Breschel raring to go

Danish rider Matti Breschel is edging closer to full fitness and is chomping at the bit to get started in 2012, having put his injury nightmares behind him. Breschel spent most of last spring out with a knee injury and then crashed badly at the Vuelta a Espana, an incident that put paid to his hopes of appearing at the 2011 UCI Road World Championships in his home country.

The Rabobank star had been regarded as one of the most talented young riders around throughout the last few years and his frustration at the halt to his progress is obvious. But despite the prolonged periods on the sidelines, there won't be anything different about his pre-season preparations.

"Of course, I have been out for a long time, and so one might think that I would have started serious training already," he told feltek.dk. "But it is almost the worst thing you can do because you are so motivated you will get ahead of yourself. And then you fly around in January. It makes no sense. So it is better to do things as normal - relax and let the race come to you.

"There are not too many things that I can take from this year apart from patience. I have been injured, ill and have been out for a long time since I started, so patience is something you learn along the way. It can be hard not to stress over it. Recovery takes the time it takes. You may as well try to sit back and be relaxed. And find out what the problem is. If rest is what it needs then so be it."