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Saxo's Kroon calls Pozzato the favorite for Sunday's Tour of Flanders

Published: Apr. 3, 2009

Fabian Cancellara is ready for the Tour of Flanders, he just doesn’t know how ready. The Saxo Bank star said earlier this year that winning the Ronde van Vlaanderen was a big goal of his — but that was before a shoulder injury and a sinus problem sidetracked his training. On Friday evening in Belgium, Cancellara said the important thing is that he is here to race with his team.

“Normally I would prepare before this race, but this is a different situation,” Cancellara said Friday. “For sure, the spirit is coming back. But now I have a big question mark about how I am or how I feel. The most important thing is that I’m here with the team. We’ve lost a big key with Stuey (O’Grady). I couldn’t make the decision to say, no I will not be here. How good the condition is, I don’t know. I’ll go do the race and do what I can. I’m sure we can do a good race.”

Saxo Bank director sportif Lars Michaelson said the team would ride for Karsten Kroon. “Karsten will be the card we can play in the finale,” Michaelson said.

For his part, Kroon wasn’t so certain.

“You never know what will happen. It’s 260 kilometers,” Kroon said. “You never know. I don’t know how long I’ll be there. We’re not the big favorites. But it depends. It’s not always the strongest or the best that will win. Maybe Sunday it will be the smartest.”

Karsten fingered Katusha’s Filippo Pozzato as his favorite for the win. “I think his team is not very strong. I think it is a disadvantage, certainly, for him,” Kroon said. “But the way conditions are now, it’s going to be warm and not very windy. You don’t need so much team support as when there is a lot of wind. I think the tactics for him are easy — just follow Quick Step and try to attack on the hardest moment, probably on the Muur.”

Kroon isn’t such a long shot at Flanders, however.

“I finished one time 11th, one time eighth, one time fourth,” Kroon said, adding that for the latter result he was just 5 seconds behind winner Alessandro Ballan. “I hope that Sunday is going to be a tactical race. I know the parcours by heart, I know every corner. I know at a certain point in the race where the wind is going to come from in 10km. It’s just a big advantage I have. That way you can also play it smart. I don’t think I will be the strongest rider Sunday, but if you are smart you can get very far in this race.”

Joining Kroon and Cancellara on the start line in Brugge for Saxo Bank will be Kurt-Asle Aversen, Lars Bak, Matti Breschel, Frank Hoj, Kasper Klostergaard and Marcus Ljungqvist.