Gregory Rast is known as one of the best domestiques for the cobbled classics but in 2014 he didn't have much of an impact in the biggest races. The Swiss now hopes to bounce back in 2015 when he will again be riding in support of Fabian Cancellara.
Over the years Gregory Rast (Trek) has gained recognition as one of the key domestiques for Fabian Cancellara in the spring classics. In 2014, the 34-year-old Swiss was only able to assist his compatriot in Milan-San Remo.
"Despite the bad weather, things went really well there and I could do valuable work for Canci. On the Poggio, I launched an attack to try to bring the sprinters in difficulty," Rast tells radsport-news.com
Cancellara knew to take advantage of his teammate's action and finished second in the bunch sprint behind Alexander Kristoff (Katusha). Rast finished 19th but this turned out to be his best result in the classics this year.
"After that, everything went wrong for me," the classics specialists adds. In E3 Prijs he was held up behind a big crash and just before the Tour of Flanders, he suffered from a stomach flu. "Under these circumstances, I could of course not do my work as I would have liked," says the veteran who was back at full health one week later for the start of Paris-Roubaix but was stopped by a mechanical. "In the Forest of Arenberg, I had to wait very long time to get a spare bike," Rast says. After a long chase, he managed to rejoin the peloton but then missed strength in the finale.
After the classics he took a break and started to prepare for the Tour de France where he worked as a domestique for Danny van Poppel and Frank Shcleck after a three-year absence. "For me, the Tour actually went pretty well," says Rast who had finished fifth in the Swiss TT championships a little earlier.
For the coming season, Rast who is also under contract with Trek in 2015, will again focus his attention on the spring classics. "I will definitely show that I can do better than I did this year," he says.
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