Denis Menchov happy to ride the Tour de France with the Russian squad Katusha
Denis Menchov is relieved after signing up with the Russian team, Katusha, for the coming season. The cyclist was disappointed on hearing the news of his previous team, Geox-TMC, being left without a sponsor towards the end of the year.
Menchov could not secure many wins during the 2011 season but his performance was still commendable.
He finished 3rd overall at the Vuelta a Murcia, along with a 5th overall finish at the Tour of Austria.
Denis participated at both, the Giro d’ Italia and the Vuelta a Espana 2011. His 5th place finish at the Vuelta is considered to be the season’s best performance.
He also finished 8th at the Giro d’ Italia 2011, finishing 12 minutes and 8 seconds behind the race winner, Alberto Contador.
On joining the team, the 33-year-old told Velochrono, “In the past people had spoken a lot about my possible arrival at Katusha. Although they had a bit of a difficult start, Katusha has finally been able to lay the foundations to progress and become a top-level
team. I think that it was the right moment to go there. And then, let’s not forget: I’m Russian”.
Menchov started cycling professionally in 2000 with Team Banesto and represented Rabobank and Geox-TMC in the recent year.
The cyclist has worked for three foreign teams so far and this will be his first appearance in a Russian squad.
He also mentioned, “Since 1999, I’ve travelled all over the world, but I’ve laid down roots in Spain. And I have to say that I have missed mother Russia a little bit”.
Menchov’s main goal for the season ahead is the French grand tour. He could not participate in the Tour de France 2011, as Geox-TMC was not invited to the event.
Denis believes that Yuriy Trofimov and Vladimir Gusev will help him through the Tour.
Team Katusha will enter the new season with a strong line-up as it has signed some of the best cyclists in its squad.
Alexander Kristoff of Team BMC, Oscar Freire Gomez of Rabobank, Xavier Florencio of Geox and Denis Menchov are the new inclusions in the team.
The Russian cyclist’s performance in the Tour de France 2012 will be something to look forward to next year, as his best performance at the Tour so far was a third place finish in 2010.
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