Mauro Schmid expected to return to competition at GP Miguel Indurain next week: "We hope he will be ready for the Ardennes"

Last winter, Mauro Schmid arrived to Team Jayco AlUla as a rider with promise to be the Australian team's new leader in Ardennes and short stage races. A little bit down the road, and we're yet to see the 24-year-old Swiss rider in action as a minor knee problem prevented him from ideal preparation for upcoming season. However it now seems that Schmid might still make it in time for Ardennes next month.

"At first it wasn't a big problem, but day by day it got worse. Ultimately we cut short his training camp and then the long search for the cause began. He has been treated extensively, although he has never had surgery. He had to stop training and rest. The situation is now under control," sports director Valerio Piva informed In de Leiderstrui.

"We still don't know. He went skiing in December and came back with a minor knee problem. In January it got worse and worse. He was not happy and was stressed about the situation. So do we, because we brought him in as an important new leader. We initially thought it was because of the skiing, but he also changed shoes, bike and other equipment this winter. So it must have been a combination of factors."

Piva emphasizes that the problems are now a thing of the past and that Schmid has had a good training block. "We just lost time, two months in total. Because he simply couldn't race. So far we have taken him off the start list everywhere, but he will start again in the GP Miguel Indurain and then do the Itzulia Basque Country. We had doubts about starting him in Coppi e Bartali, but as defending champion it would not have been nice if he had not been able to do anything here. That's why we let him train."

Luckily there's still some time left for Schmid to reach good form as his main goals for springs are yet to come later in April. "He really had to start from scratch, so we hope he will be ready for the Ardennes in April. Our plan was to play him as a leader there. My past experience is that if you miss time in the beginning of the season, you have that energy left at the end. So I'm not worried about that."