Roman Kreuziger – Unofficial
What are your expectations of the first races?It is my first 2014 participation and I am really looking forward to it. The winter preparation was relatively long but I know that I did my very best so we will see what happens in the first races.You have never ridden at the Tour de Oman before, do you know what is in store for you?I studied up on the stages during the training camp on the Canaries. I know that the profiles there are quite hilly, and the race features two hard mountain-top finishes. That is also one of the reasons why I chose it as a start-up race. It will be a good test for everyone before we begin racing in Europe. Anyway, I´m glad to kick off the season in such a warm climate.The competition will be quite strong in Oman. Do you have any idea who the biggest favorite is?The defending champion Froome, Rodriguez and Nibali, to name a few, but it is difficult to pick one, plus somebody different may surprise. Nowadays, all the races are very well-attended by good riders, so we will see how the race unfolds. I am seeing it as the first test without any pressure on.What are your team’s ambitions?We´d like to fight for the GC. I will try to establish my position somewhere in the front and we will take the race day by day. In any case, we are bringing along a strong team and I believe that we will score a good result.Apart from you, other Czech riders are set to start in Oman: Zdeněk Štybar, Leo König and František Paďour. Do you think you will have a chance to have a bit of a chat in the pack?I don’t think there will be much time to do that. It´s great that more Czech riders will be around. I don’t suppose that the atmosphere in the pack will be tense and restless so during an easy stage we might shoot the breeze a bit. But you always have a job to do for your team and you stay focused around your teammates.Is it important for you to pull off a good result?The Tour de Oman is not my priority race in the first part of the season. I´ll go into the race stress-free but I believe that I´ll capitalize on the hard work that I´ve done on the bike and will get a good result.What are your expectations of the first races?It is my first 2014 participation and I am really looking forward to it. The winter preparation was relatively long but I know that I did my very best so we will see what happens in the first races.You have never ridden at the Tour de Oman before, do you know what is in store for you? I studied up on the stages during the training camp on the Canaries. I know that the profiles there are quite hilly, and the race features two hard mountain-top finishes. That is also one of the reasons why I chose it as a start-up race. It will be a good test for everyone before we begin racing in Europe. Anyway, I´m glad to kick off the season in such a warm climate.The competition will be quite strong in Oman. Do you have any idea who the biggest favorite is?The defending champion Froome, Rodriguez and Nibali, to name a few, but it is difficult to pick one, plus somebody different may surprise. Nowadays, all the races are very well-attended by good riders, so we will see how the race unfolds. I am seeing it as the first test without any pressure on.What are your team’s ambitions?We´d like to fight for the GC. I will try to establish my position somewhere in the front and we will take the race day by day. In any case, we are bringing along a strong team and I believe that we will score a good result.Apart from you, other Czech riders are set to start in Oman: Zdeněk Štybar, Leo König and František Paďour. Do you think you will have a chance to have a bit of a chat in the pack?I don’t think there will be much time to do that. It´s great that more Czech riders will be around. I don’t suppose that the atmosphere in the pack will be tense and restless so during an easy stage we might shoot the breeze a bit. But you always have a job to do for your team and you stay focused around your teammates.Is it important for you to pull off a good result?The Tour de Oman is not my priority race in the first part of the season. I´ll go into the race stress-free but I believe that I´ll capitalize on the hard work that I´ve done on the bike and will get a good result.
