was disrupted after his crash at Milano-Sanremo<\/a> earlier this season, an incident that forced him to rethink his entire spring campaign.<\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019m feeling good,\u201d Christen said. \u201cAfter my crash in Milano-Sanremo, I went back to Switzerland to recover as well as possible. I was able to resume training fairly quickly afterwards and then joined the rest of the team at altitude camp.\u201d<\/p>\n
His last race appearance dates back to mid-March, despite an excellent opening part of the season that included victory at the AlUla Tour. The crash not only interrupted his momentum, it also forced him to abandon some of the major goals he had initially targeted for the spring.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I crashed in Milano-Sanremo, I immediately realised I wouldn\u2019t be able to ride the Ardennes Classics,\u201d Christen admitted. \u201cThat hurt, because those races were originally my main objective this spring.\u201d<\/p>\n
At that point, even participating in the Giro was far from guaranteed.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt first you also don\u2019t know whether you\u2019ll be able to ride the Giro, but fortunately after two weeks I was already fairly sure it would work out,\u201d he continued. \u201cThat gave me the motivation to work my way back to top form, and that has gone pretty well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the growing hype around his potential, Christen is careful not to place unnecessary pressure on himself ahead of his Grand Tour debut. With Jo\u00e3o Almeida absent from the UAE lineup, some observers have already suggested the 21-year-old could emerge in a similar way to Del Toro last year. Christen, however, is not getting carried away.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat my role is? We have a strong GC team here and I definitely want to help them in the decisive stages, but in some stages I\u2019ll also get the freedom to chase my own opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n
One stage already appears to have captured his imagination. The second day of racing, a punchy parcours expected to suit explosive climbers and puncheurs, could potentially offer an early opportunity to fight for the Maglia Rosa.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat stage is definitely on my mind, but of course we still have to see what the team plan will be for that day,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
For now, Christen insists the overall classification is not part of his ambitions in this year\u2019s race.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m definitely not going for the GC, but if the team allows me to, I\u2019d love to go for a few stage wins and also test myself in the real mountains,\u201d the Swiss youngster explained. \u201cStage 16 is obviously special, with the finish in Switzerland.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is another emotional layer to this Giro for Christen as well. His first appearance in a Grand Tour will also see him sharing the race with his brother, Fabio Christen, who lines up for Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really beautiful that in my first Grand Tour I can race against and alongside my brother Fabio,\u201d Christen concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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