Tinkoff-Saxo sends Robert Kiserlovski into the heat of battle at this year’s very demanding Critérium du Dauphiné. Having spent five weeks thoroughly preparing in the hills and mountains around his home, Kiserlovski feels confident about leading the team’s GC ambitions but recognizes the tough competition that he’s up against.
 
As the opening stage of the 67th edition of the pre-Tour race Critérium du Dauphine got underway, Robert Kiserlovski embarked on his first race since the Tour of Romandie. The ambitions are there, he says, but meticulous training and racing are two separate concepts.
 
“I’m excited to return and I’m glad that the team has confidence in me and supports me in the fight for a good GC. I’ve done everything like I supposed to do in terms of my training. I feel good and my training has been quite effective I would say. I’ve been away from racing for five weeks and I look forward to getting back to test myself in competition. But training, although it has been effective, is one thing, racing is another”, underlines Robert Kiserlovski before adding.
 
“I spent some dedicated weeks at home, where I’ve stuck to my training schedule very carefully. There’s going to be a lot of climbing in this year’s Dauphiné, so it was important for me to spend a lot of time on the climbs to get a good power and rhythm. Luckily, there’s a lot of mountains where I live”, says the former Croatian champion.
 
However, the climbs and passes of this year’s Critérium du Dauphiné in regions such as Hautes-Alpes and Hautes-Savoie are not that familiar to Kiserlovski, who’s participating in Dauphiné for the first time.
 
“It’s the first time that I ride Dauphiné, so far I’ve always done races such as Tour de Suisse. So it will be interesting for me to race in a less well-know region on some new climbs. That can be a motivation as well. Still, it’s a very hard race with stage 5 and 7 being the hardest in my opinion. But we also face the TTT and stage 6 and 8, where the GC will be affected”, says Kiserlovski before elaborating on his goals.
 
“My ambition is a top ten in the GC and as a team we also aim for a stage win. If I accomplish that after a period away from racing and against this strong field of competitors, I will be very happy. The list of favorites is long and there are some very big names on it. I’ll do my very best and I feel ready, especially backed by a team with guys like Chris Anker and Jesper Hansen, who are in shape after Norway, and McCarthy, Poljanski and Beltran are also climbing well”, finishes Robert Kiserlovski.