Special edition: The Coffee Ride’s 100th issue, written by Reece Homfray
SPECIAL EDITION: The Coffee Ride turns 100 today and to mark it we’ve asked 10 iconic and influential Australian cycling figures to list their personal ‘top 10 moments’ in the sport.
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THE Coffee Ride turns 100 today and to mark it we’ve asked 10 iconic and influential Australian cycling figures to list their personal ‘top 10 moments’ in the sport.
Together they have then been compiled to form a list of 100 memorable moments in Australian cycling.
Contributors include Graeme Brown, Kathy Watt, Mike Tomalaris, Caroline Buchanan, John Trevorrow, Stuart O’Grady, Kate Bates, Phil Anderson, Anna Meares and Simon Gerrans.
Moments include Brad McGee clinching the Tour de France yellow jersey in 2003, Belgian fans singing happy birthday to Graeme Brown, Herald Sun Tour riders drinking long necks at John Trevorrow’s kitchen table and Aussie cyclists posing for a photo with Cadel Evans in Paris in 2011.
100-91 — GRAEME BROWN — DUAL OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALLIST
100. Giro d’Italia — Stage 1.
My first year as a pro and obviously my first Grand Tour. I rolled in to second behind ‘The Lion King’ Mario Cippolini. I have the finish photo, Cipo doing his usual salute and glance back to see who he flogged. There I was, fat, chubby-faced neo pro in second.
99. Endless energy.
I often take my three boys out ‘training’ with me. My eldest handles a bike better than half of the WorldTour. Every ride is special but the first long ride we did was memorable. I was dumbfounded with his energy levels. When we got home he had done 3.5hrs of riding at age six and played soccer for hours once we got home.
98. Proud partner.
Watching my wife (girlfriend at the time) Hayley Rutherford win a gold, silver and bronze medal at the nationals week in 2002. Winning the criterium, second in the road race and third in the time trial. This is a story I tell many people and pretty often. It means more to me the more the years pass.
97. Happy birthday to me.
At the 2013 Schelderprijs — a Belgium one-day semi-classic — it was my birthday and at the team presentation before the start of the race I had thousands of crazy Belgian cycling fans sing me happy birthday. Not something you will forget in a hurry.
96. 1997 junior world champs.
Winning a rainbow jersey is always special, but at 18 in Cape Town you think it is even better when you win the team pursuit.
95. 2003 team pursuit world champions.
Winning the rainbow jersey and taking 2.5secs off our own world record was memorable but the preparation was also what made it. At the previous year’s world title I had pulled myself from the team as I thought I wasn’t feeling good enough to race. The team won and of course that was hard. I wasn’t going to let that happen again and my preparation was meticulous.
94. 2006 Tour of Germany.
It was Pro Tour and my team at the time, Rabobank, had just told me the week earlier that I wouldn’t get re-signed. Winning two stages at the Tour of Germany helped my cause and some nine years later I left the team.
93. Sub four.
Going under four minutes for the first time in a team pursuit, it had only been done once, by the Germans at Sydney Olympics and to top it off we won Commonwealth Gold in Manchester, 2002. My wife Hayley also got fourth in the road race.
92. Gold Medal #2.
The Olympic madison with Stuey. I will never forget just how busted I was after that race, calling Hayley to say I won. It must have seemed weird to her hearing it as I had nothing more to give, couldn’t express my joy, just laid in the centre of the velodrome and tried to relax.
91. Gold Medal #1.
The 2004 Olympic team pursuit title in Athens was a dream from a young age and to finally achieve it was simply sensational. The hardest part was being fit enough to race due to a major achilles injury. It was only a few months out from the Games and I was doing my track specific work in a swimming pool because it hurt to ride. Every day was treatment, taping, train and wrap myself in cotton wool, then do it all over again. It was well worth it though.
90-81 — KATHY WATT — OLYMPIC CHAMPION & CYCLING TRAILBLAZER
90. Photographing the 100th Tour de France.
All the legends were on stage in Paris — Indurain, Hinault, Merckx — and I wanted a picture of Greg LeMond and his wife Kathy. They agreed to ride their bikes up the Champs Elysees but only after we managed to convince the gendarmes who Greg was — a three-time Tour de France champion.
89. National uphill mountain bike title.
I’d won national titles across all disciplines but the one I least expected was the uphill mountain bike championship in 1991 in Canberra. I turned onto a dirt road, saw the leader walking before the finish line and I went straight past her.
88. My comeback in 2006.
At the age of 40, I won the Australian time trial championship in Adelaide. From that I got automatic selection to do the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. The course turned around at my bike shop at Black Rock which was huge motivation.
87. 1994 — gold, gold gold
It was a big year leading the Tour of Italy and winning three gold medals at the Commonwealth Games in Canada in the road race, teams time trial and individual pursuit.
86. 1998 going professional.
I joined a French team called Mutuelles de France and had one of my best seasons physically and tactically. I won lots of points jerseys, mountains jerseys and wore leader’s jerseys.
85. Chatting with Greg LeMond at the airport.
I was third on GC and won the points jersey in the 1990 Giro d’Italia and at the airport Greg LeMond’s flight had been delayed so I got to speak with him and he gave me some tips. He had all his entourage and a property developer from New York offered for me to join his women’s team but I said ‘no thanks’ because where was I going to ride in New York?
84. Canberra Tour to Tour de France.
The 1988 women’s Tour de France was my first ever European race. Straight from winning the Canberra two-day tour with 25 girls to a field of over 100. It was a huge learning curve with the national team and I ended up seventh. We started five minutes after the men, caught up the extra distances by car and stayed in the same hotels.
83. Worlds medal in Colombia.
Winning a bronze medal in the time trial at the road world championships in Colombia in 1995 was very special.
82. Commonwealth Gold in 1990.
Winning the road race at the Auckland Commonwealth Games in 1990. I was in the team as a pursuiter then they had an extra starter in the road race, I worked as a domestique then got in a break, chased a New Zealander in the sprint and won by a length and a half.
81. 1992 Olympics.
Winning the Olympic road race and getting silver in the pursuit. It was like a childhood dream. My dad was a marathon runner so it was dedicated to his memory because he died running up Mount Erica on a training run in 1969. He would have been pretty proud. That gold medal started a full time program for women’s cycling at the AIS in Canberra.
80-71 — MIKE TOMALARIS — SBS COMMENTATOR AT EVERY TOUR DE FRANCE SINCE 1996
80. 1994 Commonwealth Bank Cycle Classic.
Jan Ullrich won a stage of the premier race in Australia. He was a world amateur champion and it was a privilege to see a star of the future on our shores.
79. Jack Bobridge wins 2011 national road race.
I was in the commissaire’s car and Jack launched a solo attack. I had a bird’s eye view and thought ‘this is the best ride I’ve seen in a road race in Australia’. That was the catalyst for live TV coverage the following year.
78. 2008 Tour de France press conference.
The race started in Brest and the Lotto team had Robbie McEwen and Cadel Evans. Their pre-Tour press conference was packed full of journalists wanting to hear from two Australians headlining a Belgian team for the biggest race in the world.
77. Tour de France, July 7, 2003.
Australians dominated Stage 2. Baden Cooke won the stage, Bradley McGee kept the yellow jersey and Robbie McEwen had the green jersey. Three Australians on the podium. I couldn’t believe it, who do I talk to first?
76. Brad McGee’s first Tour de France stage win.
Before Stage 7 of the 2002 Tour de France, we went to the FDJ team hotel and got pictures of the team meeting. Afterwards I asked Brad ‘what was said?’ and he said ‘the onus is on me to win the stage’. And guess what? He won the stage in unbelievable circumstances.
75. McGee wins 2003 Tour prologue in Paris.
David Millar lost his chain with 100m to go but it wasn’t the luck that Brad had, he was one of the last riders to come home and we circled him like a shark in the ocean. To see him as only the third Australian at the time wear the yellow jersey, I had to pinch myself.
74. Stuart O’Grady wears yellow in 1998.
At a time when it was an achievement just for Australians to make a team to ride the Tour, Stuey comes out and gets the yellow jersey, it was incredible. Knowing what we do now, it doesn’t take away from my emotions at the time, we were none the wiser.
73. Meyer’s points race world title.
At the 2012 track world championships in Melbourne, Cameron Meyer’s win in the points race was unreal. He was a lap down and I leaned over to Dave McKenzie and said ‘he’s not going to do this’. But Macka said ‘I’ve got a lot of faith in him’. That was with four laps to go. And he comes out and wins it by lapping the entire field. Unbelievable.
72. Robbie McEwen’s 1999 breakthrough.
Robbie finally got his first stage win on the Champs Elysees in 1999. Afterwards he was already talking to the Dutch media and I rushed to him and said ‘Robbie, talk to us, Australia’ and he basically said to me ‘to all the doubters — stick that up your jumper’.
71. Moved to tears.
Without doubt my greatest moment was after the final time trial in the 2011 Tour de France when Cadel Evans took the yellow jersey in Grenoble. I broke down on national TV — after covering 16 Tours, it was a culmination of belief and faith that an Australian would one day conquer the last frontier.
70-61 — CAROLINE BUCHANAN — BMX, MOUNTAIN BIKE WORLD CHAMPION
70. Cadel in Paris.
With Tina Arena singing the Australian anthem, I don’t think I was the only Aussie to have the hair on my arms standing up and a tear or two for Cadel, a good bloke who has just gone about his business on the bike quietly and with style.
69. Anna v Victoria.
Watching Anna Meares win gold against Victoria Pendleton at the London Olympics. So much grace under pressure from both of them and a wonderful history of rivalry and friendship — what sport is all about.
68. My girls team becomes a reality.
Females in BMX did it pretty tough, no recognition, no sponsors, no equal prize money, no real reason to stay in the sport. I wanted to make a difference and started Buchanan Next Gen in 2014 to help girls financially get to world championships. It has evolved into an annual scholarship and I am so proud to make a difference.
67. Doing it for Sam.
We were in the stands at the national championships in 2003 when my brother fell off. A medic ran to him and made the crossed arm signal that none of us had seen before. He’d fractured his C4 and C5 in his neck and was paralysed for a while but regained movement through the night. Dad and I both competed the next day and won our respective age groups — the 13 girls and 45-49 men, we did it for Sam.
66. Bike, helmet and dummy.
Coaching 2-5-year-olds on balance bikes at the national championships with one young lady turning up all in pink with a full face helmet and still sucking on a dummy. So absolutely gorgeous. We all had a blast and the photo went viral.
65. London closing ceremony.
Being in the arena for the closing ceremony at the Olympics surrounded by thousands of the best athletes in the world and just being there for our countries. So surreal, so proud, so close to the Spice Girls!
64. Winning the Oppy.
Winning the Sir Hubert ‘Oppy’ Opperman Medal for Australian Cyclist of the Year in 2013 was a massive moment for me. To be the first either BMX or mountain bike athlete to do so, and only the second female was such a culmination of what I had been striving to achieve not only on the bike but off it as well. To also receive the People’s Choice award on the same night was like Australia saying thank you.
63. Criss-crossing the world.
In 2013 I attempted to win four world championships on three different bikes on three different continents in 56 days. I managed to win two world championships in BMX and mountain bike 4X, got a bronze in the BMX time trial and came fifth in the downhill mountain bike. A mammoth year finished with the 4X world title.
62. The pain of London.
The disappointment at the end of the BMX final at the 2012 London Olympics when I ended up fifth after going into the race as the favourite and fastest qualifier. I felt I had not only let down myself but all of Australia, absolutely gutted.
61. My first world title.
Always the biggest moment that comes to mind. In 2009 in my home town of Canberra, on Mt Stromlo near where I grew up and did my first mountain biking, with 10,000 screaming people. Ten weeks earlier I had torn a disc in my back and so many people had helped me get back on the bike and be able to race. It was such a rush of emotions.
60-51 — JOHN TREVORROW — NATIONAL CHAMPION, RACE DIRECTOR
60. How’s that compare, Robbie?
I witnessed Robbie McEwen’s first stage win on the Champs Elysees in 1999. Afterwards I yelled out ‘Robbie — how does this compare with winning a stage in the Bay Crits?’ This got some strange looks from the press contingent but Robbie’s answer was gold — ‘Nearly as good,’ he quipped.
59. Froome races Herald Sun Tour.
As a former rider and winner of the “Sun Tour” it has been a wonderful experience to become the race director. The fact that we are attracting some of the world’s biggest teams and now to have the reigning Tour de France champion Chris Froome start his season here is just a dream come true.
58. My last Australian road title at Sandown Raceway in 1980.
If I could win this one I would equal Mockridge with one amateur title and three pro titles in a row. As the race panned out there was a break that got nearly half a lap up, we started a serious chase from behind and I managed to close the last part of the gap on my own and take it out.
57. My first Sun Tour victory in 1975.
We started with a prologue time trial in the city centre and I won it from track sprinter Laurie Venn. It ended up being a great dual with Don Allan and it was probably my time trial win in Bright where I set up my victory. Winning the final stage at Calder Raceway in front of a large crowd was also pretty special.
56. Long necks after a day in the saddle.
Coming from a cycling family, on many occasions we would have riders stay at our house in Morwell. My early memories are being six or seven and a group of Sun Tour riders sitting around our kitchen table with the top off a couple of long necks while I sat in the corner listening to the guys tell their stories of the day just raced and of races gone by. From that day I was always going to be a cyclist.
55. Watching Merckx break hour record.
We were riding the Tour of Mexico when we heard that Eddy Merckx was going to be in Mexico City in two days. We got there in time to witness one of the special rides in world cycling. I filmed it on a home movie camera and when Merckx finished we jumped the fence and were the first ones to him. I remember filming close up when the crowd suddenly arrived behind us and pushed me into the great Belgian and I hit him in the head with the camera. Years later I told Eddy about this and he remembered it well and started rubbing his head.
54. Stuey’s TT in Metz in 2001.
I was following Stuey in the time trial and he was stomping. Suddenly about 10km to go he started to weave across the road and he flung his aero helmet away and his speed dropped markedly. It was only when we got to the finish that we found out that he had been bitten by a wasp. It probably cost him the green jersey in Paris.
53. Cadel wins the Tour.
The Galibier climb, Andy Schleck was well up the road and no one was helping. Cadel just made the decision to chase and it was one of the greatest rides ever by an Australian. Then the penultimate day press conference in Grenoble, the whole press room stood up and applauded Cadel when he walked in. Tina Arena sang the national anthem in Paris and I know a couple of us had some hayfever that day.
52. Phil Anderson in yellow.
It was 1981 and my last year in Europe and I raced a couple of early season races with Phil who was had only just turned 21. He gave Hinault a bit of a scare in the Pyrenees and finished 10th overall. Phil was undoubtedly our greatest cyclist until Cadel finally overtook him.
51. My first Australian Road Title in 1978.
I was only 20 and got selected to go to the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh. Coming from a country town of Morwell I can remember the town folk being excited that I was going overseas as we didn’t travel much back then.
50-41 — STUART O’GRADY — PARIS-ROUBAIX WINNER, OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALLIST
50. Anzac Day, 2014.
My first Anzac Day in Australia for over 20 years, I went for a ride with dad and my son and we stopped at West Beach and to be looking along the incredible coastline and just thinking how lucky we are to be living in a place like this while also thinking over everything that life had dealt me along the way.
49. TTT with Orica-GreenEDGE
Winning the team time trial with OGE in my 17th and final Tour de France. So many emotions were happening on this day. My last tour, in an Australian team alongside not just teammates but friends. Having my family there to witness it, they’ve been such an important part of my life. To still be able to give the team 100 per cent and stand on the top step of the podium after 19 years as a professional was probably one of the most emotional moments I ever had on the bike.
48. 1999 Tour Down Under.
Winning the first TDU was a really special occasion. The excitement having all the European teams come to my home town of Adelaide and then kick their bums. That was cool. It may not have been the biggest race in the world, but to race for the first time in front of all my family and friends was amazing.
47. Carlos Sastre wins the TDF.
Crossing the finish line on the Champs Elysees in 2008 arm in arm with Carlos Sastre. As captain I was allowed to lead the team into Paris. This was a massive moment, after months of hard work and sacrifice to put our plan together and win was an amazing feeling.
46. Getting back on my bike.
Climbing back on my bike two months after my massive crash in the 2007 Tour de France and riding the first kilometre. After that I knew I could ride 1000’s more. I couldn’t feel my legs when I was helicoptered off to hospital where they discovered I had eight broken ribs, three fractured vertebrae, two broken collarbones, a broken shoulder blade, a punctured lung and a blood clot on the brain. I promised myself I’d race again and never took life for granted from that moment onwards.
45. 1992 Olympic opening ceremony.
This triggered the fire in my belly that would never be doused until I had my own Olympic gold medal. As an 18-year-old to enter the Montjuic Olympic Stadium to a roaring 100,000 people was incredible. We were one of the first Olympic events with the teams pursuit and we broke the Olympic record in every round only to be beaten by Germany in the final by 1.1 seconds. I was devastated, even on the podium it was almost impossible to smile.
44. 1993 team pursuit world title.
Teaming with Brett Aitken, Billy Joe Shearsby and Tim O’Shannessy we smashed the world record with a 4mins 3secs ride in Hamar, Norway. It was the first ever team pursuit world title and quite an iconic moment for Aussie track cycling.
43. 2012 London Olympics.
Although I didn’t make the podium, finishing sixth, I was 39 years old and it was probably the best day I’ve ever had on my bike. Over 250kms I was in the front of the race and I had my whole family watching. Anne Marie, Seth, Keira and Tayla were there to give me the biggest hugs of their lives right after crossing the line. In my final Olympic race this is a moment I will treasure forever.
42. 2007 Paris-Roubaix.
It’s very hard to differentiate between the Olympic gold and Paris-Roubaix. But Paris-Roubaix is the single most difficult one day bike race on the planet. I dreamt of winning this since my first year as a professional in 1995. So 260km of racing with 50km of cobblestone roads across northern France, this really is a race that destroys athletes and bikes. I punctured, crashed had everything thrown at me, but still managed to win solo. A dream.
41. 2004 Olympic gold.
Winning Olympic gold for my country in the 50km madison with Graeme Brown in Athens. My desire for Olympic gold never eased, even after competing in six Games, in three different events, over 20 years. To go so close so many times was extremely hard to deal with, so when the stars aligned and I finally crossed the line knowing we’d won, the feeling is just indescribable. The ultimate bonus was having my wife and very young son Seth in the velodrome to share the moment.
40-31 — KATHERINE BATES — WORLD CHAMPION, COMMENTATOR
40. Anna Millward (nee Wilson) wins road world cup.
Anna became the first Australian woman to win a road world cup in 1999. She won it in the final race, coming down to a sprint between six riders, including Hanka Kupfernagel, the German powerhouse who went into the race with the series lead. As a junior, it was inspiring to see an Australian on top of the tree.
39. Antonella Bellutti at the 1996 Olympics.
She had a radical superman set up on her pursuit bike and when the gate released in the qualifying for the 4000m individual pursuit, she lost her grounding and skidded down the track. She somehow held it up, and despite the hiccup went on to break the world record. Talk about classy.
38. Duitama Road World Champs 1995.
Abraham Olano riding the last kilometre on the rim to win the rainbow jersey. The grainy pictures on the TV made it hard to see clearly, but with 1km to go Olano flatted, Pantani was chasing furiously from behind with Indurain. It was like watching it play out in slow motion. Epic win.
37. Nat wins Commonwealth Games gold.
Watching my sister (Natalie) win gold at the Commonwealth Games in 2006. Nat was such a hard worker, you couldn’t fault her. She attacked early and was in the break all day. I wanted to pull out of the race a lap early to watch her cross the line but wasn’t allowed, but was so incredibly proud of her. It’s 10 years since that day but I remember it like yesterday.
36. Racing Leontin Van Morsel.
Racing for bronze in Athens against my idol in cycling. Leontin had won triple gold at the Sydney Olympics and was my absolute idol at the time. Athens was my first Olympics and I had no expectations, so to end up riding for a medal was pretty cool. There was a 12-year age gap between us and from then on I looked at juniors differently.
35. Germans go sub 4mins.
The German team pursuit breaking the 4min mark at the Sydney Olympics was such an iconic moment in track cycling. The world record had been broken in qualifying by the Ukrainians, but the sub four minute mark seemed a long shot for the final. When they crossed the line at 3.59.710 everyone looked at the scoreboard in amazement.
34. Joan Llaneras’ points race win in 2007 on home soil.
He was the classiest rider of his generation and I watched his style of racing, and learnt from it. He won in front of a home crowd in Majorca and the stadium roof nearly lifted. For me it was special to win my stripes at the same time as he did, it felt fitting.
33. Winning rainbows in 2007.
I remember smiling on the first lap as we rolled out because I felt extraordinarily good. I rode patiently and strategically and won with enough clear points to ride to the finish line with one arm in the air. It felt indescribably satisfying, especially knowing I was the first Australian woman to win the event.
32. Steve McGlede wins 1990 world championship points race.
I was eight and Steve was from my home club, Parramatta. I used to watch him at the local velodrome and think he was amazing. When he won the world title he came back to the track with his world champs stripes and I had a photo with him. That photo stayed on my pinboard for over a decade. I was the next Australian to win a points race championship — 17 years later.
31. Chris Hoy’s keirin victory at the 2012 world champs in Melbourne.
He ducked through an impossibly small gap in the final bend to win his 11th world title. It was my first event working in the media and in his post-race interview he just shook his head and said he couldn’t believe he’d pulled it off.
30-21 — PHIL ANDERSON — AMSTEL GOLD WINNER, CYCLING PIONEER
30. My first win.
I still clearly remember winning the Victorian junior time trial championship in just my first year of cycling back in 1976.
29. Commonwealth gold in 1978.
Representing Australia in the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton was a special occasion and to win gold in the road race made it all the more memorable.
28. 1979 Grand Prix de Nations.
In 1979 I won the ‘Grand Prix de Nations’ while still an amateur cyclist and got to stand on the podium with Bernard Hinault who won the pro section in the same year.
27. Going pro and the yellow jersey.
Securing a contract with my first pro team, Peugeot, and subsequently being selected for the Tour de France squad in 1981 — the first time I wore the yellow jersey.
26. The 1982 Tour.
In 1982 I was able to win a stage of the Tour de France, again wore the yellow jersey and ultimately won the white jersey as the best young rider.
25. 1983 Amstel Gold Race.
One of the biggest wins of my career came in the 1983 Amstel Gold Race — a race which had been won by Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault.
24. Greg Lemond wins world title.
Greg Lemond’s win in the world championships in 1984 was particularly significant for me. We had trained hard together for that event and had agreed not to race against each other.
23. Francesco Moser’s 1984 hour record.
Moser was one of the first cyclists to adopt a scientific approach to his training and it changed the way cyclists approached it thereafter. Training used to be about long rides but Moser was an innovator and a great cyclist.
22. Grand Prix Zurich.
Winning the Zurich Grand Prix (1984) and then the Tour of Switzerland (1985) which saw me rise to No. 1 in the world.
21. 1986 Paris Tours.
By the end of 1985 I’d come down with a rare spinal condition sacroiliitis that could have ended my career. When my team Panasonic found about my condition I wasn’t nurtured through the illness as riders are today but essentially ditched by the team. In Paris Tours I rode in a break for most of the day and attacked in the final kilometres for a win that was incredibly emotional. The team wanted to reinstate me as number one rider once again, I renegotiated and only stayed for one more year but made the team repay my wages to the full extent for the previous year.
20-11 — ANNA MEARES — BEST FEMALE TRACK CYCLIST IN HISTORY
20. Happy Easter.
Winning the six-year-old girls BMX national title in 1990 after a fall where I broke three teeth and had stitches in my chin. I got back on the bike because my dad bought me a new helmet and said if I won, he would buy me the biggest Easter egg I could find. I got the biggest Easter egg and most expensive too.
19. Racing Ryan.
Melbourne Revolution showcase race with Ryan Bayley. A handicap lap dash on kids’ 16-inch bikes. So much fun trying to fit on such small bikes and pedal so fast.
18. Sir Chris Hoy brilliance.
Watching Sir Chris Hoy win the keirin at the 2012 world champs. I still don’t know how he managed to fit through a gap that wasn’t there to take the win.
17. Silver in Beijing.
After my injury and experience leading into those Games, I was so proud to walk away with the silver medal in the sprint.
16. Go Sara!
Watching Sara Carrigan win gold on the road for Australia in 2004 with the track team huddled around and screaming at a small TV while in Germany training ahead of our arrival into Athens. Such great energy.
15. Rivals and friends.
Interviews with Victoria Pendleton in the years after the London Olympics. Each time we meet we chat more and learn more about each other.
14. On the podium with Steph.
Glasgow 2014, sprint podium, when Stephanie Morton asked me to join her on the top step for the Australian national anthem. I get emotional just thinking about that.
13. Meeting Felicia Ballanger after my 11th world title.
Meeting the woman I watched on TV in 2000 who showed me a feminine figure that was strong and powerful and confident struck me immensely as a young teenager.
12. World champ for the first time.
Winning my first senior world title in Melbourne in 2004. The emotion, the home crowd, the hug I got from sister Kerrie as she ran in from the commentary box.
11. 2012 Olympic gold.
Never have I experienced anxiety and performance pressure at those levels with such intense interest from media and public but along with Victoria Pendleton to be one half of the reason the world watched women’s track sprinting at those games is something I’m very proud of. To look up the home straight I saw my coach running arms raised. What a moment for me and my team.
10-1 — SIMON GERRANS — LIEGE-BASTOGNE-LIEGE CHAMPION
10. Arriving in Italy for my first season abroad.
I was 19 and it all happened so quickly. I only started competing in cycling two years earlier, I’d grown up in a small country town in Victoria and was now living in a team house overseas, it was quite a progression.
9. Finishing my first Tour de France in 2005.
It’s a sensation you get when you ride on to the Champs Elysees for the first time. As you come to the corner for the first lap you’re getting goosebumps. I guess it’s the equivalent to running on to the MCG on grand final day.
8. Defending Cyril Dessel’s yellow jersey in the 2006 Tour.
I was in a helper’s role in that Tour de France and it was one of the early days of the Pyrenees when Cyril got the yellow and polkadot jerseys. My teammates and I were riding the front to protect his lead over climbs like Tourmalet. To have a real presence in the Tour for the first time and contribute to a teammate’s success was a special time for me.
7. Stuey’s 2007 Paris-Roubaix win.
I wasn't racing that day and all the guys who weren’t racing used to go to Brad McGee’s house in Monaco. We were sitting on the couch watching the race and to be around a bunch of good mates who were so close to Stuey, when you see that victory which he’d worked so long and hard for, it was a time that I’ll never forget.
6. Chain Reaction Foundation ambassador and starting VICS program.
Chain Reaction is a fantastic group who I met in Melbourne and they asked me to become an ambassador in 2010. They’ve raised over $17 million for children’s charities and they do awesome work and make a significant impact on people’s lives. Also I was heavily involved in getting the Victorian Interschool Cycling Series started. I saw cycling in such a massive boom in Australia at corporate level but not a lot was being done for the kids so I got a few of the right people together and now schools race on weekends of Term 1 and 4 in a safe, controlled environment.
5. Riding into Paris with Cadel in yellow.
Every Tour de France is a moment in history but to be involved when an Aussie won for the first time was pretty unique. Cadel and I both started racing the Tour de France at the same time in 2005 so I’d watched his progression pretty closely and to see him finally work his way to the top step in 2011 was amazing. Every year on the stage into Paris the Aussies try to get together for a group photo and to do it with Cadel in the yellow jersey was amazing.
4. The start of GreenEDGE and Milan-San Remo in 2012.
Racing alongside a bunch of mates, working hard and having a good laugh really made GreenEDGE unique. To win the nationals and Tour Down Under was a dream start and then Milan-San Remo a monument of the sport. Matt Goss gave me an opportunity to go for a result and I managed to play it cool and still have enough to win in the end. A win at the highest calibre for an Aussie team was something else.
3. First week of the 2013 Tour de France.
It was only afterwards I was able to sit back and really appreciate what we’d achieved in that first week of the race. From the bus crashing under the finish of Stage 1, to winning Stage 3 and Stage 4 to take the jersey, holding it for a couple of days and being able to pass it on to Daryl — the whole time filming an ACDC music video — you look back and say that was an incredible period.
2. Winning 2014 Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
It’s a race I’ve been doing every single year since I turned professional and it’s such a difficult race, a race of attrition and one I worked long and hard to finally finish at the front and be going for the win. It tells a story of my cycling career in certain terms — that I didn’t even finish my first couple of attempts to eventually winning it.
1. Watching my kids learn to ride their bike.
Obviously cycling has been such a massive part of my life and the kids follow passionately what I’m doing — they like to sit up and watch on TV. The whole family support I’ve had is so important and to see the kids have a ride around on their BMX’s in the driveway and on the local track is great. I think bike riding will be a big part of their lives in the future as well.
Originally published as Special edition: The Coffee Ride’s 100th issue, written by Reece Homfray
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