"Just trying to survive the overall classification doesn’t give me the same feeling" - Pello Bilbao keen to target stages in 2024

Pello Bilbao has long been viewed as one of the more accomplished, Spanish general classification challengers in Grand Tours. In 2024 however, the Bahrain - Victorious man is keen to target stage wins instead.

“I would like to focus more on the stages but every time I go with this idea then the team pushes me not to disconnect from the very beginning in the overall, so I don’t know, let’s see,” he tells Cycling News. “It’s more interesting for me. I enjoy more this fight of every day and, yeah, just trying to survive the overall classification doesn’t give me the same feeling in the race. For me, it’s nicer to be day-by-day and not just try to survive in the race.”

Bilbao's stage hunting paid off at the Tour de France earlier this year and ending up launching himself up the general classification, finishing 6th overall. “It’s been the most special season,” Bilbao explains. “I live it in a really intense way, many things happened - good ones, and really bad ones - but in the end I learned that when you ride with emotions and when you [love] the job you are doing the big things come.

“In the beginning I was trying to do a huge calendar, but it was more difficult to have highlights during the season. We change this and for now it’s working and for the family it’s much better,” he concludes. “After the Tour de France, and after being second [to Remco Evenepoel] in San Sebastian, I was maybe in my best shape ever, but I felt I needed to stop. “The last months were so, so intense, with preparation for the Tour more intense than ever. I wanted to arrive in my best shape. I needed to work super intense. Also, with my new situation, with small children at home, this makes everything, I won’t say harder, because in the end everything it brings us is positive, but more intense, you need to do more work, you arrive at the end of each day completely tired.”