Up until now, it’s Daryl Impey’s fate to be best known for being the man in the leader’s yellow jersey whom Dutch sprinter Theo Bos ‘took out’ within site of the finish line in the final stage of the 2009 Presidential Tour of Turkey.
There was no victor’s podium for Impey, rather a long spell in hospital, but the South African won the race regardless.
The 26 year-old has a talent for bouncing back from adversity. He returned to racing after that crash then, at the end of 2009 when Barloworld folded, there was a 2010 contract for him at Radio Shack. And at the start of this season when the winged horse of Pegasus failed to fly, the man from Johannesburg was again looking for a contract; but South African Continental team MTN Qhubeka stepped in with the right pieces of paper.
Impey rode for MTN in 2007 in his first pro year, before his two year stint at Barloworld. He had looked like spending the whole 2011 season with it, but in August of this year the German Pro Continental team Netapp was on the end of the phone. He was soon back in Europe riding for them until the season’s end.
He’s on the move again in 2012, when he’ll be back racing at the highest level with Australia’s GreenEdge. It is expected to secure a WorldTour licence and that should set him up for Grand Tour participations and more.
Impey recently took time to talk to VeloNation, speaking prior to flying back to South Africa from his European base of Girona for the winter.
VeloNation: How was MTN for you, Daryl?
Daryl Impey: It’s only a Continental team but it’s professionally run – I was treated very well. They hope to move up to Pro Continental in 2013 and take up the Barloworld mantle. I’m very grateful to them; they gave me an opportunity at short notice.
VN: Your MTN programme was quite exotic, with races such as the Tours of Morocco and Azerbaijan…
DI: The racing is the easy part of events like that! In Morocco there was one stage where we finished late, it was dark, there was a transfer but no buses, we were starving and there was no time for massage.
When you race in Europe you take good organisation for granted. I rode that race back when I was a young, keen pro and it didn’t really occur to me what it was like. But once you’ve raced in Europe, you don’t want to go back to that level.
There was a fight to get on the transfer bus and for the meals you needed a scrum cap!
VN: How did Netapp come about?
DI: The call came out of the blue; I was at a training camp with MTN. Douglas Ryder, my sponsor at MTN was really good about the situation – we’d actually been talking about the team racing in Europe.
But the Netapp offer was too good to pass over and within a week I was back in Europe and then riding in the Tour de Suisse. It all happened so fast.
VN: I believe that Netapp were disappointed to see you go?
DI: I’m very thankful to them and enjoy a good relationship with them. It wasn’t about money; it’s the opportunity to ride at the highest level again, with GreenEdge.
I was sad to leave Netapp and felt that I was maybe flicking them a little bit after they’d given me such a great opportunity, riding Suisse and Austria - but we separated on good terms.
VN: And GreenEdge?
DI: I had my ears open for what was happening at GreenEdge; I spoke to Matt White and Shayne Bannon and riders who had signed with the team. The team knew about what happened to me with Pegasus and saw the results I got in Austria. It all happened pretty fast, they expressed interest, made me a nice offer and I signed.
I think I fit in well being South African, English speaking and they feel that I deserve to be back racing at the top level.
VN: GreenEdge have no main commercial sponsor…aren’t you a little worried it could be a ‘Pegasus?’
DI: I’m pretty sure it’s all fine, guys will always be saying; “it’s another Pegasus” but the structure is all there, the staff are all in place, the technical sponsors are all in place and the buses are there and ready to go – it all has a solid feel to it.
When we arrived at the Pegasus training camp there were no vehicles, no kit and no infrastructure.
VN: When’s the first get together?
DI: The first camp will be in December, the date is to be confirmed. I know a lot of the guys on the team, around ten of them are summer residents in Gerona, where I live. Guys like Baden Cooke and Jack Bobridge who I train regularly with, so I’ll feel pretty well at home on the team.
VN: Do you have an idea of your programme?
DI: The Tour of Sardinia or the Algarve, the Tours of Catalonia and the Basque country, the Ardennes Classics and the Giro.
I was meant to ride the Giro in 2009 but was taken out in Turkey and in 2010 with The Shack they didn’t get a ride in the Giro.
VN: What were the highlights of 2011?
DI: I started the year well by winning the South African time trial championships; then focussed on the Tour of South Africa, but that didn’t go as I planned – I didn’t win it and I didn’t win a stage.
The stage win in Morocco was good and it was great to sign with Netapp – riding the time trial in the Tour de Suisse with the South African champion’s jersey on my back was really special. I enjoyed the Tour of Austria too – I was climbing the best I’ve ever done in my life in that race.
VN: What shape is South African cycling in?
DI: I think they probably focus too much on ‘fun’ rides – but if it’s a case of organising a pro race for 50 competitors or having 30,000 in a ‘fun’ ride then there’s no contest as far as the financial aspect goes.
There’s a need for a pro race series – and the race distances are too short compared to Europe; it’s hard for SA riders to be competitive when they travel there.
We have the Tour of South Africa but lost the Giro del Capo; but there are more guys travelling to Europe to try it – a few years back there was just me and Robbie Hunter.
VN: Tell us about your winter break…
DI: I’ll have three weeks off then start building up again in November – I get married on the 26th – but I don’t have to be fit too early; I’m not riding the Tour Down Under, all the Aussie guys will want to ride that.
VN: Despite all your troubles, you still seem to have retained your enthusiasm for the bike.
DI: I love the bike! My dad was a cyclist and he has a bike shop back home – it’s in my blood. If you have setbacks and find the strength to get over them then you become even more motivated.
After the hassles I’ve had with teams I’ve kept it in my mind that if things go wrong then I’ll be the one that another team will want to take on.
My goal was to get back to Europe, I’ve done that – the next one is to ride a Grand Tour; but getting to the start line is the first step on that one!