South African gets married today, is happy to return at the top level with GreenEdge
Walking up the aisle today with his bride-to-be, South African rider Daryl Impey is ready to work hard for what he hopes is his return to the WorldTour next season. His GreenEdge team is still waiting to learn if it will get a ProTeam licence, but he’s planning things on the basis that it will be in the top division.
Those preparations mean that he will pass up the chance to get away with his new wife, instead spending time in the company of his new team-mates. “I am getting married on Saturday, then Monday I am off to Oz for training camp,” he told VeloNation in a recent video interview. “So they just miss each other. I’ll go to Oz for a honeymoon…by myself!”
Impey rode for Team RadioShack in 2010, then was caught out when he moved to the ill-fated Pegasus project. He eventually returned to South Africa to join MTN-Qhubeka, then halfway through the season German pro continental team NetApp called on his services. The 26 year old jumped at the opportunity of returning to European racing where he spent the rest of the season.
Now he’s got a chance to return to the top events. “I don’t like moving teams all the time but it’s just happened like that in the last couple of years,” he said. “Maybe something goes well at GreenEdge and we can just continue building a good relationship.”
ProTeam licence permitting, he’s got his first races mapped out. “I start off with Sardinia, then go to Catalunya, then the Tour de Pays Basques, the Ardennes Classics. And then probably the Giro,” he said. “It is quite a big start. “
This season, Impey quickly regained his confidence in Europe when he went close to winning stages in the Tour of Austria and Tour de l'Ain. Asked by VeloNation how close he was to his form in 2009 when he won the Tour of Turkey, he believed that he was getting back on track. “I think I was pretty close this year. In Austria I think I found myself again. With those two results I got there, I started to believe that I’ll be back where I should be next year.”