Although he started the racing season late as a result of his long suspension following a positive testosterone test he is now one of the dominating riders in the peloton after only 19 days of racing. He made his return on June 7 (Tour of Austria), then won a stage at the Tour de Suisse, won the Trofeo Matteotti, and then repeated his 1998 victory at San Sebastian. 1999 is already the best season of his career which started in 1992.
Casagrande would have ridden the Tour this year but his team was eliminated when Sergui Honchar returned a high hematocrit level at the Tour de Suisse. Casagrande thinks that the road racing route at Torricelle (Verona) will be suited to him. He said: "The route of the Worlds is suited to my characteristics. The Torricelle climb has to be repeated sixteen times, which will provoke a natural selection. Now that Bartoli will be out, which displeases me a lot by the way, I will be one of the main men for the Italian selection. I think that if I hold it together for the next 2 months that I will be one of the leaders of the Azurre team for the Worlds. I have spoken to national selector Fusi and he has told me that he has me under consideration. It is natural that I aim for the Worlds with all my determination. In terms of my preparation, Fusi has given me carte blanche: I want to prepare well."
In terms of preparation, Casagrande has not officially decided if he will ride the up-coming Vuelta. He said he will make a decision by mid-August. He outlined his definite plans: "I will not ride the World Cup race in Hamburg. I will ride the Vuelta a Galicia, Tre Valli Varesine, Coppa Agostoni, Championship of Zurich (World Cup), Trofeo dello Scalatore and the Giro del Veneto. Regarding September, I will follow the Italian program: racing the September classics. I’m very motivated to ride the Vuelta and it is a demanding route and for it I will need a strong team in good condition. Now that I have all this energy after not racing in the Tour de France, I don’t see why I should go to Spain and be stuck there for three weeks, when there are so many beautiful races in September that I can pick from - especially when I will then be able to skip some if I get too tired."
He had informal talks with Team Home-Jack & Jones in June but did not want to get down to the nitty gritty of salaries and contracts. The team manager of Jack & Jone, Kolpeik reacted with interest to Sorensen's announcement: "Naturally we are interested in him. But we do not know of whether we can pay him the same salary that he is earning at Rabobank."
Rabobank team leader Theo de Rooy has said he is very surprised about this announcement. "I don't know anything about his wish. I never thought he would want to leave our team. He has been of great value to us and so I will have to talk to him soon to clear this up."