CSC's Christian Vandevelde made his return to racing at Brabantse Pijl over the weekend, after being treated for a long-standing back problem by CSC's therapist Ole Kaare Føli. However, the early season one-day races aren't something Vandevelde is concentrating on, His aim, according to an interview with him on CSC's website, is to be in peak form for the Giro, where he will ride in support of CSC's Italian GC rider, Ivan Basso.
"It's really hard for me to get going for the one day races, to be on the road for at week and then race only 2-3 times," said Vandevelde. "My main goal is still the Giro, even though Bjarne is trying to keep the pressure off me, which I totally appreciate, more than he knows. I know that as long as I'm healthy, I'll be a great asset to the team, but I don't want to go there if I'm not a 100 percent for Ivan, cause I know he's going for the win. Ivan is a champion, I wanna be there and help him in the Giro, and it's not funny if you're going for the win, and you're not good. I can still ride well, without being 100 percent. I did the Tour last year like this, and it's so stressful. In the Vuelta 2002, that's where everything was okay, and it was very easy for me. I was actually hoping for more hills."
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