Video: Svein Tuft on his last Grand Tour and working for his GC teammates

by Kevin Mackinnon

Just before the start of the 101st Giro d’Italia in Jerusalem, I spoke with national time trial champion Svein Tuft of Mitchelton-Scott. We discussed how the Giro will likely be his last Grand Tour, what the riding in the Giro his like and his role on the team.

Svein, the word is this is going to be your last Grand Tour.

Yes, this will more than likely be my last Grand Tour. It’s a tricky one to deal with, when you think about that part of my life coming to an end. But as excited as I am, I’m also looking forward to Part 2 of my life as well.

This is your sixth Giro. How hard are these things to get through?

I think the Giro, of all of the Grand Tours, is possibly the hardest. Just the parcours and the days in the Dolomites and the Alps are really quite something. But also you have the weather that can be quite variable. I think we’re pretty lucky starting down here in Israel and coming up from the south. We might get a lucky run, but in the past I’ve done some Giros where it’s rained 10 or 12 stages out of the 21 days. For sure the Giro is one of the hardest, I would say out of all the Grand Tours.

What do you think of starting out in Israel this year?

It’s really something special. I was saying to the guys earlier that a lot of times we’ll have a start in Holland or Denmark and Ireland. This will be like a whole different part of the race, like Part 1, because it’s a whole different environment. I think it’s quite special to start down here and when we get to Sicily I think it will be totally back on to European-style racing. This is going to be special and I’m quite impressed with what they’ve been able to pull off here.

What are your goals for this Giro?

My role and my job over the years has evolved into pretty constant support for the GC guys and right now we have two GC guys in Simon Yates and Esteban Chavez who are going for it—they’ve both been on podiums in Grand Tours before. That job starts at kilometre zero and it’s doing your best to conserve energy. I think Sunday will be quite stressful. I’ve heard there are lots of crosswinds heading out to the Dead Sea. Days like that, it’s going to be crucial that the entire team is switched on and that’s where my role kicks into place. If I’ve done well then those guys are fresh when they start the final climb or when they have to go for the difficult finale. It’s a very taxing job, but it’s something I enjoy. It’s a great adventure to be a part of, actually, 21 days of racing and to fight for the overall is a big deal—in cycling terms, anyway.

What would you like people to remember you for at these Grand Tours?

I’ve always enjoyed having a good work ethic. That’s really it. I like to help people do their best and that’s probably been the most satisfying part of my job: to be part of a good group that is working hard to achieve something big, and I think that’s a great part of being a human. So it’s something I’ve enjoyed a lot over the years.

Any chance we’ll see you back in Canada this summer?

Right now I don’t have any plans for the rest of the season, I always wait until after the Giro, but we’ll reassess after the race is over and maybe come back to Canada for nationals and who knows, maybe even the Quebec and Montreal races would be great to do as final World Tour races in Canada.