Burghardt looks back at Australia

By Susan Westemeyer

Marcus Burghardt of Team High Road enjoyed his time in Australia at the Tour Down Under. It was "intensive training for me," he said, and the team worked well together while piling on the needed race kilometres. Not to forget André Greipel's three stage wins and overall victory, which "made us all very happy and motivated us for the next weeks."

The 24 year-old stayed busy off the bike, too. After the Tour was over, the team-mates spent an afternoon at the beach, enjoying the 24°C water and looking at the dolphins, he wrote on his website, marcus-burghardt.blog.ch. The only negative aspects for the Gent-Wevelgem winner were that he did not get to see a kangaroo in the wild and that he had to make an "unplanned" visit to the dentist after the fourth stage of the race.

Instead of heading back to Europe, Burghardt and his team-mates flew to San Francisco, California, on their way to the Team High Road training camp in Pismo Beach. "In the next few days, the emphasis will be on strength, gymnastic and basic endurance."