The Tour of Denmark indicates the beginning of a very busy part of Team Novo-Nordisk’s season, as they race several high profile events like the Danish race, USA Pro Challenge and the Tour of Britain. Speaking to CyclingQuotes about this key part of their year, experienced veteran Javier Megias gave some details on his and the team’s goals.

Megias himself has had a good year, with tenth in Trofeo Laigueglia, seventh in GP Lugano and 15th in Gp Nobili. He showcased climbing talent with tenth overall in the Tour of Turkey. He says he is pleased with his year but he wants to win a race this season.

“We are basically at the halfway point and it has gone well so far. The first half was good. I felt consistent throughout most of it, but I still didn’t get a win. I’m definitely fighting for a victory in the second half.”

Going more into his results, Megias tried to explain what he thinks has helped him do so well, pointing to a good winter and little pressure from his team to get results. Having not raced since the Tour of California in May, he hopes he is fresh enough to keep getting good results and doing an even better end to the season than he did in the start.

“I think the strong first half of the season was because of my winter training. I did some really good training at home and I began the season without much pressure to get results early. This made me come into the season fresh, both mentally and physically. This was absolutely key for my results up to this point. Hopefully, with this long mid-season break, I can keep this trend going. Personally, I feel like I keep getting better and better. I will keep pushing myself until we reach the final race of the year and I want that victory.”

He has plenty of big races to achieve his goal as well, as he exclusively revealed his program for the rest of the season, although he admits it may change.

“It can always change, but right now I’m scheduled for Denmark, USA Pro Challenge in Colorado, Tour of Britain a few one-day Italian races and Japan Cup.”

Speaking about the Tour of Denmark, Megias says that he is racing with a dual focus of looking to ride well in GC but also to use his fast finish to try and win a hillier stage too.

“When you look at the profile at Post Danmark Rundt, there are some stages that play to my skills really well. I’d love to get a stage win, but I’ll also be focused on finishing well in the general classification.”

Megias is one of the most experienced riders on the team, with a Vuelta a Espana ride and six Monument starts under his belt. We asked him what role that gave him in the team and if having to look after younger riders was more stressful.

“It’s an interesting role to be a veteran rider, especially on such a unique project. I’ve raced on Pro Tour teams and now I’m part of the world’s first all-diabetes pro cycling team. Our mission is to inspire, educate and empower everyone with diabetes and I try to use some of my experience to help educate my teammates. They definitely look to me for experience. It’s a role that I enjoy having. Year after year, the whole team is making solid progress. I hope that we will keep growing and this will help the project reach the next level.”

Megias is an aggressive racer and don’t be surprised to see him go on the attack in Denmark and the rest of the big races he is penciled to ride. And if he has come out of his break as well as he hopes to, he is definitely capable of getting a big win for himself and his team.