Simon Gerrans admits his chances of world championship success have all but disappeared

DECORATED Australian cyclist Simon Gerrans has been forced to concede that he may have raced his last world championship.

DECORATED Australian cyclist Simon Gerrans has conceded he may have raced his last world championship.

Gerrans boasts one of the most glittering palmares in Australian cycling history; a dual national champion who has won stages at the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a Espana, and saluted at two monuments — Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Milan-San Remo.

But in an interview with the Herald Sun this week, the 35-year-old Victorian acknowledged the coveted rainbow jersey appeared set to forever elude him.

“I guess if there’s one race I would have dearly loved to have won it would have been a world title,” Gerrans said.

“I probably won’t race the world championships next year in Qatar because it doesn’t really suit me at all. It’s tailored for the sprinters.

“After that is Norway and, from what I understand, that’s not an overly demanding circuit either.

“So whether it’s an opportunity that’s gone past me, I’m not sure. But if I could have won a world title I would have had a pretty complete palmares.”

Gerrans went agonisingly close to taking gold in the 2014 edition of the race in Ponferrada, Spain, won by daring Pole Michal Kwiatkowski. It’s a moment that has stayed with Gerrans.

“I think 2014 was a really good opportunity that slipped through my fingers,” he said.

GreenEdge’s Michael Matthews has usurped Simon Gerrans as Australia's No. 1 rider.

“It was such a great move by Kwiatkowski to slip away in the final kilometres and the power nations that had the numbers looked at each other and he seized the moment and rode away with the win.

“He really deserved to win making a move like that, but to clearly be the best of the rest and maybe the strongest guy in the race, it was a really hard pill to swallow.”

Gerrans has also finished 10th (2009) and sixth (2015), with this year’s race in the US raising questions about his working relationship with younger teammate Michael Matthews, who finished second.

Matthews publicly voiced his disappointment the pair were “sprinting against each other” under co-leader instructions and said he wanted the team’s full support.

The fallout prompted former Australian sprinting great Robbie McEwen to claim “animosity” between the two could cause a rift inside Orica-GreenEDGE.

Asked how the pair would work together next season, Gerrans said he would simply follow team orders. GreenEDGE insiders said the duo would rarely be seen in the same squad next year.

“That’s a question you should ask team management. Because, as an athlete in the team, I’ve been given certain objectives and told what I need to work towards and when I need to be in top shape and that’s what I’ve got to focus on,” Gerrans said.

“As far as what they do with the rest of the team and who they’re telling to target what, that’s a team management decision.”