The Coffee Ride #128, with Reece Homfray
TASMANIAN workhorse Will Clarke is back on cycling’s WorldTour and coming back to the Tour Down Under next month — the scene of his memorable breakaway stage win in 2012.
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TASMANIAN workhorse Will Clarke is back on cycling’s WorldTour and coming back to the Tour Down Under next month — the scene of his memorable breakaway stage win in 2012.
The 31-year-old has been thrown a lifeline to continue racing in the sport’s top tier when he migrates from Drapac’s current pro-continental squad to the new-look Cannondale-Drapac on the WorldTour in 2017.
His return to the top level follows the most successful season of his career, with race wins in Australia, Austria, Portugal and Taiwan.
His season finished in early September and he’s spent most of the past three months training back home in Tassie, which included a few weeks with BMC star Richie Porte.
Clarke was overlooked for a spot in Drapac’s roster for the TDU last year and admitted his form wasn’t great at the time, but he rebounded strongly to win the prologue at the Herald Sun Tour for the second year in a row and the wins kept coming.
“As far as wins go it was my best season,” Clarke said.
“I got a couple in Europe and I hadn’t done that before.
“I’m not a sprinter and I’m not a climber but my strengths are in prologues and breakaways so I just tried to race as hard as I could.
“This year was about trying to get back up there (WorldTour level) and if I didn’t I probably would have had a few offers to stay at pro-conti but this was my last chance and hopefully next season I’ll do some bigger races.”
Clarke last rode on the WorldTour with Argos-Shimano in 2013 and said he had matured as a rider on and off the bike since then.
“I’m more professional in some ways,” he said.
“In the past I’d go full gas for the Australian summer and then I perhaps wasn’t as focused on other aspects of the season.
“So I’ve learnt to look after myself in between races a lot more and especially in Europe.”
He will do the road race only at the national championships in Buninyong in January which will give him a good indication of his form ahead of the TDU which he says is not going to be easy.
“I’ve done the Tour Down Under five times and twice with Drapac,” he said.
“It was the place of my first pro win (in 2012 with UniSA-Australia) and it does seem like a long time ago, so it would be nice to add another one that’s for sure.
“Next year’s course looks pretty hard — there are a few days for the GC guys so hopefully I can help out my teammates and I might get a breakaway opportunity.”
TRACK NATS WILL BE FAST: MCCULLOCH
TRACK sprinter Kaarle McCulloch is predicting a super-fast national championships in Queensland next year after road-testing the new Anna Meares Velodrome this month.
“It’s absolutely beautiful,” she said.
“It’s going to be one of those tracks in the world where we’re going to see really fast times, all the time.
“It’s about a metre wider, the transitions are quite steep and it’s always reasonable conditions up there because it’s quite warm.
“It’s a beautifully designed track and everyone is going to enjoy racing on it because if you have good form then you’ll go pretty good.
“It’s the first time I’ve raced in Queensland and the people were amazing, I got billeted out to a family who looked after me really well and they had a good atmosphere so I think they’ll get a really good crowd up there.”
McCulloch won back-to-back Oceania sprint titles in Melbourne on the weekend which was a week after the interstate racing in Queensland where she also rode against male opponents.
“It wasn’t a huge event but what it does is give people experience and exposure to sprinting events,” she said.
“They cap it at 60 riders and you ride off against people in a round-robin style of groups of four who are close to your time.
“So you’re getting really high level of racing for at least four races and I always say racing is the best training.
“For me in New South Wales there’s not many girls at my level so this allows me to race against boys at the same level.
“I raced a couple of elite men, a couple of junior men so it’s been really good for my development and has given me a lot of confidence when I get to something like Oceanias.”
HITTING THE TRACK TO FIGHT MND
THE Adelaide SuperDrome will host a night of racing to help in the fight against motor neurone disease (MND) and as a show of support for former national sprint coach Gary West next month.
West stepped down as national track sprint coach after the Rio Olympics when he was diagnosed with the debilitating disease.
The MND Track Classic will have a back-to-the-future theme with former champions lining up alongside Australia's current sprint and endurance stars on Friday, January 20 — during the Santos Tour Down Under.
Three-time Olympic medallist Curt Harnett is believed to have agreed to fly out from Canada to race Australia’s Gary Neiwand and New Zealander Anthony Peden, while organisers are hoping to convince Shane Kelly and Stuart O’Grady to take to the track.
National track sprint and endurance coaches Nick Fyger and Tim Decker have juggled their schedules to enable their riders to take part, with all proceeds of the night going towards the fight against MND.
Two other big-name retired stars have also indicated they will be on the start line, with French woman Felicia Ballanger and Australian Michelle Ferriss to do battle, as they did at the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
The MND Track Classic will run from 7pm to 10pm.
GILLETT HOPING TO DEFEND NORTON CROWN
RHYS Gillett is uncertain if he will defend his Norton Summit time trial crown during the Santos Tour Down Under after having surgery to repair the artery in his left leg.
Diagnosed with iliac artery endofibrosis, a condition which restricts the blood flow to his left leg, Gillett had the operation in September and was told not to touch the bike for seven weeks.
He has been back riding for a few weeks and is still hopeful he can get to the start line for the time trial on January 15.
Gillett clocked 11mins 17.36 secs for the 5.6km to beat Russell van Hout by three seconds and have the record for the famed climb.
“It is a rare vascular condition associated with cycling,” Gillett told The Advertiser’s Warren Partland.
“There was no blood supply to my left leg when trying to ride hard.
“I had to have the artery repaired. I’m not sure whether I’ll be doing the race next year, I’m hoping to but I’m not sure how I’ll go.”
Stuart O’Grady had similar surgery about 10 years ago, while Jacob Rathe had the procedure last year. Joe Dombrowski and Theo Bos are among the growing number of professional riders to be hit by the condition.
QUOTES OF THE WEEK ...
“I did my club racing (in Bowral) the other day actually and that was the first time I’d got on my track bike in two years.”
- Caleb Ewan on racing the national madison championship in Melbourne this weekend.
“This year we have complemented the always-strong climbing group in the team with what can only be described as a world class sprint line up that we believe can go head to head with anyone in the world.”
- Coach Mark Fenner is excited about the new-look Isowhey Sports Swiss Wellness team for next season.
“Nobody strolls through work every single day of their working career and loves every day ... but fortunately there are a lot more good days than hard days.”
- Simon Germans on the highs and lows of life as a professional cyclist
TWEET, TWEET
Last night was pretty cool for the group #fast pic.twitter.com/GKFLnSmsU9
— Tim Decker (@TimDecker7) December 7, 2016
— National men’s track endurance coach Tim Decker after his TP rode a 3:54 to win the Oceania title last week.
Originally published as The Coffee Ride #128, with Reece Homfray
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