Leopold König – Dauphiné Interview

By David Hunter

It’s been a frustrating season for Leo. Having burst onto the major scene in 2013, with a stage win and 9th place in the Vuelta, he hoped to take 2014 by storm. Unfortunately, bad luck and injury have stopped this from happening.

His first race was the Tour of Oman, but he punctured at the foot of the Green Mountain, ending his hopes of challenging. Then he was struck down by a knee injury that stopped him from competing for 2 months. He returned at the Giro del Trentino, but only to get some miles into his legs.

Thankfully, he returned to form in Bayern Rundfahrt, last week. Here is my latest interview with Leo.

You have just finished Bayern Rundfahrt, finishing 4^th on GC. How pleased were you with that?

Before the race I didn’t really know what to expect after such a long time of injury and training only. But now after the race, I am very pleased with my performance of course.

Do you now feel injury free?

Yes, I feel great and pain free.

How frustrating has it been this season?

From the beginning the things went wrong. In Oman I had some bad luck even though I was in good condition. And since that I´ve been injured. So I can’t call it a dream season, so far, but the things took a better path now.

You were 3^rd on stage 2 and we saw you hitting your handlebars, in frustration, at the end. Did you feel that it was a missed opportunity?

It was a quite short and steep climb. I did it in a very conservative way to save the energy for the final. I felt that I was the strongest one but finally there were just emotions because I’m on my way back feeling better now.

Next up is the Dauphine, with 3 mountaintop finishes and a 10km ITT. It should be a good race for you. What are your hopes for the race?

I just want to perform as best as possible. I will concentrate on particular stages and keep my focus on the GC.

The startlist is very impressive. We have you, Contador, Froome, Nibali, Van Garderen, Peraud, Talansky and Spilak. It really is a mini Tour. Is it important to perform well here, to boost confidence before the Tour?

Of course another thing why I want to perform well is to gain confidence ahead of the Tour de France after the difficult spring.

The 3 mountain top finishes are Col du Beal, Finhaut-Emosson and Courchevel. Do you know these climbs?

I don’t know them.

What will you do after the race, in preparation for the Tour?

I will spend some more time in the mountains and after it I want to do both national championships.

Have you reconned any of the tour stages yet?

We did the cobbled sectors on stage 5. It was really impressive to see the same parts from Paris-Roubaix.

With his form starting to pick up, the other riders need to remind themselves what a talent he is. He has every chance of making the top 5 in the Dauphine.

David Hunter

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