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| MILRAMs Gerald Ciolek - Photo: Roth |
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| Training in Belgium |
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Interview with Gerald Ciolek
Melle: 05/02/2010
On Sunday, MILRAM captain Gerald Ciolek is starting the 2010 cycling year in the Tour of Qatar. Together with his teammates Servais Knaven, Roy Sentjens, Niki Terpstra and Wm de Vocht, the 23-year-old had a long training session in Belgium the day before traveling to the Near East. They checked out the most important sections of the first big cobblestone race of the season, the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. Team-milram.com spoke with the charismatic MILRAM captain after the training ride.
How did your season preparations go this winter?
Overall I am satisfied with my preparations, they went well. I started training early, and then we had our training camp on Mallorca, which was also very successful. Our „new“ riders, Roger Kluge, Roy Sentjens and Wim de Vocht were directly integrated, we get along quite well. So we are all looking forward to our first race.
Last year you started the season on Mallorca, this year in Qatar. How did this change of season openers come about for you?
We wanted to change things a little this year. I trained a lot with the „Classics team“ this winter, so it made sense to start the season with them. The Tour of Qatar is basically flat. We get along well together and now we have to prove ourselves in competition, in order to bring in succeses as quickly as possible.
On Thursday you trained on the course of the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. The race isn't until February 27, why did you ride the course so early?
Throughout the long winter, the roads in Germany and Switzerland in the last few weeks were not at all clear to ride, or were very difficult. Servais Knaven then told us a few days ago that it was pretty dry in Belgium and we could train there. After about two weeks on the roller, it was important to give some gas before the Tour of Qatar and rev up our bodies. We rode at tempo for more than five hours and saw the important parts of the first cobblestone race. Our Classics „experts“ Servais, Roy, Niki and Wim know this region really well and could give me some tips. Plus this way we could also test various equipment form Lightweight and Co. for the races in this region. That was helpful.
=> The video of the trainingday in Belgium can be found here
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