In the absence of Vincenzo Nibali, Jakob Fuglsang acted as team leader of Astana in this year’s Tour de France, and the Danish rider entered the French Grand Tour with hopes of finishing inside the top ten. As the peloton blasted down the Champs Elysees for the final time, Fuglsang was seventh overall. As a consequence, Fuglsang now aims for more, perhaps even a place on the podium.

“My goal will be to finish higher [in a Grand Tour] than I did this year,” Fuglsang told Danish TV station TV 2.

Fuglsang then went on to distinguish between the three Grand Tours and enhancing his ambitions even further if he is to lead the Astana team in either the Giro d’Italia or the Vuelta a España.

“My ambition for the Tour would be to finish in the top five, but if we’re talking about either the Giro or the Vuelta, I would be targeting a place on the podium.”

Fuglsang acknowledged that he was making a bold statement and said that a decision is still to be made regarding his participation in next year’s three week stage races. This year’s winner of the Giro d’Italia, Vincenzo Nibali, is expected to spearhead the Astana team in the Tour de France, which would definitely curtail Fuglsang’s Tour ambitions and might compel him to focus on either the Italian or the Spanish Grand Tour.

Fuglsang also identified the mountains as the focal point for his attempts to improve on his GC chances.

“I know I can improve, and maybe I can stay with the best climbers for longer stretches and absorb more sudden changes of pace. This would help me move further up on the general classification,” Fuglsang added.