While the Tour of Poland continues after its tragic start with Fabio Jakobsen's bad crash, the spring classic Milan-Sanremo takes place at the same time on Saturday in the middle of summer. The wheels must roll. For the beleaguered teams and riders, the races are existential after more than four months of coronavirus restrictions. It's all about sponsorship money, race bonuses, contracts, and, and, and.
The races are correspondingly tough. "The mental pressure of wanting to deliver in a relatively short season plays a role for some of them. It's also about contracts," Rick Zabel told the German Press Agency. The son of former German top sprinter Erik Zabel (50) can count himself lucky that his contract was extended until 2022 during the coronavirus break. And his racing team Israel Start-Up Nation is also not in financial difficulties thanks to billionaire team owner Sylvan Adams. Five-time Tour winner Chris Froome is even joining the team for the new season.
The future of many colleagues is still open, and some teams are also on the brink. Normally, contracts for the new season are finalised in August after the Tour de France. This time everything is different. As many races are taking place at the same time, the chances of racing and achieving good results are diminishing. The long break from racing has really heated up the riders, former sprint star Marcel Kittel (32) told the "Münchner Merkur" and added: "They all want to show themselves now. (...) Like the racehorses, they were all in the stable for five months and couldn't show what they're made of. That will certainly play a part if they now take an extra risk in the sprints."
And who knows whether the season can even go ahead. Rick Zabel has also noticed that the number of infections is rising again in Europe. "You have a bit of a queasy feeling," says the 26-year-old, adding: "If there really is a second wave, then everyone will have to subordinate themselves, regardless of whether it's football, Formula 1, tennis or cycling." It would be a "bitter blow" for his industry if the Tour de France were to be cancelled. After all, the Tour of France is essential for many teams.
For the time being, however, the race continues. On Saturday, Zabel junior will take part in Milan-Sanremo. The race that was pretty much the first to be cancelled in March due to the pandemic. Now, five months later, at the height of summer - but still over a tough 299 kilometres. Even if the 26-year-old is not one of the contenders for victory, his name will naturally make people sit up and take notice in Sanremo. "In Italy, people always prick up their ears when they hear the name Zabel. But it's not as if that opens any doors for me or makes the race any easier."
Zabel senior had cheered five times on the Via Roma. Once a little too early, when the Spaniard Oscar Freire missed him by a few centimetres in 2004. "I was there that year, I remember that. That was a bittersweet day. I watched the other victories on TV," says Rick Zabel, who no longer needs tips from his father.
"I'm slowly getting into the old hands department myself," says the father-to-be. In Sanremo, he is scheduled to ride alongside Davide Cimolai. The aim is to be in the final - against stars such as former world champions Peter Sagan (Slovakia) and Philippe Gilbert (Belgium) or last year's winner Julian Alaphilippe (France).
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