Alexander Shefer. Photo courtesy of astanafans.com
Kazakhstan's Astana cycling team continues training in Sardinia camp, Astanafans.com reports. Alexander Shefer, sports director of the team, gave an interview to Vesti.kz. Question: Alexander, could you tell us about the team’s training? Answer: Everything goes fine, although the weather is not very good. However, we managed to make a 5-hour ride today, so the training is going on. Question: Is there any difference in training sessions of different groups of cyclists? For example, in sprinters’ and mountain cyclists’ sessions? Answer: All cyclists have been divided into two groups. There are cyclists, who will start their season in Santos Down Under Tour in Australia and their flight is scheduled for January 12. Besides, there are cyclists who will travel to Argentina on January 13. This group is prepared for the season better than those who will begin their season in Qatar and Oman later. The second group has just started training. Question: And what about those Kazakhstan cyclists who failed to get to Sardinia because of visa problems? Are they training now? Answer: Yes, they are training at Shymbulak (mountain skiing resort near Almaty) at present. Question: Do all cyclists ride new Specialized bicycles? Is Specialized BG team still here with the team? Answer: No, they’ve departed yesterday. They have made all the necessary adjustments of riding positions for those who required them. All of our cyclists, both newcomers and old-timers are riding new bicycles now. Question: Could you tell about the team’s transition to Campagnolo bicycles? Answer: Everything is fine, at least, the cyclists praise the new bicycles' gear and its flexibility, and everybody likes it here at training sessions. We’ll test the electronic system during the races and we hope that everything will be fine. After all, the system is being used for the third year in peloton and Campagnola must have fixed all the initial shortages during this period of time. Question: What are you planning for the nearest future? Answer: it is a day-off on December 7. Then we’ll ride one more two-day training race on December 8-9 and will travel to Astana for a presentation. I will arrive to Kazakhstan on December, 10.
Kazakhstan's Astana cycling team continues training in Sardinia camp, Astanafans.com reports. Alexander Shefer, sports director of the team, gave an interview to Vesti.kz.
Question: Alexander, could you tell us about the team’s training?
Answer: Everything goes fine, although the weather is not very good. However, we managed to make a 5-hour ride today, so the training is going on.
Question: Is there any difference in training sessions of different groups of cyclists? For example, in sprinters’ and mountain cyclists’ sessions?
Answer: All cyclists have been divided into two groups. There are cyclists, who will start their season in Santos Down Under Tour in Australia and their flight is scheduled for January 12. Besides, there are cyclists who will travel to Argentina on January 13. This group is prepared for the season better than those who will begin their season in Qatar and Oman later. The second group has just started training.
Question: And what about those Kazakhstan cyclists who failed to get to Sardinia because of visa problems? Are they training now?
Answer: Yes, they are training at Shymbulak (mountain skiing resort near Almaty) at present.
Question: Do all cyclists ride new Specialized bicycles? Is Specialized BG team still here with the team?
Answer: No, they’ve departed yesterday. They have made all the necessary adjustments of riding positions for those who required them. All of our cyclists, both newcomers and old-timers are riding new bicycles now.
Question: Could you tell about the team’s transition to Campagnolo bicycles?
Answer: Everything is fine, at least, the cyclists praise the new bicycles' gear and its flexibility, and everybody likes it here at training sessions. We’ll test the electronic system during the races and we hope that everything will be fine. After all, the system is being used for the third year in peloton and Campagnola must have fixed all the initial shortages during this period of time.
Question: What are you planning for the nearest future?
Answer: it is a day-off on December 7. Then we’ll ride one more two-day training race on December 8-9 and will travel to Astana for a presentation. I will arrive to Kazakhstan on December, 10.