South African rider Daryl Impey has just finished his first race with the RadioShack team and is now back in Europe, preparing for the first Classic of the year. He is hoping to ride strongly there, both for its own value and also to gain experience for the years ahead.
“Europe is freezing at the moment - when I was in Amsterdam for a stop-over, it was minus 8 degrees!” he said in a update. “But Spain will be much better. In about a week’s time we have a training camp in Calpe, Spain and we'll be getting ready for the Classics. Personally I want to do really well at Milan-San Remo, it's definitely a race I would want to win one day.”
Impey will be living with Irish professionals Dan Martin and Philip Deignan in Girona and aims to get things in place as soon as possible. He has to jig his time between training and racing, though. “Everything is back to reality now [after Australia]. I’m getting all set-up in my apartment in Girona…it will be fun and frustrating at times, but riding comes first and everything else has to just fit in.
The 25 year old had a successful start to the 2009 season, placing second in the South African road championships, riding well in the Tour of the Mediterranean (third in team time trial, tenth on stage 3), and netting fifth on the opening stage of the Settimana Classica Internazionale.
The high and low points came in the 2.1-ranked Tour of Turkey in April. He took the overall classification and a stage win there, also topping the points classification. However on the final day he was pulled into the barriers by Rabobank’s Theo Bos, an action which led to a chorus of condemnation plus a month’s ban for the Dutch rider.
Impey suffered serious injuries in the incident and was sidelined for several months. He’s back on track now, though, and ready for the second phase of his career with RadioShack.
Things got underway in the Tour Down Under and he is relatively happy with how it went. “The first race of the season has just passed by and what a great place it was to be racing,” he said. “Adelaide is probably one of the best places to hold an event and I must admit the Tour down Under was really well organized. Flying riders out in business class was really welcomed, and it made flying a breeze. Thanks to the organizers for that.
“As regards the racing, our team went with the idea of winning a stage. Although it never happened, it wasn't due to lack of trying. Gert [Steegmans] was close by, running second, and we tried each stage. But HTC [HTC-Columbia] must be applauded for a great race and controlling things.”
He admits that he’s less satisfied with his own performance, although he accepts that his lengthy time off the bike has probably cost him some sharpness. “From my side, I feel slightly disappointed in myself for not getting up in the results, as I thought I would be going just a little better. I guess this was my first tour since April last year so I can't be too harsh on myself. I don't want to dwell on things with so many good races coming up. Forward motion!”
RadioShack hasn’t yet finalised if it will be doing the Giro d’Italia, but Impey will be competing in the country soon anyway. He’ll compete in Sardinia on February 23rd, and wants that to be the first of many strong races in Europe.
“Hopefully [there will be] very successful racing with Team Radioshack,” he said. “I’m looking forward to racing Giro di Sardegna in Italy, post-training camp.”