Antonio Tiberi's coach reacts to early abandon at Tour of the Alps: "The situation does not worry me"

Antonio Tiberi did quite well at Tirreno-Adriatico month ago, but since then completed only one race day before abandoning the Tour of the Alps. With view to his participation at Giro d'Italia where he aims for podium, that's not ideal run up.

"Of course it is important to have a good preparation for the first week," agreed his coach Michele Bartoli at Bici.Pro. "As far as the Giro in general is concerned, the situation does not worry me. Antonio has not raced much of course, so maybe one thing less could make a difference."

Where the Tour of the Alps is a very important preparation race for the Giro d'Italia for many riders, this was certainly the case for Tiberi. "We went to do the Tour of the Alps because we knew it would be good for us. We will see in the coming days what he can do and how he works," said Bartoli.

While Tiberi left the race early, another man stepped up in his place in Alps. "He (Tiberi, ed.) did very well with Damiano (Caruso, ed.), who is also in excellent shape. It has been a long time since we have seen a Caruso like that."

Sometimes the start to a Grand Tour can help GC riders get into the rhythm before key stages. However, Bartoli does not see that possibility this year. "The time trial on the second day requires good preparation, but it is a demanding Giro to the end anyway. So there will still be some work to do because of the missed race days, but we will wait and see if everything goes well and then we will let him ride a half Tour of the Alps at home."

It was stomach complaints that forced Tiberi to give up, but the Italian is doing somewhat better now. "On Thursday he was still in the hospital awaiting tests. On Friday I hope he can cycle again, perhaps with a short ride first. You can't call it training, but in a few days we will have the results of the tests and then we can get serious."