Rabobank rider “exuberant” over results and good form
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Robert Gesink (Rabobank) turned in a 4th place ride and moved into 3rd overall. (Image credit: Mark Johnson/www.ironstring.com)
Robert Gesink (Rabobank) goes hard near the turnaround.(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
Dutch star Robert Gesink is a past Tour of California stage winner.(Image credit: Mark Johnson/www.ironstring.com)
Robert Gesink (Rabobank) is building up for another Tour de France campaign(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
Robert Gesink at the Rabobank team presentation(Image credit: Bert Geerts/dcp-bertgeerts@xs4all.nl)
Robert Gesink of Rabobank is better known as a climber than a time trial specialist, so finishing fourth in the Amgen Tour of California left him feeling “exuberant”. The Dutch rider is now third overall, 39 seconds behind race leader David Zabriskie (Garmin-Barracuda).
“I had long been eager for a good result, and when it comes in a time trial, the feeling is even more exuberant,” Gesink said on the team website. Coming into the stage, “I knew that my form is in order.” The winds on the second half along the “long boring roads” was more difficult, but “I had a good feeling after I finished about what I had done.”
It was his best result after breaking his leg last September in a training crash. “It's just a nice feeling when you have worked hard and you can also see the result. It is very smooth on all fronts. Uphill the old feeling came back a bit.
“I'm not there yet, but it is smoother than earlier this spring. Now it also shows that the way back to the top is a long one. It takes time after a broken leg. Longer than I hoped, but not longer than I expected.”
He admitted that maybe he was too impatient, “but I'm an athlete. I do a lot. Cycling is my life.”
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