To me Christmas is all about tradition. Celebrating with my family back in Sweden is something I wouldn't miss for the world. I also have a few rides I always do on the days following Christmas eve. Most years these rides have been in ice cold temperatures, with snowy white roads and surroundings. This year, the weather is different... 8 degrees warm with strong winds causing me to get off the bike twice to walk around blown down trees blocking the road. On the good side, I don't have to suffer from frozen feet and hands, nor from slippery, icy roads. Only thing though, it sucks changing tradition... ;)

One of the two trees blow down over the road today here in Stockholm.

The camp in Calpe is now over, but before I left back to Sweden I handed out some custom made "Pro Team Astana" Silva Simi handlebar- and seatpost-lights. As everyone heads back to one's respectively home, which in most cases is further north than Calpe, the hours of daylight for all of us are limited during the winter. These lights assure that we are always visible, even if the ride takes longer than expected or if it's a misty or foggy day. I think most riders were happily surprised and looking forward trying out the lights out on a ride back home. Even though all riders thanked me, it's Silva who deserves the appreciation for this great initiative.
So thank you Silva!
From Pro Team Astana.

Here is my preliminary race schedule for 2012. The first main objective will be to do well throughout Tirreno-Adriatico, Coppi e Bartoli and Basque Country. Then, I will aim to come to the Giro d'Italia in as good shape as possible to assist our captain Roman Kreuziger.

Schedule 2012

January
24th - 4th (Feb) Pro Team Astana Team Camp, Calpe, Spain

February
15th - 19th Volta Algarve, Portugal

March
3rd Eroica, Italy
7th - 13th Tirreno-Adriatico, Italy
20th - 23rd Coppi e Bartoli, Italy

April
2nd - 7th Pais Vasco, Spain

May
5th - 27th Giro d'Italia, Italy

June
14th-17th Tour of Slovenia
24th Swedish Championships RR, Södertälje
26th Swedish Championships TT, Södertälje

July
1st-8th Tour of Austria

Calpe is really showing itself from its best side at the moment. The roads are quiet, the temperatures are comfortable and the sun is shining. Training is great here because of all these mentioned things. Compared to the summer however, it's quite dead during the winter. The only other people in our hotel are either other pro cyclists (such as Radioshack, AG2R, Confidis) or couples of 65+. The terrain is perfect for this time of year, climbs everywhere but non over 500-600 meters of altitude. The advantage of this is that the temperature at the top of any climb will not be significantly lower than the temperature at sea level.

A quick stop to change bottles and grab a banana.

Gasparotto and I.

When you're at a training camp and you have bad weather, the day becomes really long. When not being able to start the training as planned, sitting around hoping the clouds will shatter and the rain will stop, minutes pass half the speed. Luckely I know this and got a good cross-training session in the gym in the morning instead. Then, after lunch the rain stopped and I was able to get the hours I needed. All in all a good but long day.

Weather not great yesterday.

I have now been in Calpe a little over 24 hours and I've got a good ride and a session at the gym done. The weather was great until this afternoon, with temperatures touching 20 degrees. Then, heavy clouds came in and brought some strong rain showers. Anyway, hopefully the rain will have passed so we get to do our hours on the bike under the sun again.

Training camp room with everything in perfect order. Kind of.

A common view for me as it's the third time in less than two years that I'm here for a training camp.

Another common, daily view.

We have now left Montecatini and are now on the bus on the way to Calpe from Valencia airport. The team planned the trip well, sending our suitcases with the team vehicles, allowing us to travel with only carry-on luggage.

We were here, in Montecatini Therme.

Then caught a flight...

To Valencia, where we will stay until the 10th of December.