Wearing the white jersey at the beginning is an experience the young American will never forget
Bjorn Selander’s debut Grand Tour could scarcely have started any better, with the 23-year-old RadioShack rider taking the white jersey for best young rider after the opening team time trial. As the hardest edition of the Corsa Rosa for many years though, Selander, like many other riders, was just pleased to complete the 3524.5km course.
“It feels great to be at the final TT in Milan, that’s for sure,” he told VeloNation as he warmed up for the race under the shade of the RadioShack team bus’ canopy. “Long Giro; hard first Grand Tour, that’s for sure!”
2011 is Selander’s second year with the RadioShack team, and he raced a number of ProTour events in his debut season. Finishing the Volta a Catalunya and Tour of Poland is however nothing like getting around the Giro d’Italia for the first time.
“There’s no comparison; I mean: one week versus three weeks!” he exclaimed. “Plus, with the stages that we’ve had; multiple days over 200-K; lots of climbing; just, there’s no comparison.”
Most riders can expect to ride their Grand Tour debut fairly anonymously; for Selander though, this was not an option. Although his team finished second in the team time trial on the opening day, none of the winning HTC-Highroad team was eligible, and so he took the maglia bianca for the best young rider, which he wore for two days.
“I was bombed out; I was stoked!’ he enthused. “It was totally unexpected; we even had problems in the TT, but ended up second. It was pretty solid, but I was really stoked to be in the white for two days; three days, I don’t know…”
One of the perks of holding one of the leaders’ jerseys in the Giro is that the riders are required to start the stage at the front of the peloton, which involves being sheltered from the sun (or rain) by one of the umbrella girls.
“It was a pretty cool experience,” said Selander, grinning. “That’s definitely one I’ll remember!”