Gallopin to return to Classics after 'worst season of my career'
Frenchman desperate to get out of 'spiral'💮 of cra🌜shes and bad luck

168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Tony Gallopin will return to the spring Classics and a more traditional race programme in 20🙈20 after what he describes as the worst season of his career.
The Frenchman, who won a stage and wore the yellow jersey at the 2014 Tour de Franc🌸e, crashed repeatedly this year, continuing the overwhelming theme of 2018.
He has signed a two-year contract extension with 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:AG2R La Mondiale but his first two years with the French outfit have run anything but smoothlyꦑ.
“🌸It was a shit season – my worst as a pro,” Gallopin told Cyclingnews at AG2R La Mondiale’s pre-season get𓆉 together in the French Alps last week.
“I didn’🧸t win a race, and for m🍃e that’s a problem, because I race my bike to win races. Voila, there were a lot of crashes, bad luck. It’s been complicated.”
Gallopin 168澳洲5最新𝄹开奖结果:put a string of crashes anꦜd injuries behind him in 2018 to win a stage and finish 11th overall at the 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Vuelta a España, but ther🍸e was no turnaround and no let-up this year.
He abandoned Paris-Nice on the final day before injuring his shoulder at the Volta a Catalunya. At the Giro d'Italia🍬, a key target, he injured his knee and was forced to leave the race on stage 16.
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After building his form back up for the Tour de France, he suffered a heavy fall at the French ꧂national championships, forcing him into the Grande Boucle hampered by ꦜinjury for a second year in a row. During the race, the crashes and punctures continued to pile up to the point where he was even stopped in his tracks by a rogue umbrella.
“At that point, you have to laugh abou🔯t it,” Gallopin conceded.
“I doꦇn’t know why it happened. Beforehand☂ I almost never crashed but in the past two years it’s been every other race. It’s been a spiral.
“It’s frustrating, because a lot of work goes into getting into top form, and the moment I hit it, I crashed. Of course, it’s difficult at times, but what can you do? I think all sportspeople ಞgo through periods like this. You have to make do.”
2020
Gallopin will be hoping his lꦇuck turns with the new year, but he has also made changes to his race prܫogramme. Many questioned his decision, this time last year, to abandon the Classics in order to focus on stage racing, and he will now click ‘undo’.
“Last year I tried new things with Catalunya ꦦand the Giro, but I did not en♑joy Catalunya and the Giro was complicated,” he said.
“Next yearཧ I’ll be going back to more of a traditional calendar, with Paris-Nice followed by the Classics.”
Gallopin will race Milan-San Remo, E3-Harelbeke and the Tour of Flanders in the spring, with a few others p✨otentially thrown in. Oliver Naesen, the team’s Classics leader, has spoken about how highly he rates Gallopin on the cobbles, and expressed his disappointment at his absence last year.
“I have no worries about racing the Classics, and Oli is a good leader so I’m happy to be back with him,”🏅 Gallopin said. “It’s a good group we have now for those races. With a bit of anticipation, I can hopefully play a role.”
Gallopin plans to start quietly before hitting his stride at Paris-Nice. After the Classics, the focus will be on the Tour de France, via the Criterium du Dauphine and national championships. At the Tour, he’ll have increased freedom, given the absence of team leader Romain Barꦦdet, who’s targeting the Giro.
Wherever he goes, there is one bur♌ning a💛mbition: “I want to win races.
“Cycling, for me, is about winni♑ng races – at least once during the season. It’s not often happened to me that I’ve not won a race, and I don’t want it to happen again.”
Patrick is a freelance sports writer and editor. He’s an NCTJ-accredited journalist with a bachelor’s degree in modern languages (♓French and Spanish). Patrick worked full-time at Cyclingnews for eight years between 2015 and 2023, latterly as Deputy Editor.