Building on what has been his biggest season to date, Milan-Sanremo champion Matt Goss looks set to have increased opportunities next season with a move to the new GreenEdge team.
The Tasmanian has acted as a support rider in some of his current HTC Highroad team-mate Mark Cavendish’s race, but with the Briton expected to head to Sky Procycling, Goss will have greater freedom in 2012.
“There’s going to be more pressure as a team leader but I work well with pressure. It’s not as if I’ve come from riding down the back of the bunch to all of a sudden being the protected rider,” he explained, looking forward to the chances ahead.
“The reason I joined HTC-Highroad two years ago was to get a little more leadership responsibility and it’s slowly increased. It’s been a gradual process and I’m ready to take on more of a leadership role.”
Goss won Milan Sanremo with a perfectly timed sprint and also clocked up several important results this year. He also won stages of Paris-Nice, the Tour of California, the Tour of Oman and the Santos Tour Down Under, and finished second overall in the latter.
GreenEDGE Cycling General Manager Shayne Bannan believes that Goss will slot in perfectly into the new role, which brings greater expectations than he faced with HTC Highroad.
“As a 17-year-old he spearheaded the Australian team to success at the junior track world championship. Then at just 19 he was part of Australia’s World Championship winning team pursuit quartet on the track,” he said. “Both of these results show that he’s a born leader who’s not prone to succumbing to pressure.”
Looking ahead, netting some Grand Tour stage wins is a priority for Goss, and so too riding well in the top one day races. “From the start GreenEDGE has stated they want to be successful in the Classics and go to the stage races targeting stage wins and that’s perfect for me,” he said. “I’d like to back up with another great Milan-San Remo and learn from Baden Cooke and Stuart O’Grady at the cobblestoned Classics because they have so much experience in those races.
“And then to go into the Tours sprinting for stage wins after working for (Mark) Cavendish and (Andre) Greipel for the last couple of years is the best opportunity for me to put my name on some of those big honour rolls. We’ll have the right team to achieve these goals.”
Building towards a rainbow jersey?
The Tasmanian lined out in the Vuelta a España as part of his buildup for the world championships and while he ended up pulling out of the Spanish race early on, he is doing everything possible to be in rainbow jersey-winning shape on September 26th. This year’s course is deemed likely to go down to a big sprint, and he’ll have the backing of the other Australian riders to make sure he’s in the best possible position.
“Ideally I’d like to still be at the Vuelta and not recovering from a virus,” the 24 year old said, recognising that the event is the best preparation. “But we’ve got to take every situation as it comes and as I was on my way home from the Vuelta I was on the phone talking to the Australian selectors about the right race and training program for me to prepare for the World Championship.
“It’s not ideal but if we can get everything right over the next four weeks then we’re in with a good chance to get a good result. It’s a course that suits me and it’s not going to be the nicest weather, which also suits me. I started the season on a high note and I’m aiming to end the season on a high note. “
If he does that, he will both give himself a massive morale boost heading into 2012, and will also give GreenEdge the best possible start.