Nicolas Roche gets his season re-started tomorrow, Saturday, at Strade Bianche in Italy and then faces into a schedule that includes two Grand Tours.
The Irishman will ride Critérium du Dauphiné, from August 12th to 16th, followed by the Tour de France, starting on August 29th.
After the end of the Tour, which concludes in Paris on September 20th, Roche will start La Vuelta on October 20th.
He had a prolonged break from racing and training last autumn after breaking his kneecap on stage 6 of the Vuelta, just after he had held the leader's jersey for three days.
The Team Sunweb Irishman only rode one race this year, Tour des Alpes Maritimes et du Var (2.1) in late February, before the season was suspended due to Covid19.
He looked strong in that race as he climbed with the lead group on each of the three stages and took 7th overall, telling stickybottle at the time he felt he had benefited from having such a long break from racing.
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On the eve of his season re-start in Italy, he said he had spent three weeks at a team altitude camp - in Kühtai, Tirol, Austria - and was happy with how that had gone.
"All is good, I came down from the three-week altitude camp with the team directly to Strade," he explained.
"The form is there but it can be a bit nervous because it's like riding on ice," he added of the white gravel roads that often prove so decisive at the 184km Strade Bianche.
"I also crashed in the race last year so I am a bit apprehensive. But I guess when I pin a number on my back I won't think too much about it."
Roche
is in the Team Sunweb line-up for tomorrow alongside Søren Kragh
Andersen, Nikias Arndt, Tiesj Benoot, Marc Hirschi,
Joris Nieuwenhuis and Jasha Sütterlin.
Benoot won Strade
Bianche two years ago and has already taken
a stage win and 2nd overall this year at Paris Nice.
The Belgian rider will lead the team tomorrow with Kragh Andersen, who was 3rd in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in February.
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