A sobering spring

Pro cyclist Haller dreams twice of France

With 21st place in the Eschborn-Frankfurt race, Klagenfurt's cycling ace Marco Haller started his second stage of the season on Wednesday. In which he has big goals: The 33-year-old first wants to go to the Tour de France and then celebrate his premiere at the Olympic Games in Paris.

Klagenfurt's professional cyclist Marco Haller was not really happy with his first stage of the season. 26th place at the "GP Harelbeke" was the maximum in the spring classics this season. "I was often quite good, but unfortunately it wasn't enough for a top result. It would actually suit me better to help a top rider to the end - but we didn't have that at Bora-Hansgrohe. That's why it was sobering for me," summarized the 33-year-old.

New form build-up
Haller was able to put the bike aside for about a week after Paris-Roubaix - then he started training again. "Now the build-up starts again - I want to get myself into good shape," emphasizes the noble helper. Because Marco has two very big goals in the coming months: His ninth participation in the Tour de France - and his premiere at the Olympics in Paris.

Scramble for Tour places
Bora currently has ten to twelve riders on its internal team list for the Tour starting on June 29. They all have just one mission: The new Tour captain Primoz Roglic gets full support. Haller: "The Tour of Switzerland at the beginning of June is a good chance to prove myself.

Mini line-up for Austria
And then Haller dreams of his Olympic premiere. He was not considered in London 2012 - his profile did not fit in Rio and Tokyo. That would be different in Paris. "The race would suit me, I really want to start there." However, Austria only has two (!) starting places and numerous candidates.