Horner eyes return to Grand Tours

By Peter Hymas

The evergreen Chris Horner (Astana) is looking forward to his 15th season in the professional peloton with his typical zeal and verve. The 37-year-old kicks off his 2009 campaign at the Tour of California.

"Normally I'm a little bit rusty at California but it comes on shortly after that. I just started training again," Horner told Cyclingnews. "I always take off two to three weeks and start training in early January, so normally I get about five weeks on the bike by the time California starts. The form's always pretty decent there but it's nothing spectacular."

Horner detailed his initial race schedule, including a welcome return to the Grand Tours after a one-year hiatus. "After Tour of California I'll do Paris-Nice, Vuelta al País Vasco, Flèche Wallonne, Amstel Gold, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Giro d'Italia," said Horner. "I've got a great program. I could circle the whole year [as a highlight]. Any of those races are great races. As long as the form comes on somewhere I'm happy.

"It's my first time at the Giro," continued Horner. "It's still a bit long out to think about, but I know it's got a long time trial and a really short mountain stage. Those are the only two things that I've kind of picked out while I was reading the route maps."

Horner commented on the issue of age with both he and Lance Armstrong the Astana veterans at 37 years old. "Over in Europe my results have just been getting better and better each year," he noted. "I don't see any reason why Lance should have an issue. He's had some time off the bike but he's had some good training leading up to this season. I'm sure he's done some hard rides because I know he was doing that at training camp."