Iván hoping for a healthy year

Iván Velasco, who spent much of last year on the sidelines due to injury, is hoping for an injury-free season ahead. Speaking to el Diario Vasco, the 18th place finisher in the Tour Down Under had this to say: "Yes, I'm satisfied with my first race of the season. You're always a bit nervous ahead of the first race of the year, but the sensations have been good and the result I achieved has given me confidence after a year blighted by crashes and injuries. It's been a hard winter in Oñati. I stayed at home the whole off-season, so you can imagine how it's been to train in the snow. I spent a few days riding in the velodrome, but generally I've been riding on the roads." Speaking of his plans for the season, he said: "I have had to start the season well. I haven't done a lot of specific training though, so I expect to get better with each race. Next up for me is the Mallorca Challenge, and after that it's the Tour de Haut Var, Paris-Nice, Volta a Catalunya, GP Miguel Indurain, Klasika Amorebieta, Amstel Gold, Fleche Wallonne, Liège and then the Tour de Romandie. I don't have any specific objectives. I'll take it day by day and hope to improve like I did until 2008. I hope I'll get to race more than last year when I only did about 40 days. I'm still a little jet-lagged, so I went with the second group in training today. I haven't slept all night." Speaking of Twitter, the amiable rider said: "It's going pretty well. In Australia I posted a lot. I've always been a fan of utilising new technologies, and I think it's a good way to connect with the fans."