Timothy Roe’s best finish so far in his debut professional season is tenth in the Australian Road Race Championships. Apart from that he’s had to spend his time during races working for more experienced leaders.
The 21 year old joined BMC Racing Team this year from the successful Trek-Livestrong development team.
“The level [this year] has just blown me away, just how much harder it is,” he told VeloNation. “Under 23 is a bit more risky but the pro races are just harder, faster and longer and just takes its toll on you.”
Roe, whose capabilities lie in stage racers, as he’s known to be a climber, has previously worn the King of the Mountains jersey at the Tour down Under before turning professional. It was this aggressive style of racing that netted him a contract with one of the biggest teams in professional cycling.
“So far this year I’ve been happy with how things have gone, I would have hoped that it’d gone better results wise but I’ve learnt a lot and just happy to do my job for the team and hopefully the results will come. I think I’m in the right team and the right environment to get to that potential.”
While Roe’s more experienced teammates will be helping team leader Cadel Evans reach the podium in the Tour de France this month, the young Australian will be heading to the hilly Tour of Austria. Getting personal results isn’t a priority yet, Roe is happy to help the team achieve success. “I like [working for the team] and it’s fun,” he said. “There’ll be a time when I have good form and there’s a race that I can do well at. Hopefully that day happens sooner than later.”
Roe flew back to Australia after the Tour of California to recover from a heavy racing program this year that included Giro del Trentino, Volta a Catalunya and Vuelta al Pais Vasco.
“I like Pais Vasco because I heard how hard it is and it was a hard race, just technical and the way it ended up it was just a pretty hard race.”
Of the Tour of California he said, “I was hoping to go well there but it was at the end of a big block of racing for me.”
The young talent will now turn his attention to the second half of the year. While his racing schedule is yet to be finalised, the team have received invites to the Tour of Utah and the USA Pro Cycling Challenge in Colorado. Both of those races will well suit Roe, who’ll look to showcase his true potential.