Cycling Pro Road & Mtb

Can Voigt make it six?

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Parent Category: Cycling Pro Road & Mtb

Category: News Cycling Pro Road & Mtb 2011

Published on Thursday, 24 March 2011 16:04

Written by Luca Salvatelli

The Critérium International whiz Jens Voigt is back this year in what is likely to be his last start in the race. Approaching the age of 40 and with a sixth child born last January, retirement time is edging closer for him. His goal in Corsica is no less than the top step of the podium, without neglecting his domestique duties for the Schleck brothers, who are racing together for the first time this season.

Voigt still loves cycling. Although the most senior rider in today’s Pro Teams started off in cycling with the modest Australian-Czech team ZVVZ-Giant in 1997, he would like to go out with a bang. “I would be over the moon to cycle down the Champs-Elysées with one of the Schleck brothers in yellow on my wheel”, he says. He already had a sniff of the sweet taste of victory when he escorted his CSC teammate Carlos Sastre in 2008.

Jens Voigt is worthy of praise for being just as eager to feature in the remaining races of the calendar, both going on quests for personal glory and giving it his all as a domestique. “When I am at the starting line, I am always thinking of doing something positive in the race, winning a stage or helping my leaders”, he insists.

Although he has 60 victories in his palmarès, he is best-known for his five overall wins (1999, 2004, 2007, 2008 and 2009) and five stages in the Critérium International. Aggressive, a punchy climber despite not being a pure mountain goat, and capable of excelling against the clock on relatively short distances: Voigt is tailor-cut to the three-stage race known as cycling’s “Three Day Event”. After three straight wins, last year he missed out on his title defence because his team was unable to fit the race into its jam-packed schedule at that time of the year. “I do not need a team, let me race alone, all I need is a mechanic and a team car!” he asked his employer ironically.

"I love this race", he admits today. "But its structure is completely different from that of the Critérium International I was used to winning in the cold, and sometimes wet, conditions of the Ardennes in northern France. Now it takes place under the Corsican sun, in an awesome setting, and the most important stage is the first one (with a summit finish atop the Col de l’Ospedale). Before, the battle for the general classification played out on the two Sunday stages. I am still going to try to win, but everything will come down to what happens on Saturday. I would be lying if I said my goal is to finish 10th. I prefer to take some pressure off the lads (the Schleck brothers, ed.) before the race. OK, I may end up 10th, but I am racing with my sights set on the big prize".

If he feels nostalgic about Charleville-Mézières, the scene of four of his victories after he triumphed in the Vaucluse in 1999, Voigt should be reminded that Porto-Vecchio and South Corsica are not the southernmost place the race has visited. This was in 1960 in Oran, which was part of French Algeria at a time when the race was known as the “Critérium national de la route” (until it was opened to foreign teams in 1978). Emile Idée (1940, 1942, 1943, 1946 and 1949) and Raymond Poulidor (1964, 1966, 1968, 1971 and 1972) became five-time winners before Jens Voigt. He is challenging for the absolute record!