May 15, 2009 (Girona, Spain) - Svein Tuft (Garmin-Slipstream) has to hope his bad luck is out of the way. In his first few months racing with his team he’s been in the wrong place at the wrong time more than once. At February’s Tour of California he took a bad spill, hitting his head. Then in early April, at Three Days of De Panne, he plowed spectacularly into a traffic island with tree planters, injuring his knee. Being the tough guy everyone knows he is, Tuft not only finished that race, but continued his season for another few days, before everyone figured out that things were worse than they’d originally seemed. He’s taken time to rehab his knee, train at his new home base of Girona, Spain and set things right for the rest of the season.
When we spoke with him from Girona he was in good spirits for a guy about whom you could say “if it weren’t for bad luck he’d have no luck at all.” Perhaps because he’s more than ready to restart his season this coming Monday at the Volta a Catalunya!
The last time we spoke was before the Tour of California, so I guess I have to start with the bad stuff…
Svein Tuft: Yeah, yeah…
You crashed at the Tour of California and Three Days of De Panne. Have you ever had such bad luck in a season before?
ST: You know, everyone says that but really I just had two really bad crashes. I think I’ve had some seasons where I’ve had way more, but both of the ones I had this year have been pretty brutal. So (laughs) I think it’s more that that anything. A lot of time I’ve just gotten up, shaken it off, off you go! So yeah, that’s the difference!
And now your teammate Christian Vande Velde just crashed out of the Giro d’Italia on Stage 3 - how tough is that for you to see?
ST: Yeah, it blows. But it’s one of those things, it’s just part of it. You have no control over it. You try and do everything to be prepared, but really, at the end of the day, that kind of stuff just happens, just like that. You just go out there and hope for the best!
Talk about the care your new team Garmin-Slipstream has given you while you've been trying to get healthy.
ST: It’s been really positive. Being situated here (in Girona) so close to the team has been super helpful. What’s been great is that I’ve been allowed to have this time to get back on track and get going again. And that’s probably been the biggest thing for me because I find that I really need that to feel normal again, to feel that things are right again. Just to have that time to not be on the road and all over the place, it’s really hard to get on top of it when you’re constantly doing that. I feel really lucky that I’ve been able to just focus on what I need to do to get better.
But I’ve also had a friend from B.C. staying here who’s an acupuncturist, Chinese medicine and all-around healer and that’s been great. Man, I’ve never experienced anything like it before, it’s been huge. He’s been here the last week and a half and it’s been amazing. Yeah, everything’s coming right now.
That’s great. I saw a photo of you on the team website with the Space Legs - explain them and what they do.
ST: Those are just super compression boots that cover your whole leg. They’re hooked up to this pump, an air pump basically fills chambers up from your foot all the way up to the top part of your leg. So it just gets this really nice compression and it just kind of builds its way up and it’s quite nice!
On a percentage scale, where do you think you are in terms of health and fitness?
ST: I would say I’m back to 100% You know, it’s funny, I hit my knee in that crash (at Three Days of DePanne) and then I rode (the Tour of) Flanders (three days later) so that was the strangest part about it. I crashed, rode the Time Trial (the same day as the crash,) still felt ok, like I was coming around, and then I rode Flanders, and then I couldn’t pedal the next day. That was the really strange part. The whole knee thing along with many other issues that had developed from the crash in California and basically knocked me out of whack. I didn’t address those problems and so the knee was definitely an issue, but because I was so out of whack everywhere else it never received the proper healing because I was always stressed out. So that became a big problem.
After so few races in Europe would it be fair to ask what the main differences are between racing in the Americas and racing in Europe?
ST: Haha, well definitely, like the Classics, it’s a different story. I mean, I don’t think there’s anything you can really compare that to back home that I’ve seen. It’s like 200 strong guys that are all just killing it just to get at the front before the climb, every climb. I mean, there are crashes, (laughs) it’s pretty crazy! A lot of these guys have been doing that since they were young guys. But for me it’s a different story for sure, coming from the style of racing we’re used to, stage races are pretty chill back home. It’s an amazing thing to watch the stuff guys will do just to get to the front, it kind of boggles the mind sometimes!
We spoke to Dominique Rollin last week and he was raving about how helpful his teammate Andreas Klier has been. Which of your teammates in particular have been helping you to adjust and learn?
ST: Yeah, we have a bunch of guys. Like Martijn (Maaskant) is a pretty young guy (25 years old,) but he’s been doing these races and knows all of these roads like the back of his hand. Tyler (Farrar) and a lot of these guys, like Julian (Dean) is a wealth of knowledge. There are lots of things you can say but at the end of the day it’s how much you’re able to just be there. It’s nice to have some insights on the course but you really need to take it into your own hands to be sure. It’s amazing at a race like Flanders you think you’re starting the climb fairly at the front of the group but the group’s pretty massive and all of a sudden you realize ok, there are 80 guys ahead of you and as you crest the climb you see guys sprinting out of the corner down in the field way down below you, so you’re kinda like, “oh jeez, this isn’t the best position (laughs).”
It’s great to have someone telling you a lot of stuff, but I’ve always been someone that needs to do it before I can really get things sorted out. I always need to learn for myself. That’s why I knew it wouldn’t be “Oh, I’m gonna do this and that”. I’ll be happy just to experience those races and see what they’re like and maybe in the next few years I might have something to work with. The first time there you’re gonna be a fish out of water no matter who you are, I think – ha! You can be on your best form but if you’re not positioned right in those races you can push 500 watts till the cows come home but the front group is still riding away. Those guys are pretty impressive!
What's your mentality entering the rest of the season? You’ve gotta be chomping at the bit to get back out there racing.
ST: Yeah, I’m really looking forward to (the Volta a) Catalunya (beginning Monday.) It’s all around here, basically our new hometown here, so that’s a really cool thing. Yeah, I’m really excited about racing right now. The break has done me well. After my crash in California I really was out of whack there for a while so it’s really great to be excited but also feeling strong again. I guess that’s the biggest thing, it’s a good motivation.
What are the chances of you tackling your first Grand Tour, the Tour de France?
ST: Well, that’s supposedly, you know, that’s what I’m preparing for so… you know, a lot of stuff changes and I never really bank on anything but I’m preparing myself. I’ve been told by our director, Whitey (Matt White,) that’ll be my job at the Tour, looking after Christian (Vande Velde) and Dave (Zabriskie) and those guys, so I’m excited about that!
Talk about life in Girona – the riding and living situation - how’s that going?
ST: Oh, it’s great. It’s probably one of my favourite places in Europe, we have everything here. Mountains close by, the ocean close by and just a really cool town. Yeah, I’m a big fan of this place. Like I said, the team’s situated here, we have the Service Course down the road, we have a ton of people to ride with – it’s a good setup! Christian (Meier) lives down the road, it’s kinda cool, we’re always training together. I mean, it’s not like back home when we were next door neighbours (in adjacent trailers in B.C.) but it’s pretty darn good. And Ryder (Hesjedal) lives up two floors.
Nice, so you have your little Canadian contingent here. It’s funny, I saw on the team website they're selling an "Autographed Canadian Stars Poster Pack, featuring signed posters from Christian Meier, Svein Tuft, and Ryder Hesjedal.” What did you think when you saw that?
ST: Hahahaha – oh, I hadn’t even seen that! Ok, I’ll have to check it out!
It’s on the website!
ST: That sounds pretty great, though!! That’s funny!!!
I didn’t notice how much they’re selling it for…
ST: Oh, must be big bucks, big bucks! (Laughs!)
Ryder has his friend Cody updating him on the NHL – did anyone tell you that the Canucks were knocked out of the Stanley Cup playoffs by the Blackhawks, or am I the one to break you the bad news?
ST: Oh, jeez, no…you know I really haven’t followed much news from back home. That’s too bad, though.
Well you’re lucky, maybe Christian Vande Velde, who’s from Chicago, doesn’t know either, or he’d be giving you grief.
ST: Yeah, that’s right, yeah. Actually, he’ll be coming over here tomorrow to get treated by my acupuncture friend, Rob, so Christian’s going to start getting worked on here.
Hey, I know every day for you guys is bike to work day or at least bike at work day, but today is the official Bike to Work Day in a lot of North America. Chipotle gave out coupons for free burritos to people who rode to work.
ST: Oh, yeah? Nice!
Have you gotten any Chipotle deliveries in Girona?
ST: No, no. That’d be all right though. A big burrito would go down pretty nice right now!
I’m gonna head on down to the local Chipotle in a couple of hours.
ST: Nice work!
Thanks a lot for your time, and good luck with the rest of the season.
ST: Thank you!
We’ll talk to you sometime after Catalunya – what’s after Catalunya?
ST: Either Tour de Suisse or Dauphiné (Libéré).
OK, l’ll talk to you soon!
ST: Sounds good!
We look forward to seeing what a healthy Svein Tuft can do as the season progresses.
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Photo: Cor Vos file photo
Svein Tuft (Can) Garmin-Slipstream
Photo: Cor Vos file photo
Photo: Garmin-Slipstream
Tuft in his Space Legs...
Photo: Garmin-Slipstream
Photo: Garmin-Slipstream
Canadian Stars Poster Pack, featuring signed posters from Svein Tuft (top), Christian Meier (r) and Ryder Hesjedal (l).
Photo: Garmin-Slipstream
Photo: Garmin-Slipstream
Svein Tuft (Can) Garmin-Slipstream Poster
Photo: Garmin-Slipstream
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