Alberto Bettiol, after enjoying a full offseason, said he has "no excuses" if he fails to win this spring. The Italian, who ended the 2021 season early due to chronic ulcerative colitis that had already ruined his Classic campaign, has since been able to enjoy a full winter of training.

"I'm a little fed up with just training, but I feel like a reborn person. To be honest, I miss the adrenaline of competitions," Bettiol told La Gazzetta dello Sport (opens in new tab).

Bettiol has won just three races in his eight-year career, including solo victories at the Tour de Flanders in 2019 and the Giro d'Italia in 2021, no doubt, but the EF Education-EasyPost rider admittedly less.

"Definitely, yes. First of all, we have to win more, and now there is no excuse. The only unknown is that I was inactive for a while."

Bettiol will start the 2022 season in Etoile de Besseges, where he won the time trial two years ago. After training at high altitude in Tenerife, he will compete in the Gran Camino, a new stage race in Galicia, before heading north to Belgium via Strada Bianche, Tirreno - Adriatico, and Milan - San Remo.

Bettiol's surprise victory at the 2019 Tour of Flanders, his first as a professional, opened a new phase in his career, albeit one in which he initially struggled to live up to his new status.

"When I won in Flanders, my life changed. I wasn't ready and no one was on board. It was hard to live with my new status. I was trying to get used to it when the pandemic started and my manager, Mauro Battaglini, died. There was a lot of anxiety and physical problems."

Bettiol was first diagnosed with chronic ulcerative colitis in the winter of 2020, and thanks to initial treatment, he competed in the 2021 classics and had an impressive run in the Giro, but struggled again in the aftermath of the Tokyo Olympics. He is optimistic, however, that his treatment in Turin last fall is helping him deal with the problem.

"I still have to keep it under control and it may never go away for good," he said. He said, "It was the right decision not to race after last year's Olympics when I wasn't training as well as I should have.

Bettiol, in perfect physical condition, will be a contender for the win in the spring one-day races, and he expressed confidence that he can compete with Wout Van Aert, Mathieu Van Der Pol, and Julien Alaphilippe in March and April.

"My favorite is Van Aert. His versatility is sensational," Bettiol said. "Yet, when he won the Tour of Flanders, he beat all the top riders. When I'm in good shape, I don't feel inferior. At least I can fight for the win. I can't wait to compete against them."