ABU DHABI (VN) – The arrival of dual Tour de France winner Alberto Contador and his core personnel to Trek-Segafredo next season will “mix up” the existing dynamics of the US team, believes American rider Kiel Reijnen.
But the Reijnen says that the impact should not be “positive, or negative, just different.”
Like Contador (Tinkoff), Reijnen is finishing up his season in the Abu Dhabi Tour that ends on Sunday. While Reijnen was an initial entrant for the race, his appearance still came somewhat of a surprise after he missed the world road race championship in Doha, Qatar last Sunday to attend the birth of his and his wife Jordan’s daughter Emmylou back in the United States.
Understandably, Reijnen said he had no regrets about missing the world championship race.
“I talked with USA cycling. We set a cut off-date. I still had no idea when she was coming, so we played it by ear and waited as long as I could,” Reijnen said. “When it was time to make the decision USA Cycling was supportive of me to stay home. It is not something I regret. It would have been awesome to represent the US at worlds.”
Reijnen confirmed his start as the only US rider in the four stage Abu Dhabi race was a late call. But he said that at the tail end of his debut World Tour season that saw him finish his first grand tour – the Vuelta a España – he is keen to make best of his chances in the tour.
Similarly, Reijnen is as excited about what awaits next year on the Trek-Segafredo team that will welcome Contador, the Spaniard’s trusted teammate Jesus Hernandez and directeur-sportif Steven de Jongh, as well as the German sprinter John Degenkolb from Giant-Alpecin.
“It will mix things up,” Reijnen, 30, said of Contador’s arrival. “It’s not just him coming. I think of half the team [for 2017] is new or different. So there will be a lot of changes with the dynamic at the races. But I don’t foresee it being positive or negative, just different.”
Reijnen is hopeful that Contador’s winning mindset – let alone how he eventually performs in his quest to win another Tour – will add some edge to the existing mindset at the team.
“We have had a really great group of guys for all our races this year and I really enjoyed my teammates’ company. So I hope we can kind of continue that vibe,” Reijnen said. “When you go to win a race the moral is always high, and Contador likes to go to win. That will be valuable for us … to be able to go in with that mentality at a lot of the races.”
Finishing debut World Tour year on a high
Reijnen’s spirits are certainly buoyant at Abu Dhabi when most riders are exhausted and thinking of their off-season holidays – as he is off spending time with his wife and daughter.
“It’s the end of a long season and some guys have already started their break,” Reijnen said. “I wasn’t sure I was coming until about a week [before the start]. Things were up in the air … “Training has probably been sub-par leading into this. But after the Vuelta, I didn’t feel quite ready to end the season. Maybe it is good … this opportunity to get some miles in the legs.”
With two days of this season to go, Reijnen, who he joined Trek Segafredo from UnitedHealthcare after previous stints with Type T1 and Jelly Belly who he turned professional with in 2008, has tallied 77 days of racing for a total of 12,142.1km.
Besides the Vuelta in August-September in which Reijnen finished 132nd overall, sixth on stage 18 and eighth on stage 16, highs for a season that began at the Tour Down Under in Australia in January were a first on stage five, second on stage four and fourth on stage two of the Tour of Utah in August, and a sixth on stage two of the Volta a Catalunya in March.
The Girona-based rider concedes there were several troughs along the way though. But then, he came in to the year prepared and ready to take on the lows as much as he could.
“I had done a handful of races on my schedule so it wasn’t a complete unknown for me, but I would say most of it was what I expected,” Reijnen said of the step up to World Tour. “I knew a steadier diet of those races was going to be exhausting and I definitely had some low points around Tour of California, Tour of Suisse … I was really fatigued, but I bounced back well for the second half [of the season]. I think I did as well as I expected to do and hopefully next year I can build on the experience and I have got that season away. There are less unknowns for me next year so its easier to deal with the ups and downs.”
Reijnen is now ready to take on some loftier goals, such a seeking “some stage opportunities” at the Vuelta as well as at races like the Ardennes Classics and Tour of Utah.
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