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.

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.

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.