Feb 21, 2010
Tour du Haut Var - start of the season for Tadej

For Tadej, this weekend was a start of the 2010 season. His first stop was a 2-stage race in Provence, Tour du Haut Var. Both stages included several climbs and both of them finished uphill. Yesterday, Tadej was part of the escaping group of 12 riders but they were eventually caught. The win went into the hands of Tadej's teammate Rinaldo Nocentini, who raced away in the last kilometre.

On Sunday the riders of Ag2r-La Mondiale tried to retain the yellow jersey but weren't successful. The race was decided by a 3-kilometre final climb with the maximum gradient of 22%. In the last part of the stage the peloton managed to catch the lone attacker Pierrick Fedrig (Bbox Bouygues Telecom). Christophe Le Mevel (Française Des Jeux) jumped first and retained the lead. With this performance he achieved the overall win. Tadej was 63th.

After the finish, Tadej described his first race of the year and his preparations for it. Initially bad weather conditions prevented me from doing quality preparations. I was on my bike only during team preparations and for the last 18 days with my family on Tenerife. The training there was a good one and I felt good in my first race of the year. Today we worked for Nocentini but weren't able to retain the yellow jersey. Yet this weekend was a good test before the season ahead.