Stage seven of the Giro d’Italia was a hard day for all riders, but the seven hour 40 minutes spent on the bike were especially hard for BMC rider Rick Zabel, the youngest rider in the Giro at age 21.

Zabel could barely make his way down the stairs of the black and red team bus to chat to Cycling Weekly. Teammate Philippe Gilbert had to encourage him to do so.

“Today was a really long stage, I never have done so many kilometres in my life in one day,” said Zabel.

“I’ve never sat seven hours and 45 minutes on my bike, so yeah, that’s hard, but luckily we did the first five hours quite easy. Then I had to pull with about 30 kilometres to race, and that was not so easy! I made it, though. Afterwards, I just sat in the gruppetto until the finish.”

He says he has suffered through every stage, but he is confident that he can finish the race in two weeks time.

“I’m suffering on the hard stages, but still I feel I can do this. I feel quite good after seven days. I think the big progression or big step will come after the Giro d’Italia ends,” Zabel added.

“I’ll try to go as long as I can. The best would be to make it to Milano. If I have this Grand Tour in my legs then I’ll make a big step.”

Zabel says he doesn’t feel he has undertaken too much too soon in his career, saying he wouldn’t have been on the start line in Sanremo last Saturday if that was the case.

“Too much too soon? If I were too young, I wouldn’t have started. I spoke a lot with BMC about it and we have a good plan. [BMC Sports Directors] Fabio Baldato and Valerio Piva have an eye on me and look out for me. If I’m getting too tired I won’t start the next day, but so far, I’m fine.”