"To go to the Tour de France, I need to do a good Suisse" - Rui Costa determined to prove his worth to EF Education-EasyPost

In 2023, former world champion Rui Costa saw a notable resurgence in his performance levels, taking a stage at the Vuelta a Espana and earning himself a big off-season transfer to EF Education-EasyPost. So far this year however, the Portuguese has been quiet.

After opening his season in Spain, Costa took to home roads at the Volta ao Algarve in February. Sadly for the now 37-year-old however, things didn't go to plan as a crash on stage 3 ruled Costa out of action for nearly four months. "I broke my clavicle and my scapula. It was a strange experience for me, because it was the first time that I had broken anything," Costa recalls to the EF Education-EasyPost team's official website. "Going through this process was not easy. I never really knew what was going to happen next, what would be the next step. The first weeks were very painful and hard, but the important thing is that my recovery went well. Now, I’m back and making more progress every day."

After the tough start to life at EF, Costa is now back fully fit and determined to prove his worth to the team. "After my crash, the motivation was to get back to 100%, recover completely, and try to not have any secondary consequences or reduced movements. Up to now, everything has worked perfectly. I would like to thank everyone who has worked with me to get back to this shape and to be able to say that I’m at 100%," he continues. "From the moment of my crash, I told myself there was still time to come back, still time to go back to the big races. Now we are here at the Tour de Suisse, a race that means a lot to me. I worked hard to get here."

A three-time former winner of the Tour de Suisse in 2012, 2013 and 2014, Costa has a long-standing affection for the Swiss stage race. As such, it seems the perfect place to stake a claim to be a part of EF Education-EasyPost's lineup at the upcoming Tour de France.

"For me, being at the Tour de Suisse already means a lot. To go to the Tour de France, I need to do a good Suisse. Since my crash, that was my focus, my motivation. And I’ve worked so hard to come back to this point. Suisse is the perfect test for me now," Costa concludes determinedly. "The Tour is the Tour, a unique race, different to the rest. There’s a lot of stress, a lot of ambition, and everyone will be going at 100%. I’m new to the team and the course is very interesting, starting in Italy, in the city where I was crowned world champion. We’ll have a very strong and exciting team. To make the roster this year would be special for me."