Lars Bak enjoyed great success in 2012 by taking part in both the Giro d’Italia, where he won a stage, and helping Jürgen Van Den Broeck to a good performance in the Tour de France.

This year, he will attempt to repeat the success, but the Danish rider also has his eyes set on a “spring day in hell” and the stage race of his home country Denmark.

“My top priority is definitely Paris-Roubaix. If I can get a result there, my spring season will be saved. That is the race I want to do well in. It’s the race I am passionate about,” says Lars Bak to CyclingQuotes.com and Feltet.dk.

The question for the valued supporting rider is whether he will get the chance to seek glory for himself, or whether Lotto-Belisol’s overall priorities will hinder it.

“Generally, we do not have a type like Cancellara or Boonen. But we do have a good team and a good collective. And if we help each other, it is less important if seven guys are riding for Roelandts or for me. It very much depends on who’s got the legs that particular day, so we have to communicate that during the race.”

“The spring classics are extremely tough. If you discover during the race that you do not have the legs, then being the captain will not really matter.”

Experience has taught Bak how to prepare to get a result in the spring classics. But last year things did not exactly go Lotto-Belisol’s way.

“To do well in those races you have to do Tirreno-Adriatico or Paris-Nice, and then Milano-Sanremo. Then you get up there [to Flanders] where the races are lining up. It is a great time. Also for those watching it on television.”

“All the VIP’s and sponsors that come with us… It is no fun to witness that when things go south. That was the only disappointment [the spring season of 2012], because aside from that we were in front in most other races. And if Greipel can win one and a half races this year, then all is saved.”

Bak’s first and only stage win in a grand tour came last year. Bak is hopeful that he can repeat the feat this season.

“I want to try to win a stage there [in the Giro d’Italia]. To win another stage in a grand tour would mean the world to me.”
After the Tour de France the Lotto-Belisol rider has his eyes set on home country Denmark’s only stage race. A race that he hopes to win for the first time.

“It is a race [the tour of Denmark] that I will be motivated to get a good result in. Especially if I get there with ‘Tour-legs’. Then you always have that extra gear. And if I could win the race, my season will be saved.”