Fuglsang sets schedule leading up to Giro d'Italia

Jakob Fuglsang has already been confirmed as RadioShack-Nissan captain for the Giro d'Italia, and the Dane now has his schedule set to bring him to the start in Denmark in fighting shape.

"I expect a lot of the Giro and I look forward to the Giro. It will of course be tough, but I am ready to fight and will do everything to be sharp when the Giro starts in Herning," he told feltet.dk.

"I would give everything I have in me to achieve a good result. My goal is to be in the top five, and if it goes really well maybe top three. I think it is realistic, if everything works out. It's still three weeks of racing, and it is certainly not easy, but it is my overall goal,” he said.

Fuglsang will open his season with the Mallorca Challenge (February 5-9), followed by the Tour of Oman (February 14 to 19), Three Days of West Flanders (March 2-4), Volta a Catalunya (March 19-25), Circuit La Sarthe (April 3-6) and the Tour de Romandie (April 24-29). 

He will also have two altitude training camps, and will test out some of the Giro stages. “I will see at least four of the stages, combined with some hard training. It will be stages in the last week.”

Having finished eleventh in this year's Vuelta a Espana with no special preparations, he now looks forward to how well he can do with targeted training, and the weight loss encouraged by sport director Kim Andersen.

His weak spot in the Vuelta was in the mountains, “and if I lose the weight, I will improve on one of my weaknesses. So I am sure that I will be even better.”

While RadioShack-Nissan will send its strongest team to the Tour de France with Andy and Fränk Schleck, Fuglsang knows that he will also have strong helpers. His support team will include “some people who I know support me 110%.  It will also be riders who will prepare with me  It will be some of those who rode in the Vuelta, among others, Oliver Zaugg and Thomas Rohregger.”