The Portuguese former world champ won Switzerland’s great stage race three times in a row earlier in his career. He has returned from injury just in time for this year's edition and is going to use all of his strength and experience to help his teammates. Rui had a tough spring. He broke his clavicle and his scapula at the Volta ao Algarve in February. That was not how he wanted to start his first season in EF Education-EasyPost pink. But, with the Tour de France on the horizon, Rui worked hard to overcome his injuries and get back to racing shape. This week in Switzerland, he wants to show that he has the form to go to the Tour. The next eight days of racing will be a formidable test for him and his teammates, with two time trials, a couple of hilly classics-style stages, and four brutal journeys into the Alps.

We caught up with Rui Costa before the start of the Tour de Suisse.

It feels good to be back with the team. The last months were not easy due to my crash.

I broke my clavicle and my scapula. It was a strange experience for me, because it was the first time that I had broken anything. Going through this process was not easy. I never really knew what was going to happen next, what would be the next step. The first weeks were very painful and hard, but the important thing is that my recovery went well. Now, I’m back and making more progress every day.

After my crash, the motivation was to get back to 100%, recover completely, and try to not have any secondary consequences or reduced movements. Up to now, everything has worked perfectly. I would like to thank everyone who has worked with me to get back to this shape and to be able to say that I’m at 100%. From the moment of my crash, I told myself there was still time to come back, still time to go back to the big races. Now we are here at the Tour de Suisse, a race that means a lot to me. I worked hard to get here.

It’s hard to say. My condition is gradually getting better. I feel good, but I also don’t know where I stand against the others, how I will compare to those who will dispute the race. After so much time recovering, coming back to a race like Suisse, where there are so many riders who want to perform well and have ambitions to win and to be ready for the Tour, as well as riders who are carrying form from the Giro, my focus is more on doing my part for the team. We have a very strong team with Richie Carapaz, who will be our leader at Suisse. My focus will be more on helping him to get a great result.

For me, being at the Tour de Suisse already means a lot. To go to the Tour de France, I need to do a good Suisse. Since my crash, that was my focus, my motivation. And I’ve worked so hard to come back to this point. Suisse is the perfect test for me now. The Tour is the Tour, a unique race, different to the rest. There’s a lot of stress, a lot of ambition, and everyone will be going at 100%. I’m new to the team and the course is very interesting, starting in Italy, in the city where I was crowned world champion. We’ll have a very strong and exciting team. To make the roster this year would be special for me.