the form of his life.
"Matt is going really well,” said Eisel, “I saw him racing last week and you can tell that even if he's not in top form and it comes to a sprint, Gossy will be the man."
HTC-Highroad for Gent-Wevelgem:
Lars Bak, Matt Brammeier, Mark Cavendish, Bernhard Eisel, Matt Goss, Danny Pate, Alex Rasmussen and Mark Renshaw.