Haselbacher training hard

By Susan Westemeyer

Rene Haselbacher has been doing some serious training this off-season, even sacrificing his time at home in efforts to prepare for his first season with the new Astana. He flew to Cape Town, South Africa, the end of November, where he even remained over the holidays.

"It was a good time there, like every year. The training went well, I got in a lot of ground endurance training," he wrote on his website, www.haselbacher.com. "I often sat in the saddle up to seven hours a day. In the last weeks I have totally concentrated on riding."

The Austrian flew from South Africa directly to Mallorca, where he has been training with his Astana teammates. "My preparations for the new season are going perfectly so far. I'm happy to be with the team for the first time, with the new bike, and wearing the new kit, which looks great by the way. And the weather here on Mallorca, with 20 degrees, couldn't be better."