Despite two disappointing years with heavy crashes and a coronavirus infection, former Tour de France fourth-placed Emanuel Buchmann has not lost sight of his goal of a podium finish in a major cycling tour.
"Normally, people say that you're at the best age to ride for the overall classification until 32, 33. So I still have a few years left," the 29-year-old told the "Schwäbische Zeitung" newspaper.
This year, Buchmann, who started the season with a ninth place in Mallorca on Wednesday, wants to attack again at the Giro. The route of the Tour of Italy suits the rider from Ravensburg better than that of the 2022 Tour, as there are fewer time trial kilometres to complete. "Of course, I hope that the Tour route will suit me better in the coming years and that I can attack again. But right now I'm only looking at this year and the Giro. After all, I have a big goal there," said Buchmann.
However, he will have to share the captaincy of the Bora-hansgrohe team at the Giro with Wilco Kelderman (Netherlands) and Jai Hindley (Australia).
In 2020, Buchmann was left without a chance after a serious crash shortly before the Tour de France. A year later, he had to abandon the Giro in sixth place after a crash. At the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Buchmann was affected by a coronavirus infection in his room-mate Simon Geschke's race preparation, and later in the season the climbing specialist tested positive himself, after which he was "really flat" for four or five days. "And even after that, it took a long time for me to get back to my normal performance level. I was extremely tired and my body simply didn't regenerate as well as I was used to before."
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