Latvian cyclist Krists Neilands started the “Tour de France” for the first time in his career, which has been the most difficult competition in his athlete’s career. However, in his opinion, the greatest success is still ahead of him.
What emotions did you have when you reached the finish of the “Tour de France” for the first time, and what did you experience during the competition?
It was a really emotional moment in my athlete career. It was a great pleasure to enter the Champs Elysees and took over the ants that I have fulfilled one of my life’s dreams. I was really very happy. It was a joint team event, we celebrated this debut of our team “Tour de France”, and it made it all the brighter. It was a pleasure to talk to the team management and the other riders about how we went on the tour. The debut time was pretty good, maybe there were slightly higher goals, but you can’t always want everything; we know our mistakes and how to work in the future. We will definitely be next year, our team has a license, so for the next two years the team will be on the list of “Tour de France” participants.
How do you assess the organizational side of this competition, which is considered the most important of the season?
There were things I expected. There were also things I waited for but didn’t expect, but it was more because of the Covid-19 situation – it mixed up a bit with the air and the atmosphere around everything I’ve heard, as it usually is here. The feelings were also indescribable, driving every day and realizing where I was, where I was participating. Those feelings were also very strong inside.
Are you happy with your physical condition during the tour?
In the end, I didn’t feel as good physically as I expected. This was my third grandture career, I had previously spent two Giro d’Italia, so I knew I could handle that load. Ability to recover quite quickly. This time I was completely missing something. I do not want to seek excuses. I think the season has been a nuisance not only for me but also for others. This season has been jerky and there have been empty periods that have changed my readiness a bit. Maybe that’s why the body was so a bit shocked and in reality everything turned out a little differently than I expected. But the first week was very good, I felt great, but after the first holiday I started to feel a little tired and it was not so easy to go back to the shape I would like to be.
How can you compare the French tour with the Giro d’Italia, where you have participated twice?
Organizationally, everything is quite similar, as the Giro, the Tour de France and the Vuelta Espana are the top three competitions. Everything is thoughtful and in order. There is more noticeable stress from the riders on the tour, everyone is more nervous. Everyone is aware that this is the biggest competition in the world, everyone wants to show the result. Here everyone is in the best shape and everyone is strong. Its nervousness and stress are very noticeable. I want to say that the stages of the Giro are even more brutal, longer and harder, but this tour was very difficult. A lot of athletes say that this year was one of the heaviest “Tour de France”.
He was a leader in one of the stages for a long time and only lost the position at the end. Tell me, how did that day go for you?
I personally felt very good, but there the cards did not match. There was one athlete with us in the break, who lost only about three minutes in the overall standings, so the leading teams did not want to take risks by running us too far. Therefore, we could not fight for victory in the stage, because we were controlled and kept close all the time. I tried to drive very actively and show my best performance, which I also managed. It is already accustomed to cameras and television attention, it is not observed. Be well aware that it is being shown on television, miss their launch.
Slovenian Pogačar sensationally snatched the title from his compatriot Primož Roglič – as the riders themselves looked at it – did you expect Roglič to calmly go to the end and win, or did you still expect such jumps?
Pogačar certainly surprised everyone. It seems to me that three days before the finish, it was more or less clear to everyone that Roglich is good in the individual race and he should not lose, thus retaining the title. But what Pogačar did on the individual trip shocked everyone, including me. Waking up the next day in the morning, I watched the best moments from the individual trip again and I was shocked by what this guy did. It really was amazing! This is the thing that makes this sport so wonderful that everything can change up to the last few meters.
This week is the world championship – the team allows you to ride after such a short respite, how ready will you be?
The team allows, and I will also start in the world championship. I’m pretty curious about how I will feel and this will be an interesting moment. Usually in September and October, when the season is over, the physical shape is not so good for me. I don’t feel so good and I don’t enjoy the last race so much anymore. The hook is that in both years, when I drove the Giro, I have felt very good after that. Now is that grand volume I finished at the end of September and I am interested in how I will feel in the next race. This could be the moment when I can feel very good, but there may be a time when it is not so good.
He is very interested in how the remaining competitions will turn out this season. I have ridden a mountain that is included in the World Cup. It’s driven by the Giro, so I know it. We will have to do a lot of laps, a lot of kilometers, a lot of ascent meters. The competition will not be easy, it will be very difficult. I think we can compare it to what it was like in Austria two years ago. Because there was a very difficult track, and I think there will be something very similar here.
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