It’s probably no surprise that having been born and raised in Ireland Saxo Tinkoff’s Danish rider 
Christopher Juul-Jensen says that a highlight of the coming 2014 season for him will be the Giro d’Italia’s start in Belfast (May 9). It will be doubly-sweet for him given the disappointment of having been effectively ‘de-selected’ for the 2013 just a couple of weeks ahead of the start – as he comments: ‘I had been looking forward to starting my first Grand Tour, so that was quite a disappointment. But now I’m only extra motivated to start my first Grand Tour on my ‘semi’ home ground, Ireland!’
Having joined Saxo Tinkoff in 2012 (initially on a two year contract) the Dane has been in reflective mood, saying, ‘the best experience this year was definitely doing the cobble classics! I’ve been fascinated by these races since I got into cycling. I think I saw the famous Joergen Leth documentary A Sunday in Hell 10 times the day before Roubaix just to put everything into perspective. The whole Flemish/Northern French vibe throughout the classics campaign was incredible and made me really appreciate having it made it this far!’
You can follow Christopher Juul-Jensen on Twitter @JensenJuul and the team @offtinkoffsaxo