by Zoltan Tisza

I caught up with Laszlo Bodrogi by phone while he was on the way home from Paris-Tours. He didn’t have a lot of time that day, but promised to make more time after his season ended, so stay tuned for more on the silver medalist in the World Championship ITT.

Zoltan: I saw you during Paris-Tours last weekend, and noticed you had to work with some other teams to pull the breakaway back.

Laszlo: We had to work for Thor Hushovd just like any other team works for their sprinters. In the words of a pro, you have to do everything to get results. In a race like that, you have to give the maximum support to your sprinter and help him to get in good position before the sprint comes, and hope we will finish well.

Zoltan: What was your goal for this year?

Laszlo: In the last couple of years, we built a race schedule for me, but compared to the last couple of years, I did Tour de Langkawi beginning in February. We took the yellow jersey after the third stage, so we had to work hard to keep it all the way to the end. Anthony Charteau won the overall, so the team and the sponsor were very happy with this early season result.

Zoltan: This was the first time you did the Giro.

Laszlo: That’s right, I haven’t done it before. This was also something new compared to the last couple of years. I always wanted to do the Giro and this year I had an opportunity to do it. The Giro’s route is more matched with those racers who are mostly climbers, especially this year. In the top ten, you see only climbers and 8 of them are Italians. I loved the race, but I don’t think I will do it next year.

Zoltan: Many people asked me why you don’t do the 4000 meters, like Chris Boardman—who won the 4000 meters in 1992 in Barcelona—or some of the other time trial specialists. Also, the Olympics are coming. Are you going to try them?

Laszlo: To qualify for the 4000 meters, you need to do couple of track World Cup races to collect enough points. How the point system works now, it is very difficult to train for road races and track at the same time. Now, there are so many specialists and I have to focus 100% on what I’m good at. But during the last winter, when we put the schedule together, my team manager and I talked about the one-hour record. We got the idea during the 2006 Slovakian and Hungarian national time trial championships, which were held jointly that year. I beat (Ondrej) Sosenka in a time trial with a similar distance to the one-hour world record. Since Sosenka is the current UCI one-hour world record holder, my team manager and I thought maybe we should give the record a shot.

Zoltan: That is interesting, because Boardman broke the record when he raced for Credit Agricole, where you were since 2005.

Laszlo: It is interesting! Both of us are TT specialists and my manager thought that after the Tour, I would do specific training and try, but I didn’t do the Tour. Even now, I have great form, bit it is difficult to set everything up to do it.

Zoltan: Because you didn’t do the Tour, the Vuelta helped you to pick up your form for the world TT. You took 2nd in the 8th stage.

Laszlo: The Vuelta and the Worlds are very close to each other. That gave me the opportunity to focus on Worlds during the second half of the season. My preparation went well and it was a good sign that I got second in the 8th stage. I did the Vuelta through the 18th stage, and wanted to have some quick recovery before the Worlds, so I could put 100% of my focus on the time trial.  

Zoltan: You started a little bit slower that most of top riders. At the first check point, you had 18th place.

Laszlo: I started slower because I didn’t wanted to overdo it. My strategy was to stay close to the leaders, build the intensity up, and finish it strong. I started to feel better and better during the race and I was able to build a very strong and steady second half of the race. I used a higher cadence and lower gear during the hill, so I wasn’t burned out, and I could finish with a very strong and steady pace.

Zoltan: Cancellara had an amazing race. I know you had been teammates in 2002 on the Mapei team.

Laszlo: We have been racing for a long time together and both of us are TT specialists. We had been on the same team since 2002 and we won the Eddy Merckx GP that year. I’m really happy for his win, and to be on the podium next to my old friend.

Zoltan: How long are going race?

Laszlo: I think I can do 4 or 5 more years, but we have to see.