After finishing sixth in the Tour de France, Bauke Mollema was inclined to ride the Vuelta in preparation for the world championship but he had a taste of the red jersey back in 2011, so the new cycling star from the Netherlands will go for the GC as much as he can.

Bauke Mollema partially lives in Spain when the weather is not suitable for riding his bike in the Netherlands. Around Alicante, he also has a terrain for intense training in the hills. He returned to his second home last week to complete his physical and psychological preparation for the Vuelta, a race he fell in love with at his first attempt in 2011.

“Two years ago, it was a really nice race for me”, he recalled. “It was my first time taking the leader’s jersey in a Grand Tour. My best memory of the Vuelta so far is to get the red jersey.” It happened at La Covatilla where he finished second behind Dan Martin. Chris Froome took over the day after on the occasion of the individual time trial in Salamanca. Mollema eventually finished fourth overall and experienced another emotional moment as he went on stage to receive the green jersey in Madrid.

“That was very special”, he remembered. “For me, to sprint in a flat stage was an unusual effort. But I had to do it; otherwise [Joaquím] Rodriguez would have won the points classification. It was a nice experience. Last year, I did the Vuelta again but nothing special on GC (28th). During the first week, I was still suffering from my crash at the Tour de France. I was not at 100%.”

This year, everything seems to go well for the 26 year old. His consistency is amazing: 3rd at Vuelta a Andalucia, 2nd at Vuelta a Murcia, 4th at Criterium International, 9th at Flèche Wallonne, 4th at Tour of Norway, 2nd at Tour de Suisse (plus a stage win), 6th at Tour de France, 9th at Clasica San Sebastian.

“I’ve had a stressful post-Tour de France week with riding criteriums and San Sebastian”, he explained. “After that, I’ve taken a rest and trained properly for the Vuelta. During my time in Spain, I haven’t gone on a recce tour. I know some finales from two years ago. On paper, the route looks really hard with twelve uphill finishes! But I won’t be racing as preparation for the world championship. Of course, the rainbow jersey is an important goal this year, considering the course in Italy, but the Vuelta is also a very important race. I feel good. I’ll try to do GC as long as it is possible. I’ll give 100%.”