Solid start to a special week - TDU Stage 1

STAGE 1 of the Santos Tour Down Under brought no glory for my new team, Garmin Transitions, but it was a good, solid performance for us to begin a new ProTour season and to set up our overall TDU campaign.

We tried to put a few riders into the early breakaways but when that didn't happen and that three-man breakaway got clear it was all going to come down to Menglers Hill and there was a fair bit of carnage there yesterday.

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TDU Stage 1 - Clare to Tanunda on 19 Jan, 2010 - ABC Radio Interview

Click on the "Play" button below to hear my radio interview with ABC Grandstand's Roger Wills after the opening stage of the Tour Down Under.

Thoughts on the Tour Down Under

I’ve watched the Tour Down Under since it first started in Adelaide (1999) and I’ve watched it progress as Mike Turtur (race director) has made it such an awesome event. So what was unknown then for me before 2009, was how the pros actually ride an event like that because they ride differently to the kamikaze Under 23’s and Under 19’s. What I found in that race was how they ride a lot more controlled in the bunch and they race slightly different. But then again because it’s such an early Tour with the stages only about 140-160km max you’ not quite sure either. But it was a good education for myself to get in with them because it was still something of an unknown until I did.

Rating my sprinting ability

My top end speed is really good but it’s getting to that top end speed that I lack a little bit of punch to really get up. I’m the type of sprinter who will go a lot earlier, where Robbie McEwen and Mark Cavendish will leave it up to the last 100m or as late as possible because they have such a good kick. But I’m the type of rider who will be starting my sprint from 250 and getting quicker and quicker and I’ve got that real good high power I can hold from riding team pursuit. So while I wouldn’t say I’m a bunch sprinter, I would see myself as a good sprinter in a breakaway of say 10-20 riders when it comes down to that kind of stage finish.

I would like to see myself as a Stuart O’Grady type of a sprinter where again if it’s been a real hard, tough stage and while some of the sprinters might still be there it’s been a hard ride, and then you can be right up there. The same thing if there’s been a split in the bunch and it’s been hard for 20-30 riders and I found myself there at the end. That when I think I would be really good as maybe a second or last lead up man for your team where I can get up there and hold my position.

Hairy bunch sprints?

Certainly to be in the mix when it’s going on is pretty crazy. But I think it does look a lot crazier watching it on TV compared to when you are in there, when it all just seems to come naturally to you. I’ve been in races where you see the overhead cam and you actually think “jeez that actually looks quite scary”? But then you remember back and think “no” it didn’t seem like that – it actually wasn’t that bad after all! But a lot of the guys these days realise they can’t afford to crash and be out with a broken collarbone for six or seven weeks of the season, so they’re not out to kill each other – they’re just out to win.

But also if you’re going to start a race thinking you’re going to crash you might as well hang up the bike now because you’re never going to throw yourself into the mix. At the same time I’m not saying they’re soft or anything – all those sprinters have got balls, don’t worry about that.

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Being part of a Garmin-Transitions Sprint Train

I love winning but also at the same time I love helping get my teammates a win too because it’s a buzz knowing you helped get your mate to the line. Last year I had some really good experiences with teammate Leigh Howard in some good races by getting into the finish.

We’d go into races sometimes thinking we will have a look at the race profile first and if it comes down to a bunch sprint, then I knew Leigh’s got the punch there. He’s a better bunch sprinter than I am. But then again because I am quite quick at the top end I can get him to the line with an awesome lead out and do that Mark Renshaw type thing (final lead out man for Tour de France sprint ace Mark Cavendish).

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Rating my climbing ability

I think I look at myself as someone who can definitely climb so it’s not like there’s just nothing there, but when it comes to massive climbs I think it’s still a bit of an unknown.

But I think as the years go on and I continue to ride in the professional ranks and I get stronger and more powerful and I do the natural thing of getting leaner and I will drop a lot of weight, there’s nothing to say that after getting all the pro tours under my belt that I can’t race at 65 kilos, and the power I can hold for a sustained time says that I should be able to climb with the big guys.

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VO2 Max Levels

A V02 max reading is how much oxygen you can take in and how much of that oxygen your body actually uses and disperses. I’ve been tested in association with quite a few sports and I do read pretty favourably.

I don’t know how my levels compare though with someone like Alberto Contador who’s supposed to have a pretty incredible capacity. I’ve never seen what his testing is but yeah he’s one of a kind at the moment and I think there’s not many people who could get near him in the Tour de France. What he’s done in recent years is concentrate on where he used to be lacking in the time trial, and now he’s really worked that out and got on top of that, he’s probably almost unbeatable at the moment.

Good days & bad days - well it's sorta relative

In Thuringen my fitness was coming up slowly off the track worlds so I told my coach that day “nah…I’m not going to get in the breaks today – I’m going to sit in and just wait and see what happens”. But I always seem to find myself in the breaks and on this day I did just fall into the break. And it was quite good because I didn’t have to expend any energy whatsoever to get in it. So then I just sat there because I did feel just average at first. But then over the course of the whole race I slowly rode my legs into it and by the end I hadn’t nearly spent myself like I normally would. So that was like a good example of using my aggression at the end of the race where I had it there in the last 20km. When I do ride smart in the last 20km, I can do a lot of damage and often can pull off the win.

Dealing with pre-race nerves

I think with what I’ve done in the past and the pressure associated with some of the big events that I’ve done, this has given me a real helping hand in the events I am taking part in now. I’ve really learned to control my nerves and to switch on and off. Over the years my dad has told me nerves aren’t good, so while I’ve always had them, I don’t let them get to me. I like to save them and then use them as energy in the race instead of freaking myself out. So in the last two years I’ve learnt to really control myself in that regard and switch on when I have to. To know now what I have to do, which is always in the back of my head to never actually switch right on to a race until the night before, so I keep every bit of nervous energy for the day.