We caught up with Simon Gerrans the day after his Danish success for the latest installment of his blog.
Australian reflects on race victory and late-season goals
We last spoke to Simon on the eve of the Tour de France with preparations under way for the three-week spectacle. After making the switch back to blue Gerrans set about taking advantage of some strong form as he began an additional block of racing at Clasica San Sebastian and the Tour of Denmark. The decision to race at the latter paid off handsomely with Gerrans taking overall victory - his first in Team Sky colours. We caught up with the Australian at home the day after the race:
8 August, 2011
It’s been a little while coming but it’s a nice feeling to be back winning again. I guess I’m a bit of an all-rounder so it was good to be so competitive on all fronts. On the climbing days and the stage where I took the yellow jersey, that is the sort of stage that I’m typically pretty good at.
But then to be time trialling with the best guys the next day and then out-sprinting [Daniele] Bennati who is a really high-calibre sprinter on the final stage was really good. So I was competitive on every stage.
I guess I’ve got a decent finish on me for smaller groups that come over the line or intermediate sprints on the road. Full on bunch sprints where you have 150 guys coming in together that’s not really my forte but I’ve got a decent turn of speed which can come in handy for situations like last week.
I got to the Tour in better condition than I ever have before this year so I was glad that I had another couple of weeks racing planned for right off the back of it in San Sebastian and Denmark.
So that worked really well, to finish the Tour in good shape without any crashes and fit and healthy. It was great to get a victory with that good condition.
I’m having a bit of a rest now. After continuing racing for a couple of weeks after the Tour de France I’m more than ready to have a bit of a break. So I’ll wind down for a little while and then starting back my next race will be GP Plouay [a race the Australian won in 2009] in three weeks’ time. But it’s a really nice way to finish off a pretty hectic few months with a win before I have a rest.
The World Championships in Denmark are something I’m definitely keen to go and race. At this stage I’m in the Australian squad but there’s a whole bunch of guys who have put their hand up to race. They will probably pick a team more on form a bit closer to the race. I guess that having a win there last week definitely hasn’t done my chances any harm.
We did one lap of the parcours during the final stage on Sunday. It is good to have a bit of an idea of what to expect in September but I couldn't really pay close attention to it being in the race lead at the time.
I don’t think there’s anything too demanding on the route but just the fact that it’s the World Championships and a 250km-plus race makes a selection within itself.
The plan now is to have a few really easy days for the next couple and then I’ll switch back on and focus on some really good training and prepare myself for the end to the season and the races which are a big goal of mine.
(Simon has his own personal website at www.simongerrans.com and there are regular updates on there for viewers who would like to keep in touch with what he's been up to in between his blogs here on TeamSky.com.)
