TV 2’s experts were very disappointed with the efforts of Edvald Boasson-Hagen after he fell off the main field on Saturday’s stage of the Tour de France. The stage should have been a good opportunity for the boy from Rudsbygd, but instead it ended in disappointment.
The next day, Boasson-Hagen says that he was also disappointed.
– I was disappointed myself, me. I had certainly hoped to be there, but a ten kilometer long hill, when it is driven so hard, is completely on the edge of what I can normally do. I did not manage it yesterday, and there were many others who are in the same weight class as me, who were behind in the same group, so it is not completely unnatural, but I would definitely like to be in front.
– I have been a little more tired than I would have liked to have been in those days before, and I said well before the start that one should not believe in miracles, and it did not happen either, says Edvald, who looks forward to opportunities later in the Tour .
– What do you want to say to the critics then?
– There is not much to say, other than that I have to prove with my legs later in the Tour de France.
– Two different Edvalder
The interview makes Knut Knudsen react.
– I think it’s a bit interesting to look at Edvald, who has been a great cyclist, and in my eyes is still a great cyclist. If you take an interview ten years ago and put it next to this interview here, you will see two different Edvalder, according to the cycling legend.
– Here you have a slightly defensive Edvald, ten years ago he was offensive. At least a little more than today. He is 33 years old, so he starts at the end of his career. This hunger to make it big may not be present either, he continues.
He believes there are many factors that make Edvald now more passive.
– My salary is quite large, comes every month anyway. There are many factors that come into play here. It’s not just Edvald, there are many in that year class there who are starting to slow down a bit. Then we can look at those who are at the top today, they are those who are from 19 to 26 years old. It is the generation that is happy to be there, says Knudsen.
– We talked about the summary in the Tour de France
TV 2’s expert Mads Kaggestad believes that a change in the training program can have a big impact on the 33-year-old.
– He was so raw that we flirted with the idea that he should win Liège – Bastogne – Liège, and even talked about the summary in the Tour de France. He was so raw.
– I think Edvald wants to, and we know what lives in him. The talent is still there. He still has fantastic potential, and he wants to ride a bike. I think there are only a few adjustments to the training, so I think he will get back some of the qualities he has upwards. I think that will also make him a better sprinter, Kaggestad thinks.
Think it lies mentally
In TV 2 studio during yesterday’s stage, Boasson-Hagen’s wife told about how he has trained intervals in Grefsenkollen. That made Johan Kaggestad stunned. He thought the intervals were far too short, and is supported by Knudsen.
– I heard your father yesterday, talk about these intervals for motor up the hill here, Knudsen says to Mads Kaggestad.
– These four minutes, which your father said should be three times as long. There are a number of things here that could certainly have been done differently, but I think it is more mental with Edvald.
Knudsen thinks there is something missing in the boy from Rudsbygd.
– I thought Edvald could be the big overall rider too, for some years back. But then it fell out in a way. He’s still the big one, but he does not make it. There is something missing there. You see that when you interview him. He smiles a little, there is too much boy face, says the cycling legend.
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