Tour Down Under
Team UniSA-Australia Supporters Club
Team UniSA-Australia Supporters Club
Date of Birth: 31 March 1981 (23-years-old)
Born: Adelaide
Weight: 71kg
Height: 1.84m
Occupation: Cyclist. Forklift driver (when not riding professionally)
Cycling competitively: Seven or eight years now.
Club: Adelaide Cycling Club.
Professional team: I did four years with AIS in Italy (1999-2002), and then spent 2003 with a pro team (LeMond Fitness / Blender magazine) in the US.
Bike: Daccordi
Sponsors: Main North Nissan, Daccordi and BHP / Lysaught
Fastest speed clocked on a bike: 120km/hr. When I was a junior in 1999 I did a race in Germany where we had to go up a 3km hill that took about half an hour to ride because it was that steep, and down the other side was just the same. It was one straight road – so on the downhill we were flying!
Longest distance on a bike: I’ve done 295km in training, but the longest race distance I’ve ever ridden is a little less, 265km on the US Pro Championship in 2003.
Recent achievements:
Career highlights: Being National Champion in 2003 and also turning professional at the start of that year.
Ambitions for 2005: 2005 will be a bit of a transitional year. It will be a test year for me. If I continue to improve I might head back to Europe and have another crack at turning pro. If not, then I’ll have some tough decisions to make. I’ll have to look at working a bit more because, financially, cycling is a hard game if you’re not at the top level.
Overall cycling ambitions: Just get a good contract with a professional team and be able to ride the Tour de France. To start and finish the Tour de France is a big goal. And just to make a good living out of cycling.
Years with Team UniSA: Five years
Years in the Tour Down Under: Five years
Most gruelling part of the Tour? It’s not really physically gruelling for me, but one really tough thing is trying to read the race. It’s really hard to read to try and get into the right place at the right time. I mean, the second stage is the most decisive – you have to be in the right place and have to make a move on that day to be anywhere at the finish. So I find reading the race in Down Under to be quite difficult.
Best part of the Tour? The best part is riding in front of your home crowd. All your family and friends, who never get to see you race, come out and watch. It’s great to be able to show them just what it is you do each day. This year I’m really looking at stage two to do something, because it goes past my house and around the area where I’ve trained a lot over the years and used to work. It’s my old neighbourhood so it would be special to do something there.
How do you prepare for the Tour? I’m doing as many kilometres as I can. I’m riding about four hours a day at the moment, especially during the week. On the weekends I do a bit more, maybe up to about five or five and a half hours. At the moment I’m doing more endurance based work and then I’ll get the intensity up closer to the race and do less distance. I clock about 700 - 750 km a week. It used be a bit more but that was when I wasn’t working. I also try and eat the right things but if I want to eat something nice, like chocolate or ice cream, then I will just eat it. I figure it is my body telling me something and the approach has worked quite well for me so far.
What do you hope to achieve in the Tour? I’d like to get the “Most Aggressive” jersey again. To me, it’s the jersey that signifies me and how I race – to be aggressive and have a real impact on the race. And for Team UniSA, the team classification is the big thing. Being in a small team on a small budget that pulls together for the one race, it was such a big deal to win the best overall team last year, especially beating all the professional teams. So it will be a big goal again in 2005.
Nickname: Rock
Pets: One cat called Gizmo (After the Gremlins – he’s a little terror!)
Someone you look up to: I always looked up to Pat Jonker. He was always up there when I was first starting cycling. And Ian McKenzie is a big mentor of mine. He really looked after me when I was a lot younger and took me through the ranks as a junior and saw me progress on to win national titles. He’s a very well known rider and coach now. Also a guy called Alan Smith who really took me under his wing when I first started out and helped me in so many ways. Unfortunately he passed away after a bout with cancer, but his influence changed my life.
A saying or motto you like: Just enjoy yourself. If your enjoying yourself the rest happens naturally.
Fave music: I like anything. But I like a lot of dance music and R&B.
Fave TV show: CSI
Fave movie: The Matrix
Fave actor: Al Pacino
Fave food: Pizza – I love it.
