Kazakhstan's road race champion Alexey Lutsenko said he hopes to restart his 2020 season with the Strade Bianche on August 1 and the Milan-San Remo and Tour de France at the end of the month. Based in the south of France, Astana's Lutsenko is once again able to train outdoors, thanks to the easing of coronavirus measures.

Lutsenko started the 2020 season well, finishing in the top five in three of four stages at the Tour de la Provence in mid-February to take the points jersey and finishing in the top three in two stages at the UAE Tour later that month to finish third overall.

The 27-year-old admitted that he was a bit disappointed that his season was interrupted when he was in such good shape, but he hopes that the postponement of the Olympics, one of his major goals this season, may work in his favor.

"I was a little disappointed, but there was no alternative to this decision." Lutsenko said in an Instagram Live interview published on the team's website on Tuesday. What if it turns out to be a bit of a blessing for me that there is only one more year [until the Olympics]?"

"The more experience you have, the better quality preparation you have.

"There's a special place in my head and in my heart for the Olympics. But now I need to focus on the season, which is packed into just a few months and is right around the corner," he said, now focusing on the first few months of the rescheduled second half of the year.

"The first race after the restart will be Strade Bianche (August 1), then Milan-San Remo (August 8 or 22), and then the Tour de France in full swing," said Lutsenko, with the Tour scheduled for August 29-September 20. It's going to be a very exciting season and I expect some spectacular racing."

"With big events like the Olympics and the (soccer) European Championships postponed until next year, I expect cycling to draw even more spectators.

Lutsenko, who seems to have weathered the closure of cycling and COVID-19 better than anyone else, is happy to be able to train outside again.

"My wife told me it was like a school day," he said. 'The first half hour felt pretty weird because I'd been glued to a stationary bike for almost two months. Then all of a sudden I found myself sharing the road with cars, negotiating every bump and turn. However, my skills came back pretty quickly.

"My home trainer is in the box right now recovering, but I am very thankful for this trainer. It made all the difference here in the south of France, locking everyone down."

"I'm usually a regular at the local gym, but of course that was out of the question, so I had to find an alternative. I stuffed my backpack with bottled water and books, weighing about 15 kg, and walked up and down the stairs. I found that going up and down a 19-story apartment complex four times was a good alternative to weight training."

Asked if he was able to maintain his race weight while adhering to the stay-at-home rule, Lutsenko admitted that he took a more realistic approach.

"I would say I wasn't obsessed with counting every gram of weight. 'A steady week on the road in hot weather is more than enough to lose a couple of kilos.' Trying to maintain my race weight at such a time of year seemed like a threat to my mental health, even if I was just stressed out. 0]

And while being able to train outside again is a welcome relief, Lutsenko said he misses being at home as the racing season is about to resume.

"It's been a long time since I've been able to be with my family for such a long time," he said, "so now I realize how hard it will be to be away from them for the next stage race or training camp."

"As you can imagine, it wasn't easy for the kids to sit still without a walk, but somehow we managed to get through it," Lutsenko continued. For me, the only outing was once a week to the supermarket." [Because] when I was sequestered in a hotel at the end of the UAE tour in February, I was already feeling the reality of COVID-19. But as far as I know, there are very few infected people in our neighborhood.