Domenico Pozzovivo got his 2014 season off to a great start but a bad crash destroyed the second part of his year. Now the Italian climber is back on his bike and will again target the Giro-Vuelta double in 2015.

After a year full of ups and downs, Domenico Pozzovivo has returned to training and is building his condition for a great 2015. Furthermore, the Italian who has a degree in business studies has recently started to study again. “Four years after I finished my studies, I decided to deepen my interest in the preparation and the physiology of the organism with respect to physical activity," he tells Tuttobiciweb.

Nonetheless, Pozzovivo is mainly focused on the 2015 season after a 2014 that was split in two halves. He rode strongly in the Giro d’Italia to finish fifth overall and got close to a win in Liege-Bastogne-Liege but he suffered a nasty crash while preparing for the Vuelta a Espana which destroyed the second part of his year.

“The season was split in two by the accident in which I fractured the tibia and fibula in my right leg,” he says. “The first part was very positive. I achieved some good results in WorldTour race like Tirreno-Adriatico and Volta a Catalunya. In the Giro d’Italia, I reached my goal of finishing in the top 5. I had prepared perfectly for the Vuelta a Espana but unfortunately I had a training crash on August 10 just before the Vuelta a Burgos which forced me to wave goodbye to my dreams for the end of the season, including the Worlds.”

Pozzovivo is now back in training after he returned to racing at the end of the year.

“I have not been on any exotic vacation,” he says. “I stayed peacefully at home and enjoyed the time with Valentina. I only stopped for 10 days. I had to be very strict because of the injury so this winter I never took a complete break. I maintained my shape with mountain biking and swimming, riding my road bike twice a week. After my accident, I have been given the advice not to go on walks. After the training camp in Spain that will start on December 8, I will start to ride seriously and do specific training.”

In recent years, Pozzovivo has focused on the Giro and the Vuelta. After his team manager Vincent Lavenu was reluctant to send him to the Tour de France due to the presence of cobbles, he will have a similar schedule in 2015.

"In the first meeting with the team, we focused more on team building activities than cycling and we made a rough outline of the schedule,” he says. “My season will focus on the Giro and Vuelta. I will start in Australia. When I return from Duwn Under, I will have the plaques and screws removed from the leg and then resume my preparation, with a return to racing at TirrenoAdriatico. From the race of the two seas, I am targeting results. I will ride for GC in both grand tours. The long individual time trial in the Giro is a challenge for everybody, even for riders like Contador. I'm working to improve in the time trials and I would like to win one of the many tough mountain stages.”

Due to his accident, Pozzovivo has modest ambitions.

"I will be satisfied if I am back at my level,” he says. “After a major injury it is not easy, but I hope and think that the early races will allow me to reach that level.  I would like to be consistent and take a win in an important race. I think of a mountain stage in the Giro. The one that finishes in Campitello Matese reminds me about the one that I won in Lago Laceno. And then I want to have a confirmation in Liege which is an important goal together with Lombardia, two of the hardest classics. Outside of racing, I will be happy because Valentina and I will get married in August.”