Domenico Pozzovivo wants to forget the 2015 season as soon as possible. The Ag2r rider started the Giro d’Italia with great ambitions, but a very bad crash in the third stage forced him to abandon. 

The Italian looked back on his season in an interview with Elleradio.

"The memory is linked to the minutes prior to the crash. The last memories are shortly after the top of Barbagelata. Then I started to really understand what was happening when I head the noise from the helicopter. Obviously I have watched the images to try to understand what happened. In my mind I still have strong memories of the sound of the helicopter because I realized it was something serious.

"I returned to competition earlier than planned at the Tour of Switzerland and I had found myself surprisingly comfortable. Then I took a break to prepare for the Vuelta a España. It was a Vuelta where I had to defend myself because I never found a great condition. I think that the fact that I had to abandon the Giro, hampered me a bit all season long. However, I think I still finished a decent eleventh. " 

Pozzovivo is now focused on the 2016 season that will see him again ride the Giro and make a debut at the Tour de France.

"I will not only do the Tour but also the Giro. I will try to do well in both. I've done the Giro several times already and so I feel safer when it comes to riding for GC. The Tour will be a new experience and we'll see where I can end up as we are there with a captain, Romain Bardet, who has done a number of Tours although he is very young. From that point of view he has more experience than me in the Tour. I will leave with a great desire to do well but not with a specific goal." 

Analyzing the route of the Giro, Pozzovivo then identified some important aspects that could be decisive.

"It is a Giro that is said to be a bit more human than in recent editions. However, there will many climbs. There is a bit of an unknown about the bad weather since we the last two mountain stages take place at high altitude."