Giacomo Nizzolo: "To be ready for the Giro you need to climb"

Giacomo Nizzolo was the fastest sprinter at the start of last week's Tour of the Alps, however it didn't come as a surprise that he wasn't able to fight for any stage win throughout the five days of racing. That, however, was not a reason for concern as the Italian seeked to consolidate his form towards the Giro d'Italia.

"It has been tough, but it has been nice. It has been good training, I have felt good on the climbs. For my circumstance, obviously, not as a climber... I'm looking forward to the Giro. I think it was a really good preparation," Nizzolo told CyclingWeekly after completing the tough Alpine race.

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After having crashed at Milano-Sanremo - where he still finished 18th - he was forced to take a break due to a fracture in a hand. He was set to ride the cobbled classics for Israel - Premier Tech but had to forego them: "It was weird, but in the end I knew it would happen. After the crash I had in Milan-San Remo I didn't have the chance to go to the classics, so I had to race."

He returned to competition at Brabantse Pijl where he finished again in 18th place, before heading towards towards the Tour of the Alps: "This was the race that was probably the best to do before the Giro. Now I'm just going to go home and focus a bit more on the sprints. I'm going to Frankfurt, and then we'll get ready for the Giro," he added.

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At the Giro, he will lead the Israeli team in search of wins in the flat stages: "It's always nice to go to the Giro with the feeling that I can carry on with wins. Mentally I will approach the Giro as every year, full focus, full motivation, and every chance there is I will try to take it."

"We are all feeling good, and we're all looking forward to have a great Giro together. Every sprinter would like to have a train, and luckily this year I have a good one. The first stage is a challenging one for me, maybe it's a bit too hard, but as I said I would like to check it once I'm there. In general, to be ready for the Giro you need to climb," he concluded.