For 2008 cyclocross World champion Niels Albert (BKCP-Powerplus) the new season can’t come soon enough. He has been racing on the road in a number of Belgian races, including the Tour of Belgium, and some smaller international races, but is looking forward to getting off the road once more.
"My preparation has been enough to be good already,” he told Sporza. “I have not been consciously going for road race victories.”
In June he won stage 6 of the Circuito Montañes in Spain, and BKCP-Powerplus, which included other top cyclocross riders Dieter Vanthourenhout, Enrico Franzoi and Radomir Simunek, finished second in the team time trial of the Tour Alsace; for Albert though, road racing id off-season training.
“Last year I kept my form so as not to lose races; A youthful mistake."
Wearing the rainbow jersey of World champion, Albert started last season with one victory after another, but found himself lacking sharpness when the big races came around. This season he does not intend to do the same, but to pace himself more throughout the winter.
"I don’t think the pressure is any less now because I’m not wearing the champion’s jersey,” he said. “I intend to make [Belgian champion] Sven Nys and [new World champion] Zdenek Stybar do more work for their victories."
As World champion Albert won a number of minor races, often at the expense of bigger targets later on. This time around he will pick and choose the races that he will go all out on.
"My programme has been nicely worked out,” he explained. “I will try to peak for the big races. Eventually you will be judged on those titles; that's all that counts, not how many Superprestiges and GvA Trofees you've won. I will concentrate more on the Belgian Championships and World Championships and fixate less on Erpe Mere [the Steenbergcross, this weekend – ed] and stuff like that."
Last season, as World champion, Albert was leading the World Cup and the Superprestige classifications into mid-January. He was injured when a fan stepped in front of him at the Belgian championships, but also had a definite drop in form just as some of his rivals were reaching their peaks. By the end of the month Stybar had won both of those season-long titles, as well as taking Albert’s rainbow jersey.
Albert plans for things to happen the other way around this time.
"I started well and was leading all the classifications,” he said. “We'll see where I end up [this time].
“Which race do I intend to win? Baal [the GP Sven Nys - ed]," he joked.