Emmanuel Buchmann's ambition to finish on the podium in a Grand Tour remains the same next season, despite an ill-fated 2021 campaign that included a crash that forced him to abandon his debut in the Giro d'Italia.

The Bora-Hansgrohe rider has yet to finalize his 2022 program, but given the Giro's low time trial kilometer, a return to the Giro is a possibility.

Buchmann finished fourth overall in the 2019 Tour de France, but his challenge the following year was jeopardized by a crash at the Criterium du Dauphiné.

"I'm very motivated," Buchmann told Radsport-News (opens in new tab). 'My goals haven't changed. The podium in the Grand Tours is right there. If you look at my performance and form trends in the Giro up until the crash, I was right on course. I feel a response that I am on the right track"

.

After dropping back a bit in the early skirmishes in Italy, Buchmann came into his own on the gravel stage to Montalcino, putting in his strongest performance of the GC contenders and moving up to sixth overall in the process. 9]

Buchmann was still in contention after the Zoncolan summit finish. He was still more than 0.5 minutes off the podium, but was forced to abandon the race

the following day on stage 15, when he was caught in a group crash that occurred in the early kilometers of the grado.

"It was the biggest disappointment of the season," Buchmann told Radsport-News. 'After months of preparation, it all came to an abrupt end because of a group crash that I had no control over.'

Buchmann returned to the Tour de France to support Wilco Kelderman, but a cold in the Alps prevented him from pursuing his personal ambition of a stage win and he finished 33rd overall.

After returning from the Tokyo Olympics, he was diagnosed with coronavirus and struggled to regain his form in the second half of the campaign, abandoning the race at Il Lombardia, ending a trying year.

"In the end, there is only one thing that can be said.

The 29-year-old Buchmann will hope for better results in 2022, his eighth season at Bora Hansgrohe. Peter Sagan has left and Sam Bennett returns, while the team has added Alexandre Vlasov, Jai Hindley, and Sergio Iguita to its stage racing talent pool.

Buchman said that he and the team have not yet decided on their Grand Tour plans for 2022, but that he feels the Giro route suits him better than the Tour, at least in theory.

"There are very few time trials in the Giro, and as always there are many difficult stages at the end. It suits me in principle," Buchmann said.

"The Tour's route is also very difficult and mountainous. But the first week is very windy and there is also the Roubaix stage. It gives me a bit of a headache. The risk of something going wrong in the first week is certainly greater in the Tour."