It has been a punishing spring for the Dimension Data team with just two wins this season and sickness wrecking their chances in the spring Classics. Marquee signing Michael Valgren has been unable to showcase his talent but Dimension Data's head of performance Rolf Aldag believes that the Danish rider hasn't become a bad rider overnight and that the team's fortunes and results will improve. "We know why it's been difficult. They were sick and then when everyone else is super good it's just really difficult to catch up again. That's what you have to live with," Aldag told Cyclingnews during the weekend of Paris-Roubaix. Dimension Data signed the entire 2018 Amstel Gold Race podium over the winter with Valgren joined by Roman Kreuziger and the experienced Enrico Gasparotto. Their remaining Classics season will very much depend on those three riders performing at their very best.ADVERTISEMENT "The Ardennes are coming. Roman Kreuziger wasn't sick from Algarve, Enrico Gasparotto was sick after Milan-San Remo but we have some fresh riders and we can do something with them." While Kreuziger and Gasparotto have been able to train in recent weeks, and both performed well in Wednesday's De Brabantse Pijl - La Flèche Brabançonne, Valgren's form is harder to predict ahead of Amstel this weekend. He finished 102nd in the Tour of Flanders and skipped Paris-Roubaix. While many of his Ardennes rivals used Pais Vasco to improve their form the 27-year-old Dane struggled through the cobbles. Aldag added that one preparation wasn't necessarily better than the other and that Valgren already had the needed base miles in his legs. "You have to factor in what the rider prefers and Michael, his dream is to one day win the Tour of Flanders. He has that in his mind and he wants to be part of every single race and make history. He loves the heritage of the sport and Pais Vasco wasn't exactly an easy race, even if you're training. To build up it's not the easiest race to use. Michael loves the Classics, he's had the block of training so it's not just the rhythm of one-day racing his legs. Danish coffee club
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