Mathias Frank: “The race has built a very good reputation within the cycling world”

By @pmpalermo

One team that decided to try at  this year Tour de San Luis, as Marco Pinotti  anticipated in this website, is the BMC  and although the Italian did not compete in Argentina, the formation of John Lelangue will align very good runners such as Tejay  Vangarderen, Thor Hushovd and Mathias Frank.

Frank is a mix between a climber and classics man and will be one of the visible heads of the American team because  his fitness is more advanced than their leaders.
The Swiss  is excited about his arrival to South America, and while recognizing that the primary objective is the Tour de France does not rule, while helping Vangarderen, be a contender in San Luis.
Very attentive to our demands, Frank spoke about the growth of the Tour de San Luis,  his captains in BMC, the point system and even on Joaquim Rodriguez and Katusha, who were left out of the World Tour and also participate in Argentina.Do you know your calendar? are you coming to San Luis?

Yes I will come to San Luis. Its my first time to South America and the last Continent I havent raced on. Im really excited

In general I want to improve in stage races. I want to get more consistant and be the best team mate I can be for my captains like Van Garderen and Evans. To be racing the Tour de France will also be a goal but the internal selection in our Team will be quite hard since we have so many strong guys.

I think my shape is okay. Normally I always need some races to get better so since it is my first race I dont expect too much.

I think its because the race has built a very good reputation within the cycling world. this you can see in the very strong field that will be participating this year I think.

To be honest I dont know that much about cycling in South America in general. But the fact that there are always strong guys like the Haedo Brothers or guys like Henao or Uran shows me that the level there must be quite high

I think that  the World Tours points system is not very well constructed. Its quite hard for example a domestique to score points while he`s working for his team and at the end of the season he doesn`t get a contract because he has no points. On the other side teams are fighting to sign guys that scored a lot of points in Africa or Asia and those guys come to ProTour and are just not competitive.

I dont know the reasons why they got no License and so I cant really say anything about it. I feel sorry for the riders on that team though since they might not have done anything wrong and now find themselves in that situation.

If he finds back to his shape of 2011 he can win again for shure

Thor had a bad season due to his illness last year but I think hes healthy again and Im shure he will find back his power this season…

I grew up in a small town on the country side of Switzerland that is the home of one of the most traditional Cycling Clubs in Switzerland. My Father used to be a amateur cyclist and my younger brother started cycling so I got into cycling when I was 16 years old.

I can do good in stage races of about 1 week when there is some good climbing. I also like the hilly one day classics like Liege or Lombardia. My weakness I is sprinting

Ale is getting better and is recovering now at home with his family. He is a big champion and he will come back strong

The first race I won as a Neo Pro at the GP Schwarzwald in Germany is maybe the most memorable experience because it showed me that I have the skills to win races at the pro ranks.

My worst experience was my crash at the prolouge of the 2010 Tour de France where I ruptured my left quad and broke my thumb and was forced to abandon my first Tour de France.

I hope at least 10 more

Pablo Martín Palermo