So, I'm back in Calpe again, in the Diamante Hotel which has opened its doors again after the Legionnaires' disease shut it down after we had been here last time. We will be here until Saturday morning, when we head down to Almeria for a one-day-race there on Sunday. Then, after the race we come back here and then fly home on Monday afternoon. Today we had a good hilly ride with efforts, and tomorrow we will use half of the training to ride on our TT bikes and do some Team TT training ahead of Tirreno-Adriatico.

Have had two nights home since "Haut Var", but it's now time to head out again for the next camp/race. Will fly from Nice through Madrid to Valencia, and then about an hour with the car to Calpe where we will be staying until Friday. Had a chance to ride through Monaco today in some nice temperatures, around 16 degrees, so I'm sad to leave but it's part of the job.

Second race and the years first stage race completed. Today's 203km stage did not pass quick at all. After 3 hours of racing we had only done 100kms, but the legs felt like they had raced a full 200km stage already. As we got closer to the finish the speed increased and the adrenalin got pumping so time starting passing a lot faster. There was a lot of attacking the last 40kms, but I stayed in the main group, saving my energy to the last 1km finish climb. I entered the climb in the second group, but gave all I had and was able to finish 7th on the stage and 9th overall. Not too disappointed with that, sensations were that I have a good base but that the speed of the racing has done me well for the next races. Next race will be Almeria, on the 26th of February.

The 2012 season has officially begun. Today was the first stage (out of two) of the race Haut Var. It's only like an hour and a half's drive to the west from Monaco, so almost like a local race. Today was the flatter of the two stages, 190km long. The terrain here in never flat, so it turned out to be a hard day in the saddle. I missed a group of about twenty riders which went on the second last lap of the final circuit, but general sensations were ok. Tomorrows final has a steep climb, and the entire stage should be a lot harder than today. It's also over 200km, so I'm hoping I will have recovered well from today.

Tomorrow's schedule

Puh, after more than three weeks being away from home, I finally got back home to Monaco. My motivation was suffering a bit the last days in Tenerife as I also had to fight the cold weather, but I was able to get the job done that I had on my plan. Before heading to the airport yesterday morning, I managed to get some time on a trainer. As I sat there (I had planned to go for a ride outside, but freezing temperatures had closed the roads due to ice), the power of the hotel went down, including cell phone coverage. After a dark shower and cold breakfast me and a team mate headed down the mountain with a taxi as soon as the roads had opened and were able to start our trip back home. Shortly after midnight this night I finally set foot inside my apartment in Monaco, soaking up the great feeling of being home.

Two last photos from Teide this time around. I might come back in a couple of months before the giro though.

Weather's still not changing to the better here on Tenerife. Yesterday we had a long day on the bike but were forced to ride the last hour in temperatures just above zero degrees, with 100% humidity as we were inside the wet clouds.

Not great conditions as we passed Vilaflor, which is at about 1400 meters above sea level. Also notice (mobile camera not great in this kind of light) my team mates Silva Simi, just confirming the great safety aspect of this product as weather often changes when one least expects it.

Yesterday was the first time I had rain here on Tenerife. Already when leaving the hotel we had to change our original plans due to snow on the north side, which is where we were planning to go. As we descended on the south side into the clouds, we felt it was colder than usual, but continued down and then headed east. We soon realized we were riding into some rain, so we dropped down to the coast hoping to avoid it, but we weren't so lucky. About 30 minutes of riding in pouring rain, looking up towards Teide and seeing how rain was pouring on the entire climb back up again, we seriously doubted we would be able to get back up on our bikes. We decided to go west along the south coast, and luckily enough, we managed to ride out of the rain and around the clouds, climbing back up on the west side, in dry but cold air. All in all a good day, but not what you expect on the Canary Islands.

There have been a lot of clouds here over Tenerife the last couple of days. Luckily for us, we're above the clouds, so we at least we get to leave the hotel up here with clear skies and decent temperatures. Once we descend a couple of hundred vertical meters or so, it's a different story. Yesterday morning the roads were frozen and a section of the plateau up here was closed. They're expecting this cool air to stay for another couple of days or so, but hopefully already tomorrow things will start getting better.

You can't really tell by this foto, but there's a thick layer of clouds covering the lower parts of the island.

There's not much to do here than to train. In some ways it's a great life, getting to travel the world and staying at nice hotels. In other ways it's nothing but suffering, being away from family and friends, and doing nothing than being on the bike or in a hotel room. Although I at times want nothing than to puke on my bike and life, I at the moment quite enjoy it.

There have been a few race changes for me and the team during the first part of the new race season. I was to start off with Volta Algarve, but then we weren't doing it, so instead I will be doing the two day race Haut Var, in southern France. And, just recently both Giro del Sardegna and Giro del Friuli have been canceled, leaving several riders without races before Tirreno-Adriatico and Paris-Nice. As a plan-B, I will be part of a 8 man team to do the race Almeria, in Spain on the 26th of February. But we will leave already 6 days before the race from home to Spain, to take part in a miniature training/racing camp to prepare for Tirreno-Adriatico and Paris-Nice. Another camp, fine with me.

Just wanted to show you guys my new 2012 Ergo 3 Sidi Astana edition shoes I'll be using this year. Sidi supplies me with shoes, and to me they have always been one of the best looking shoes on the market. White is always the best looking color if you ask me, and adding some Astana colors just makes them fit even better with the team clothing.

One of the things that I really like about Teide is the crystal clear air and bright light we get most days up here. Having spent several weeks this fall/winter in Sweden, where daylight is almost a luxury, I really appreciate the light up here.

Just another example of the bright light we get up here. And, the good thing is it's from 7.30 in the morning until 7 in the evening.

So apparently as almost the entire team left Calpe on Friday, we were told that the hotel would be closing for a couple of weeks due to insufficient guests. Yesterday morning I received an e-mail from our team doctor saying there was another reason to the closing of the hotel... Have a look at the print screen below to find out why. The incubation time for Legionnaires' disease is up to 10 days, so I need to be cautious until the 14th of February. Not so good...

First training ride on Tenerife this time around went well. Getting the hours but keeping the intensity low was the plan and was also how it went down. Tomorrow will be a similar ride, but slowly I will start integrating some intensity during the training. Staying in altitude is stressful to the body, thus important not to stress the body too hard with the training before being acclimatized.

It's cool to look down over the clouds, knowing that's where I'm heading.

I am now back down on Tenerife, up on Teide. Again the motive is to get good weather and to get the benefits of staying and training in altitude. The weather is good, but the only thing that worries me at the moment are the strong winds, today being forecasted to 80km/h, and tomorrow up to 100km/h. Training on the south west side of the island should help me stay out of the worst winds though.

It is now the last night here in Calpe before heading to Tenerife again. I have a direct flight from here, so the trip should be quite relaxed, without the normal stress of having to change flights. And, best part is that my training bike is already there, as I left it there last time I left. Today we had planned to do some Team Time Trial ahead of Tirreno-Adriatico, where there is such a stage, but this was not possible today. The bad weather which seems to have hit most of Europe the last 24 hours finally made it here as well, whitening the tops here with snow and dropping temperatures down to 2 degrees even down by the coast where we are staying. I managed to get a couple of hours of training done, but I am now trying to recover a few days ahead of another good block of training on Tenerife.

This Calpe camp is slowly coming to an end. Only a full day here tomorrow and then the day after it's time to move along. In the beginning, I didn't really like it here in Calpe. It felt like we were always doing the same loops and that the roads were boring. The more I am here however, the more I like it. Not just the roads and climbs, but the whole setup we have here, the rooms, the food and the tranquility of the entire area. I'll be sad to go, but there are other roads to be ridden and other climbs to be conquered. Tomorrow might offer some rain again, so we made sure we used the day to get a lot of hours on the bikes.

Remember how I wrote a while ago how I needed a new computer, and that I was only using an IPad at the moment? Well, one of the reasons for me celebrating when I came home to Monaco after my first camp on Tenerife, was the fact that I had a brand new computer waiting for me. This time I decided to get an 11 inch MacBook Air. I have always prioritized small computers, hence the IPod prior to my new current one. I'm really pleased so far, have no regrets what so ever. Needless to say, typing hasn't been this easy for quite some time!

Listening to my own music is one of the ways for me to feel at home wherever I am in the world. I have had several different music speakers and systems, but just recently I bought this Philips DS3020, the one on the photo below, for only €57 including shipping(!). And, I must say, for that price and for the size of this thing the sound is impressive. It may not be quite as good as the Bose soundock portable, but for a fifth of the price, I'd take mine again any day. Connected to my speaker is my iPod touch, which I also use to Skype with when internet is limited to a reception or something similar. Oh, and to talk a little about cycling, training went well here in Calpe again. The weather has changed to the better although temperatures have dropped a fair bit and winds were quite strong and cold today. But, seeing as most of rest of Europe is suffering from rain and snow, things are pretty well here.

First of all I'm happy to say that there was rain today. It's not that I like rain, but as we rearranged the training here due to the expected rain, I'm happy it actually did come.

Anyway, as I mentioned yesterday I think it's a good time to give some advice on things I use to (most of the time...) make my life easier. First out is a small router called Dovado Tiny, made to work with a USB modem. This allows me to make my own WiFi wherever I go and use a domestic prepaid sim card to surf the internet. The best thing about it is its size which is small enough to always bring along.

Here at the hotel we're staying at in Calpe there is a wired internet in each room which I can use from my bed thanks to this little router.

Again a day passed with good sensations here in Calpe. Another cool thing thing about the first camp in January is all the new gear and equipment we get. I actually figured I'd use the next few day's posts to show what electronics I bring with me to races and camps to keep myself connected and entertained. Oh, and by the way, we managed to keep dry during today's training and tomorrow we will see if there actually will be any rain or not. Either way, I need a rest day now...

This is like one fifth of the new clothing we got here.

Training is going well here in Calpe. Today we had an ever longer ride, although with less efforts than yesterday. Normally we would have an easier day tomorrow, after three days of hard riding, but because of what seems to be bad weather coming in, we will probably have another day of hard training tomorrow as well. Actually, already tomorrow afternoon there might be some rain, so the plan for tomorrow will probably be to leave earlier in the morning so we're back right after lunch. This is in my opinion definitely the way to do it, rather than just sticking to the program and then having a 6 hour ride on a day with pouring rain. I am guessing the team will decide tonight about tomorrow. More on this in tomorrows blog post.

Today's ride wasn't an easy one. It's always hard going from wintertraining in Sweden to "race-preparation" training at the team January camp. I feel better prepared this year, especially thanks to being on Tenerife, but it's still hard coping with the speed and efforts done here. But, it's no surprise and that's why I am here.

Our main sportsdirector telling us which way we go next.

Its only been a couple of days back home, but time has already come to move on to the next training camp. As on several occasions in the past, I've gone back to Calpe, Spain, where I'll be until the 3rd of February. I traveled in the late afternoon and evening, meaning I got to spend another day at home training and preparing for being away again. For example, I had to renew my recidency in Monaco, which I got done. And, as I'm going on to another training camp straight from Calpe, I'll be gone for a total of three weeks. So focus these last few days hasn't been on getting a lot of hours on the bike, but rather on fixing everything at home so I can focus on my job when I'm away.

Just enough time to wash clothes and get a couple of rides in, then time to head out again...

Coming home to Monaco I had some "package opening" to do. Remember how I wrote some time ago how I needed a new computer? Well I made sure I had a new one waiting for me here as I got home. I also got myself a new camera, so I at times can use it for higher quality photos in my blog, as opposed to always using my telephone camera. I also knew that the WRC Rally was in town, meaning there would be something to look at during a stroll in town or even on a training ride.

Here's what I've been up to the last two days:

So, it finally arrived, the day I get to go home. There's always a love/hate feeling towards training camps. On the up side you get to ride new (or at least other) roads, usually with quality company and everything around being taken cared of. On the down side there is little rest, spending hours after hours in the saddle and being away from home and family. So due to this, ten days is more or less the perfect length for a camp. On Monday I leave again for next camp, this time in Calpe, Spain. As a matter of fact, it's another ten day camp.

Cold morning again as we left early for training before leaving to the airport. That white stuff on the ground is indeed: ice!

Today we had our last long training here on Tenerife for this camp. All that remains now is a short ride tomorrow morning for most of us (some leave too early to ride) before leaving at 11:00 to the airport. The loop on today's ride went out north, then west along the coast until we were back on the south side where we normally ride due to the warmer temperatures than on the north side. But today we were lucky, having cool air but sun on the north and west side, and then riding into dark clouds as we came south. The last 2 hours back up to the hotel were always with rain hanging in the air, until we finally rode into the clouds as we got closer to the top. About 5kms from the hotel we exited the clouds and rode into the dry and sunny air we have been used to here.

Here we are at about 10kms from the hotel, standing inside the clouds. 5kms later the sun came out and we were able to ride the last part back to the hotel in the sun.

After today's ride there only remains two more training sessions, or actually, only a day and a half before we get to go home. It's not that I can't stand it here anymore, but more just looking forward to heading home to Monaco to enjoy a couple of easy days in the company of my girlfriend. Tenerife has been good, so good that I have decided to come back here straight after the main team camp in Calpe, Spain which is held from the 23rd of January to the 3rd of February. But more on that later.

Looking down 2200 meters on the ocean is an impressive sight (the ocean is somewhere down there under the clouds!).

Today I will only confirm the subject I wrote about yesterday, the cold air. The photo below was taken this morning at around 9 o'clock. Don't mind the other values of the srm display, they're not accurate.

4 degrees warm...

Another couple of days have passed up here. One thing I learned from last year when I was on Etna, Sicily, is the importance of keeping warm on the descents. Last year, not taking this serious enough, I caught too much cold air, causing a swollen throat and a lost voice. So, this year I'm making sure I always get dressed before a long descent.

Putting on a vest or jacket on the last top before descending towards the hotel.

As I spend as much time as possible (almost two months) during the winter in Sweden, I don't use my road bike for quite some time. So not only the lack of climbs, but also the exact position on my bike gives me a hard time the first couple of weeks coming back on my road bike. Today I felt a little better than the last few days. I also did an effort and I have to say the sensations weren't terrible.

Today we left all together, with most of us doing the same loop.

One of the best parts of my job is stopping for a coffee and in this case; a banana filled bread.

First an early training, then some rest before the days second session. To top of this Friday the 13th, I headed for the sauna, looking forward to some sweating after a misty day up here. I guess my only bad luck during the day was that the sauna was 28 degrees, and after about 50 minutes in there, was only up to 48 degrees when I left... But I'm pretty sure I saw a sweat pearl on my arm before I got out... Well, could have been worse I guess, didn't get hit by a truck or anything like that.

The treat of the day was heading for the sauna! Too bad it didn't quite offer what I had hoped. But I think I worked out how to get the timer wright for next time.

I need a new computer, bad. At the moment I am only using an ipad and a blackberry, which is fine in most cases, but at times not enough. Anyway, another day has passed and I'm breathing a lot less than I was just two days ago. And, I can see the light (the end of the camp) on the other side of the tunnel... Still another week to go though.

Today I offer a photo of the hotel we're staying at.

Today me and one of my team mates rode down to sea level to get some warmer weather and new roads. I expected it to be hard riding here, but not as hard as it has been the last two days. Today's 3500 meters of climbing will never be easy, but today confirmed that I am not in my best shape yet. Although I know I shouldn't be on form, it just would just make the rides here that little bit easier. But, well, that's why I'm here...

Another landscape shot, in a valley of dried lava.

The first ride up here was supposed to be an easy, enjoyable experience with the only objective to get some hours. Because we're at 2000 meters, we were going to do a loop up here on a plateau, just to avoid climbing too much the first day. After having done one lap on this loop my legs and lungs were burning as the riding wasn't easy at all, it was either up or down the whole time! However, to get the hours I wanted, I needed to do more than one loop more and realized I was doing the same amount of climbing as I would have, had I gone down to sea level and back up again. Plus, the air I would have been breathing had I gone down, would have been 25 degrees instead of 15 and would have contained a lot more oxygen, making the ride a whole lot nicer... So not a great experience this first day. Hopefully tomorrows ride will offer better sensations. And, I can only hope the hours will pass quicker than they did today.

Some of the views today's ride had to offer. This is all above 2000 meters.

So after a long day I finally arrived on Tenerife. It's my first time on this island and up here on Teide (at about 2000 meters above sea level), and so far it's what I expected. A descent hotel, "moon-landscape" and cool, dry air. Only thing that worries me right now is that I expect the riding to be hard, as it's either up or down all the time. Which is the exact opposite to the last few weeks of training roads I've had in Sweden. But, I guess that's why I'm here.

The view from my room window to the right...

...straight out...

...and to the left... Just so you know.

I know I've been really bad at updating my blog for the last few months, but just so you know, I have the ambition for that to change from now on.

Anyway, last day of training up here in Sweden offered cold but great conditions. I also got some good company during my ride, making time pass so much faster. Even though there hasn't been a lot of snow this winter, I've been using stud tires since the end of November, as there are traitorous ice patches when one least expects it. Tomorrow I have an early flight to through Berlin to Tenerife, and I mean early. Wake up time: 04:00... Monday morning, time to go to work...

I woun't be missing this kind of surface for a while...

Lights on the bike is a must, as the sun goes down at 15:00 during this time of the year. Currently on my handlebar is the Silva X-trail Plus.

Not a factor for high speed, but great to avoid crashes.

Tomorrow I have my last training ride here in Sweden this winter before I leave to Tenerife for a team training camp. It's been great being home over Christmas and new year, seeing friends and family, but time has come to start focusing on the 2012 season. In the next few days I'll try to get some shots of the bike I've used this winter to tackle the conditions up here in Sweden.

Conditions like these are hopefully over...