 |
|
|
|
|
|
Pssst! The latest insider news: Artur Gajek about his first weeks with Team MILRAM.
19/02/2025
Artur Gajek is one of Team MILRAM's seven new riders. We talked to him about his first weeks with the teams and his plans and goals for the 2008 season.
The 2008 season is your first year in a ProTour team. What does this step up to the top rang of cycling mean to you?
The step up means a lot to me. I didn't have a successful year last year, but I still got the chance to join a ProTour team. That makes me happier. I have come one step closer to my dream of one day starting in the Tour de France. It is now at least theoretically possible for me to ride the big races, and just that alone is sensational for me.
What are the differences to a Professional Continental Team, such as your former Team Wiesenhof-Felt?
You see the biggest differences in the whole environment. At MILRAM, everything is bigger. For example, with all the soigneurs, the physical therapists and mechanics, you could set up three little Continental teams. And the training camp was like nothing I'd every experienced before. All the support that they offer us is much more elaborate and complete. Of course, it is great. But I see it for me as an absolute luxury, and I will try to pay back for all of this service and care with good performances.
You had your first race experience with the other youngsters in the team in South Africa. What was your impression of your first appearance with Team MILRAM?
The South African race series was a great experience. I felt at home with the team right away.
I know most of the young riders anyway, some of them for a long time. I rode with the Velits brothers last year at Wiesenhof-Felt, for example, and I have trained with Dominik Roels here in and around Cologne for years. But I must say, the non-German riders, like Luca Barla or Andrey Grivko, are doing all they can to integrate. That helps the mood in the team, of course, and we work better together in training and in races.
On Easter Monday the classic race „“Rund um Köln“ starts in your hometown of Bergisch Gladbach. That is traditionally the first race in which the German teams meet each other in their homeland. What are you planning for the race?
My overwhelming goal for „Rund um Köln“ is a victory for Team MILRAM. It doesn't really matter to me which one of us wins in the end, the main thing is that we are successful. But it will be difficult this year. For one thing, there will be a lot of riders who, like me, know the race very well. For another, the run-in to the finish line is much shorter than in previous years. That gives a better chance for a breakaway group, especially on the last climb in Bergischen. But we as Team MILRAM will go into the race with a strong squad and will have an ace up our sleeve for every possiblity.
What are you looking to accomplish in the 2008 season?
I want to gain as much racing experience as I can. I also hope to learn from my mistakes, which I will undoubtedly make during the season. That's the only way I can improve myself and develop myself further. But maybe I will be able to present myself so well athletically that I will be able to ride one of the larger Tours.
What have you set as your sporting highlights?
Naturally my hometown race „Rund um Köln“ is very important. But basically it is very hard for me to really pick out highlights. I will basically be a helper in races. Certainly I will always keep an eye out for my own chances. If I see the possibility, I will try to use my role as a sort of joker. But basically I am not preparing myself for any specific season highlights. If I have good legs, of course it would be great to ride the Deutschland Tour or the Cyclassics in Hamburg, one of my favorite races. That assumes, of course, that I have been able to qualify myself over the season to be included in th line-up for these races.
|
|
|
|
