Moreno Moser was once regarded as one of the brightest cycling talents but in 2013 and 2014 he has gone through lots of hardships. The Italian has no explanation for his travails and now hopes that he will rediscover his former self at his new team.
20 days ago, Moreno Moser finished the 2014 season and his time in the Cannondale jersey at the Japan Cup. In 10 days, he will resume his training ahead of the 2015 season where he will be riding for the new merger of Garmin and Cannondale.
"I am feeling good," he tells Tuttobiciweb in an interview. "I stay at home and am not flying to ay exotic country. I have just returned from Japan and have taken a few days off but now I have already started to ride my mountain bike."
In 2012, Moser had an amazing first season at the professional level and won the WorldTour race Tour de Pologne overall. He kicked off his 2013 season in great fashion by winning Strade Bianche but since then he has been far from his best level.
The 2014 season didn't go well wither.
"The season did not go as i wanted," he says. "There is no way to get around that fact. In 2012,my first year as a pro, I won five races like the Trofeo Laiguegliam Rund um Frankfurt and two stages and the overall at the Tour of Poland after a great fight with Kwiatkowski, and last year I won Strade Bianche. This year I never found my best legs.
"Unfortunately, I have no explanation. I don't understand why. I do not know ... Last year I found myself in the same situation. In fact I did even worse than in 2013 and I still have not figured out why. Obviously, I'm thinking about it. I have no physical problem but the condition is hard to find. I do not think this problem is due to my training, because I was only strong toward the end of the season when I practically did not train anymore."
Next year Moser will find himself in a new team after his current Cannondale team will merge with Garmin.
"It is a big team with a great history that now folds," he says. "Due to the family atmosphere, it was almost like riding at an amateur team to be a rider at Liquigas and the Cannondale because we were all Italian and close to ech other. You talked with the team manager like a friend and it will change everything to be part of an American team. On November 13, I travel to the first team meeting in Boulder, Colorado, where the team has its headquarters and where we will get to know each other and plan the season. Having talked to a some of the riders who were at Garmin this year, I have realized that it will be a totally new team in 2015. It will not be the same group with a few additions. I will be a complete reshuffling of the team. It will be a new project with new ideas and new objectives."
After his many hardships, Moser hopes to find back to his best level.
"I want to find myself," he says. "I want to start to prove that I am more than I have shown now. The desire to work hard is intact but after two years without being competitive at the highest level, it is mentally hard. One day I a fine, the next I can't do anything. It's complicated to explainand depends not only on my training."
However, Moser is not contemplating retirement.
"Even though the morale has been affected by the blows and the lack of results, it is my job and I want to do well. I still love my profession but it is clear that riding a bike is much more fun if you are strong. Here I just want to go have fun."
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