After two years of disappointment with regards to the Tour de France, Simon Gerrans returned to the race this year as part of Sky Procycling’s ambitious selection for the event. The 31 year-old from Melbourne will back Bradley Wiggins’ bid to grab a podium place, but could potentially have the chance to grab his second Tour stage victory along the way.
Gerrans showed his class when he won the Australian U23 road championship in 2002, as well as the Tour of Tasmania. He rode as part of the Portuguese team Boavista at the end of 2003 and did the same with AG2R in 2004.
This lead to a full contract and in 2005 he announced his arrival in the pro ranks with wins in the Tour du Finistere in France, GP Industria in Italy and the Herald Sun Tour in his homeland. The following season saw him successfully defend his Herald Sun Tour title and take the prestigious Tour Down Under to make it a pair of big home wins. The high light of 2007 was a win the French GP Plumelec.
In 2008 he left AG2R for Credit Agricole; and a hat trick of French stage victories in the Criterium International, Route du Sud and the Tour de France proved that it was a good move. His palmares became even more solid the following year with stage wins in the Giro and Vuelta and victory in the French semi-classic GP Plouay for his new Cervélo team.
However he missed selection for the Tour, and crashed out of the race last year while riding for Team Sky. He broke his arm early on, and had to build back up after that.
This year he’s fit and healthy with a third place in the Amstel Gold as testimony to a solid early season. VeloNation spoke to him just before he headed off to the Tour de France, and he sounded eager to get racing.
VeloNation: Is it true that Phil Anderson got you into cycling, Simon?
Simon Gerrans: In a roundabout way, yes. I knew him when he raced, we were neighbours, I’d hurt my knee and I asked him about cycling as part of my rehab. He encouraged me to get into it and that’s how I got into cycling.
VN: You rode stagiaire for a Portuguese team?
SG: Well, the books show that, but it was just a guest ride in the Tour de l’Avenir. I was stagiaire with AG2R in 2004.
VN: You were with French teams for four years. What was it like going to Cervelo – a North American team?
SG: Cervelo wasn’t really North American, it was an international team. I enjoyed my time on French teams; we always had a good programme. I had a good year at CA for my last year with a French team – I won my Tour stage - and a good year with Cervelo too – with Giro and Vuelta stage wins.
VN: What about the feeling that the French teams are too ‘traditional?’
SG: French riders tend to stick with French teams, there aren’t a lot of French riders in English speaking teams but there are some good French riders out there. And I know that some of them are pretty progressive; we were sharing a hotel with AG2R on the Dauphine and they were using some radical recovery methods for their riders after stages.
VN: How does Sky compare to Cervélo?
SG: Sky is a fantastic team, one of the biggest and best organised in the peloton – there’s not too much resemblance to Cervelo, save they’re both cycling teams!
VN: Where’s ‘home’ in Europe?
SG: Monaco, I’ve been there a few years now; there’s a good Aussie community – Matt Goss is there too – and there’s always a good training bunch going out.And we’re all good mates so it’s good to have company after dark, too.
VN: Were you happy with your spring campaign?
SG: Yeah, I was third in the Amstel but don’t thing I’d recovered from the Fleche; and I was 12th at Liege.
VN: How was your buildup for the Tour?
SG: Well, the team was announced after Suisse. I’ve had a heavy race programme up to the Dauphine and have been in recovery mode – you can’t train too hard coming in to the Tour.
VN: Are you a scientific or traditional trainer?
SG: I do a lot of intervals, I record everything and yes, I embrace technology. I try to get the best out of every session – I always have a goal for every ride. I have a coach, the same one I’ve had my whole career – but at this stage of my career, I know what I need to do.
VN: Will you have freedom to do your ‘puncheur’ thing?
SG: The main goal is to support Bradley; all is else is secondary to that.
VN: What’s your favourite thing about le Tour?
SG: It’s such a big spectacle; it’s nice to be part of it all; it’s the biggest media event in the world in July.
VN: And least favourite?
SG: Getting sick, crashing, injury. Illness – the race doesn’t wait for you.
VN: What’s your take on the 2010 parcours?
SG: They’re particularly tough; we’ve had a look at the Alpine stages – they come late and I don’t think the race winner will be decided until we come out of the Alps.
VN: How do you see Bradley in 2011, compared to 2010?
SG: He’s definitely taken a much more relaxed approach and he’s much more comfortable – those results he had in the Dauphine and the National road race have given him a lot of confidence.
VN: And the podium will be?
SG: Contador, Schleck and maybe Cadel with Brad in the top five.
VN: It will be a good Tour for Simon Gerrans, if . . .
SG: If I stay upright - last year I had three crashes in the first week! And I obviously want to make a good contribution to Brad’s Tour performance.