After DNFing Tour de San Luis and Paris-Nice while only completing Tour La Provence, Andrew Talansky sat out Volta a Catalunya and did an altitude camp instead, he is soon to come back down to race in Romandie, California and the Dauphine before another crack at the Tour de France.

"With the level that cycling is at you can't race to train, you've got to train to race and it rarely works the other way around. You can't go to a race underprepared hoping that it will bring you to the form that you want to have," he told Cyclingnews ahead of the team's final day of training in Tenerife.

"We kind of saw that last year with Paris-Nice not quite going how I wanted it to go. We had a plan of Paris-Nice, Catalunya, and País Vasco and with hindsight we were chasing and hoping that I could go to the next race and feel better. Now, we had the chance not to do that, and I think previous times have shown that if I can get a good block of training in at altitude you can lay the groundwork from May and June and into July."

Unlike some, Talansky enjoys the quiet of the camps on Mt. Teide, giving him peace and quiet to focus on getting himself into race shape with fellow GC leaders Pierre Rolland and Rigoberto Uran.

"I like this environment for that reason because there are no distractions, and you realise that you are making those sacrifices, so you do work that way and make the most of it. It's one of the most barren places I've been to. I don't see why you would be up here for this long for anything other than training. It is by far the most productive two weeks I've ever done."

The American TT champ says he wont be at peak shape once the camp is done, he will only arrive at that in July for the Tour, but he hopes to be in a condition to race well against others in the coming stage races.

"I don't think that I'm in peak 100 per cent shape," he said. "Ideally, I would like to be there in July, but I do think we have solidified the foundations for the path from here to July. From when I came here it is night and day."

"Usually, I arrive at Romandie stretching it, and it's always the end of the spring block. This year, it's the beginning of my build-up towards July, and I'm interested in how everything will go. Rather than needing to take a break, it forms part of the build-up. Usually, I'm very tired after Romandie but this time, it is not the case.”