Edvald Boasson Hagen eyes 10th trip to Tour de France
Norwegian star putting Tour and classics at center of revised 2020 calendar.
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Edvald Boasson Hagen, 33, is preparing for a return to racing and what he hopes will be a 10th trip to the Tour de France this summer.
“I’m always extremely motivated for the Tour,” Boasson Hagen said Friday. “It’s strange obviously not being in July but maybe something new is also good. It might not be as hot at that time, so I just need to make the most of it and be prepared, and I will be.”
The Norwegian will be on NTT Pro Cycling’s long list for the Tour, set to start August 29 in Nice. A winner of three Tour stages during his career, Boasson Hagen is hoping to be selected again.
“It would great if I make the final selection for NTT Pro Cycling. I haven’t looked in too much detail at the parcours yet, but I know that there’s a bit of everything,” he said. “Hopefully there will be some stages where I can get my own chances but it’s also very important that we have some good success with the team, that’s the main objective. Having won three stages in the past I always think about wanting to win more, and I hope that this is the year to do that at the Tour.”
NTT Pro Cycling has yet to reveal its final Tour lineup, but other riders hoping to start include GC man Louis Meintjes, Roman Kreuziger, Giancomo Nizzolo and Victor Campenaerts.
Boasson Hagen made his Tour debut in 2010 with Team Sky, and won two stages in 2011. After moving to NTT in 2015, he won a third Tour stage in 2017. Boasson Hagen has been based at home in Norway during the coronavirus pandemic, and said he’s been training well.
“Preparation for the season is going well and I’ve been healthy. I feel that I’m getting ready and starting to miss racing and the traveling, so it will be nice to get back to it soon,” he said. “I’ve never spent this much with my wife, ever, for one period of time, so that’s also been nice and things are going really well, we’re not too bored of each other. She also of course misses working and doing her job (commercial airline pilot) but I hope that we all get back to work soon.”
Boasson Hagen will return to racing August 1 at Strade Bianche, and is expected to race Milano-Sanremo and the Critérium du Dauphiné before the Tour. Later this season, he’ll likely race the rescheduled one-day classics in Belgium and France.