Tomorrow the Tour of Poland starts. With Styby. Our champion makes his comeback in competition after persistent knee problems in the spring. “It will be my first race since Paris-Roubaix. And that’s been four months ago. I really cannot wait.”
The pause between Roubaix and Poland took for Zdenek bit too long. “It was not the plan that I would be out for so long. It was the longest break in my career. It was difficult to stay stil for so long. So I’m very happy that I can start tomorrow in Poland, even if it starts with two hard stages.”
Zdenek has no idea how it will go. “The two first stages will be too difficult, but I hope I can make a good result in Poland itself. It would be a bonus, but the most important thing is that I will have a start number on my back again.”
“I trained hard the last month and a half. Mostly in Stribro and Sumava, in Czech. The last two weeks I was in Livigno in Italy. We had a good group there, with Tom Boonen, Michal Golas, Kevin De Weert and Serge Pauwels. And the weather was amazing.”
“I hope my knee will react normally during the race, and everything will be ok. My goals after Poland? The Eneco Tour and the Vuelta a Espana!”