Tour Down Under
Team UniSA-Australia Supporters Club
Team UniSA-Australia Supporters Club
Date of Birth: 1 February 1971 (33-years-old)
Born: Adelaide. Born and lived here all my life. I’m now living in the hills with my wife, on an acre of land – maybe we’ll get a few chickens and even a deer to keep the grass level down… a natural living lawn mower of some variety!
Weight: 72kg. By the end of the tour, and even for up to a week after the tour – you lose weight. I can get down to around 69kg.
Height: 1.78m
Occupation: Development Manager with CGU Insurance
Cycling competitively: It will be seven years this year.
Club: Norwood Cycling Club.
Professional team: In the past I raced for a professional team in Germany, Team Lamonta. I’ve also been invited to ride in a professional team next year. In Europe, cycling is much like Aussie Rules football. It’s huge! You’re given a professional contract and wage which you can actually live and eat on, which is a lot different to Australia. You’re required to race about three times a week, travelling to surrounding countries with your team and race in different events. Some one day races, some tours.
Bike: I ride a Trek 5500 bike, but plan to upgrade to a Trek Madone SL for the Tour Down Under.
Sponsors: Saving & Loans Credit Union sponsor my team, they provide fantastic support. Of interest, Patrick Jonker is also involved from a coaching perspective. SRS Agencies (Andrew Kuhl) is my other sponsor who supplies product like Trek Bikes, Shimano, Limar Helmets, Rudy Project glasses etc.
Fastest speed clocked on a bike: In the Tour Down Under in 2002, coming back into Victor Harbour there was a really steep hill where we clocked well over 100km. It might have been around about 105 - 108km/hr. It was just before the stage finish. Steep hill + tail wind = hang on! You can’t afford to make too many mistakes at that speed, and you pray that the guy in front of you doesn’t come down.
Longest distance on a bike: The Melbourne to Warrnambool. It’s an international race held once a year. It’s the longest race in the world, exceeding the Milan San Remo race by about 5km. This year it was 300km long. I’ve done that race every October for the last four years. I think I ran 16th this year.
Recent achievements:
Career highlights: Winning the Tour Down Under last year with Patrick Jonker is my number one highlight. Others would be when I ran fifth at the Australian Open Road Championships a couple of years ago. The other is riding for a professional team in Germany.
Ambitions for 2005: This year I’m hoping to head over to Europe again with my wife. I’ve been asked to ride for a professional team in the Czech Republic (in Prague).
Years with Team UniSA: 2005 is my fifth Tour Down Under. My first in 2001, so this one’s a bit of a milestone for me. I’ve been riding with Team UniSA each year.
Years in the Tour Down Under: Five years.
Most gruelling part of the tour? There’s going to be a new hill climb in this years race, out at Kersbrook, called Smith Hill. It’s one we’ve never done before so I’ve trained off it a few times. It will definitely play a big role in the race. It’s about 5km long and starts off going up and down and then it moves into constant climb for about 2.5km. The aggressive riders will definitely try to attack and get away during that climb. I think that hill will be a defining factor in the race. Willunga Hill is always hard. But they’ve resurfaced it this year so it is a lot smoother and faster. It might be less of a deciding factor as a result..… but will still hurt!
Best part of the tour? I really love the first stage in particular. The atmosphere, the crowd and all of your friends and colleagues are out there cheering Team UniSA on. It’s not repeated anywhere in Australia at any time of the year – it’s fantastic. And I love the atmosphere before the stages, getting to meet the people and all the activities that go on around it.
How do you prepare for the tour? I’ve been written a training
program by Pat Jonker this year.
So he’s put me on a six week program with a view to try to win a stage.
I’ve been following that by the letter of the law and have been
progressing really well. It’s a type of program I’ve never done before
so hopefully I’ll pull up better than I have in other years. There are a
lot of hill climb efforts involved and a lot of interval training.
I’m trying to get in about 700km a week at the moment. Being married and
working full-time, I have to juggle a bit more than some of the other
riders in the team. So there are a lot of early mornings and late nights
at the moment. The weekend I try to fit in over 300km, which takes the
pressure off during the week. I have to say though, I couldn’t do any of
this without the full support I receive from my beautiful wife,
Michelle.
What do you hope to achieve in the tour? I’d love to achieve a stage win in the Tour Down Under. I come close a couple of times and been fairly aggressive over the years, but I’ve never managed to finish it off and get a stage win. So I’d love to do that. Or alternatively, help one of my team mates get a stage win.
Nickname: Cunno, Ritchie (from television show Happy Days)
Pets: One Russian Blue cat called Pushkin.
Someone you look up to: Patty Jonker is someone I admire, his views on cycling and life in general, not to mention his achievements. Superheros? Bat-fink and Roger Ramjet – 70s cartoon characters. Bat-fink had a groovy voice and oozed confidence with his wings of steel, not to mention his trusty sidekick called Karate.
A saying or motto you like: The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you’ve gotta put up with the rain. Live tomorrow, today.
Fave music: Different types of dance music
Fave TV show: Little Britain
Fave actor: Glenn Robbins. He’s very witty. I love comedy in general.
Fave food: My wife’s cooking! Steak and eggs. You have to be careful around the tour with what you eat and drink and when you eat it. When my wife goes shopping people in the queue ask how many children she has because there’s so much food in the trolley, but we don’t have any kids!
