Pello Bilbao has completed the Tour de Pologne in third place, a performance showing he's back to strong form after a first half of the season, and with clear goals in the months ahead.
“I go back to my roots a bit. I want to work more specifically on one day races. In recent seasons I've always ridden two Grand Tours, so I've focused a lot on endurance," he said in a post-race interview. "However, now I train a little shorter and above all more explosive. And I also do high intensity sessions off the bike".
This year's Tour de Pologne was suited to the classics riders and time-trialists, with Bilbao coming in second in the hilltop finish in Przemysl, and then a ninth place in the time-trial kept him on the podium where he finished. Third at the UAE Tour, ninth at Tirreno-Adriatico, fifth at Itzulia Basque Country, fourth at the Tour of the Alps and fifth at the Giro d'Italia - alongside stage wins at Itzulia and Alps - earned him a spot as one of the most valuable and consistent riders of the season.
His podium in Pologne reinforces that, but instead of racing the Vuelta a Espana for a sixth time the Basque will rather focus on the classics, with his training emphasis already on them. The Canadian classics are on his schedule, several others will likely follow and the World championships may also become a big goal as the 32-year old has shown a lot of sprint power this year and the puncheur-suited route at Wollongong will be a good fitting.
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