Robert Gesink is one of the best Dutch climbers. But with a series of personal hardships, illnesses and injuries, he has not been in the perfect condition to aim for the win in stage races. Interviewed by Cyclingnews, he told about his 2015 season.

"It's been a strange season again. I started really bad. Last winter my girlfriend was pregnant with our second child and there were a lot of complications during the pregnancy. I was in the Vuelta a Espana in a very good position, and I had to go home because things weren't good with the baby. In the end I'm happy I went home. It's a long story, but everything went well. But it was really a critical situation", the Dutch rider explained after the World Championships.

In order to have a good shape on the Tour de France, Gesink did a strong traning camp in America with his family. "Training in America was quite different from preparing for the Tour in Europe," he said. "I brought the family, and it's like a completely different world. Over here you can focus on family and training much more than Europe. There, there's always something you have to do or somewhere to have to go. So that was a good combination. Also, in the past I had good results over here racing in America and Canada as well. It's bringing back the good feeling."

But now, he thinks about the 2016 season. He explained to Cyclingnews he would like to be present at the start of the Giro d'Italia. The next edition will start in the Netherlands with three stages. He hopes also to be selected for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. "A lot of times in the past things have gone wrong, but I like to focus on the things that did go right. I focused on the races in Canada a few times and did great then. I've been five times top 10 in Grand Tours I've focused on. Sometimes things haven't worked out as planned, but I'm not a quitter. I'll keep on targeting big goals. Sometimes you'll be not as good as you hoped for, and you let yourself and others down. But you try again and always one time it will work out the way you want it to be", he concluded.