Michael Mørkøv talks Dwars Door Vlaanderen

One of the men of the Classics Season this year has been Saxo Bank’s Danish star Michael Mørkøv. He was away for 240 kilometres in the Primavera – it would have been longer but for the ‘mad breenge’ in the peloton to make sure Cav didn’t get back after his crisis on La Manie.

Mørkøv repeated the trick in the Hell of the North, riding 120 kilometres in the ‘escape of the day.’

But inbetween times he also enlivened Dwars door Vlaanderen and was well in with a stab at the podium until QuickStep reminded everyone that they’re not just about Tom Boonen – they’re all a cut above in 2012.

What was the Saxo Bank plan for Dwars Door, Michael?

“We wanted one man in the break and then we’d try to get other riders to bridge across.

“But it took a while for the break to go and we’d all used up a lot of energy to get in it.

“We’d done two hours of racing at nearly 50 km/h when 13 of us got clear on the first of the climbs and took a minute.

“The Omega Pharma-QuickSteps countered with Chavanel and Terpstra – they bridged up to us on the Haaghoek cobbles.

“On the Berendries climb the group split and there was just Chavanel, Terpstra, Lloyd Mondory (AG2R), Maarten Wynants (Rabobank), Vincent Jerome (Europcar), Jelle Wallays (Topsport Vlaanderen), Jan Ghyselinck (Cofidis) – and me.

“I began to think about a sprint for the podium places, but then Vanmarcke and Pozzato and the others came up and the shape of the race changed.

“I finished in 15th in the end.”

This must all be good experience for you, Michael.

“You’re learning all the time, you can look at as many maps and race manuals you want, but it’s like riding madisons – you need to get these races into your bones.”

Do you do specific training for the cobbles and/or bergs?

“Not really, I just do my usual hard training which is designed to try and get me to the top of my profession.

“As I go on and identify that I have a ‘speciality,’ then I’ll begin to train more for that.”

With Nick Nuyens and Alberto Contador out of the sport, you must have more freedom within the team?

“It’s not just about ‘freedom’ – I had that even with Nick and Alberto.

“This year I’m desperately motivated to do well for the team.

“I’m Danish, this is a Danish team, it’s in my heart and I want to do well for it – missing Nick and Alberto hasn’t been good for our team palmares so I want to show the jersey as best I can.”

How is Nick progressing after his fractured hip?

“He’s only at the walking stage, it’ll take a while – we hope he’ll be back for the Tour.”

Which bike are you riding for these races, Michael?

“I’m riding my usual Specialized SL 4 with Zipp 404 or 303 wheels, the latter are still aero but stronger and give a great ride on 25mm tubulars.”

Your lack of a heavy winter track programme seems to have worked well.

“I’ve been thinking about that.

“I think that maybe I’m hungrier this year because I didn’t race much over the winter.

“If you ride the Six Days then you gain form and go to a high level of fitness; but really what’s best for the road is a long, steady build up to the season.

“I had that over the winter and it’s worked well for me.”

Is the Olympic team pursuit still something you think about?

“Yes, I’m looking forward to seeing how the Danes go at the Worlds (the Danes rode to a disappointing 7th in qualification with a 4:03) and I hope to attend team pursuit training camps in May and June.

“The team is coached by Casper Jorgensen who was one of the team members when we were winning Worlds and Olympic medals – he’s doing a good job and we talk regularly.”

The Giro starts in Denmark; that must be a big incentive for you?

“It would be really nice to ride the Giro in Denmark but my schedule is to ride the Tour and Olympics, this year.”

You must have a lot of time on your hands between races?

“Yes, because we race so much we don’t train hard much – it’s more like two hour recovery rides.

“Massage and meals take up time, but the weeks are long.

“But it’s a really important part of the season for us, and we have to be based here for the duration of the Classics season.

“I relax, watch TV and am reading the Da Vinci Code – that takes up a lot of time.”

And for the GP E3?

“For Harelbeke I’ll try to get in the break again – you have to get ahead of the situation!”

Michael did indeed make it into the break but still had enough left in his legs to take 13th in the mad Boonen/Freire/Eisel lead charge in to Harelbeke.

After Roubaix we asked Michael what the next phase of his season holds:

“I have the GP Denain in France on Thursday and then a good break until the end of May, when I ride the Tour of Norway.

“The first part of my season is almost over now so I’ll wind down a little, then ramp back up for the start of the summer part of my season.

“I did the best I could with 13th in the E3 and 15th in Dwars Door – and just a little disappointment that I could have had a better Tour of Flanders.”

The VeloVeritas bet is that next season will see Michael’s best in the Spring Classic be even better.

Result - Dwars Door Vlaanderen