Andrew Talansky’s main goal for the season may be the Tour de France, but the American will still be going all in for the Tour de Suisse, his final tune up race before the big race next month.

Talansky says his past experiences of arriving at the Tour on form and then crashing out have really motivated him to try and excel in stage races, rather than just using them as training.

“I’ve shown up with my best form of my life for the Tour, then been out of the Tour because of crashes or whatever else,” he told VeloNews. “So I think when you feel good, you have to take the opportunity.”

Some were surprised to see the Cannondale leader on the startline of the Tour de Suisse, given he is usually a man who prefers to prepare at the Dauphine, which he won in 2014. Talansky says it was his decision to race on home soil at the Tour of California that inspired his change.

“I really wanted to race California this year with the spring I had. I thought it would be nice to get things going again. Suisse and California fit together really nicely.”