The Coffee Ride #85, with Reece Homfray
GEELONG sprinter Leigh Howard believes his best is still to come after confirming he would move from Orica-GreenEDGE to Swiss team IAM Cycling next season.
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LEIGH HOWARD: I’VE GOT MORE TO GIVE
GEELONG sprinter Leigh Howard believes his best is still to come after confirming he would move from Orica-GreenEDGE to Swiss team IAM Cycling next season.
Howard, 25, described the move as a “much needed change” and hopes he can provide valuable support to new teammates Heinrich Haussler and Matteo Pelucchi — as well as chasing his own results in semi-classics.
“Things over the past 2-3 years really haven’t gone in the direction I would have liked and I think the change of environment will help get me back on track,” Howard said.
“My last few years have been pretty average in my eyes. I really believe that I have a lot more to give in this sport and for whatever reason it just didn’t ‘click’ with OGE.
“That’s not to say it was anyone’s fault, it simply just didn’t work as good as we all hoped.”
Howard won two races in 2013 and had top-10s in Paris-Nice, the Giro d’Italia, the Vuelta a Espana and Tour of Poland but has endured two lean years since.
But fresh from spending the past three weeks on holiday in Africa with his girlfriend, Howard has started his pre-season training in Andorra and is eyeing the Australian summer with new team IAM Cycling.
“I’ve seen the way IAM races and the riders they have on the roster and it looks like a perfect environment for me to develop further in my career,” Howard said.
“I hope more opportunities will come with this change and with those opportunities hopefully I can turn them into results.
“We haven’t got around to race programs just yet but my aim is to start off the season well in TDU then moving into the classics period with the aim of being aggressive as well as key support for Heinrich (Haussler) because I think with more direct help he can be a top contender in the big classics.
“From there hopefully I can have some freedom to chase some sprints for myself as well as work with Matteo Pelucchi in the sprints.
“I’ve seen the way he sprints and he has a seriously fast turn of speed, right up there with the top sprinters and hopefully with my help we can work well together and focus on targeting some big races.”
With seven years’ experience at HTC-Highroad and OGE behind him, Howard is confident he has plenty more to give at the top level.
“I still honestly believe the best is in front of me, it’s just a matter of finding a way to bring it out,” the former track world champion said.
“Whether it’s sprinting or leading out, I think I have the ability to be up with the best.
“Right now I don’t believe I’m at the level to match the top guys in the crucial moments in the big classics, however the semi-classics like E3 and Gent Wevelgem are certainly an area I would like to focus on as I believe they are within my capabilities to get a result.”
RIO SELECTION STARTS IN NEW ZEALAND
AUSTRALIA’S top track sprinters can stake their claim for Olympic selection at the Oceania Championships in Invercargill this week.
While Oceania gold secures automatic entry to the world championships in London next March, the race within a race is internal competition to book a spot for Rio by impressing Australian selectors.
At the pointy end are the three positions in the men’s and two in the women’s team sprint headlined by two-time Olympic champion Anna Meares.
There are five sprinters vying for one spot on the men’s team sprint with starter Nathan Hart and third-wheel Matthew Glaetzer considered all but certainties to make selection.
That leaves Shane Perkins, Mitch Bullen, Peter Lewis, Jacob Schmidt and young gun Pat Constable racing to fill the second wheel position.
Hart will miss the Oceania meet and a potential hit-out against reigning world champion New Zealand due to a mystery injury which Cycling Australia coach Gary West would not reveal.
“Nathan won’t be going — he’s got a bit of a niggling injury so we’re just being conservative with him because he’s got a pretty busy schedule with world cups,” West said.
“He’s done really well, it’s better for him to stay back and get the rehab that he needs.”
But Hart’s absence in Invercargill opens the door for others to put their hand up.
“Clearly we won’t be as competitive without Nathan but we still have a number of options we’re considering for man one and man two,” West said.
“The important thing is we go and compete, that’s a requirement in terms of world championship participation, but it’s the old story when someone is not available it opens door for someone else.
“We think we have two thirds of the puzzle, we’re going through the process very methodically to identify who are the best alternatives and set that team down.
“We’ve got time but clearly we want to settle the line up down sooner rather than later so they get the exposure.”
The final combination for the women’s team sprint is equally as open with Meares, Stephanie Morton and Kaarle McCulloch all vying for a start.
West plans to test multiple combinations at the Oceania Championships and the first two world cups of the season from November.
“We’re in a healthy spot there,” he said.
“Kaarle performed well at the worlds in February in Paris with Anna.
“Steph has come on in leaps and bounds, she’s staking a claim for position two, we know Anna can ride position two or one so she has flexibility.
“Kaarle rode starter in Paris and we’re going to test those girls in competition and they’re aware of that.
“By the end of the second world cup in early December we hope to nail things down a bit more securely.
“They’ve got to stick their hand up and say ‘this is my spot’ and now is the time to do it.”
The Oceania Track Cycling Championships will be held from October 8-11 in Invercargill, New Zealand.
ROAD WARRIORS ROLL INTO ADELAIDE
THE Australian Masters Games are in Adelaide this week and the cycling field includes a two-time Olympian Patrick Jonker and five-time cancer survivor Geoff Hawkins.
Jonker, who retired after winning the 2004 Tour Down Under, has been training for six months in preparation for tomorrow’s time trial and Friday’s road race.
“I’m doing about 10 hours a week and getting up at 6am to get on the ergo trainer,” Jonker, 46, said.
“I missed out on a gold medal at the Olympics. In 1996 I was in the hotseat in the gold medal position in the time trial for an hour but then the big guys came in and I went back to Australia in eighth place.”
Hawkins meanwhile has a full book of racing which started with the criterium — in which he won silver on Sunday — and was to continue with track racing on Monday and Tuesday where he was set to ride the sprint, pursuit, time trial and scratch race.
“I had to give a few years away but I stuck with them until they upped the pace and I just tried to keep the cadence up,” Geoff said of Sunday’s criterium.
At 86, the Bathurst rider is the oldest cyclist at this week’s games which have drawn 10,000 participants across 49 sports.
In 2007 he had surgery to remove his spleen and as recently as March was fighting lung cancer but is now in remission and determined to have a big week in Adelaide.
“In March I really went downhill. I came back from a trip in New Zealand coughing pretty badly and I went to the doctor and they just rushed me straight into hospital. I had it (cancer in lungs and chest) really bad this time,” Geoff said.
“But I just tell the doctor, you bloody find it, you bloody fix it, I’ve got bike racing to do.”
TOMO SADDLES UP FOR MENTAL HEALTH
CYCLING identity and television presenter Mike Tomalaris is on the road to Darwin having left Adelaide on Saturday to raise funds and awareness for mental health.
Organised by TourXOz, the event has brought together corporate heads and cycling enthusiasts including Tomalaris for the 3565km journey to the Top End.
In total there are 65 cyclists, 15 support vehicles and 25 support staff hoping to reach their destination on World Mental Health Day on October 10.
#MentalHealthWeek. Adelaide farewell by Lord Mayor @MartinHaese. Darwin! Donations welcome. http://t.co/9uGxMUZSQC pic.twitter.com/0KnWDj0W5o
— Michael Tomalaris (@miketomalaris) October 2, 2015#MentalHealthWeek Somewhere between Pt Augusta + Coober Pedy @blackdoginst Donations welcome. http://t.co/9uGxMUZSQC pic.twitter.com/bfLRVifKj1
— Michael Tomalaris (@miketomalaris) October 4, 2015According to organisers, one in seven Australians will be diagnosed with depression at some stage in their lives and millions will experience symptoms without seeking professional help.
The ride raises funds for the Black Dog Institute and executive director Helen Christensen said it was important that men and women knew it was okay to ask for help if they need it.
“Depression is an illness just like diabetes and cancer and can be tackled and managed with the right support,” she said.
“By spreading this message across the continent and raising vital funds for Black Dog Institute research and education, the ride will have a huge impact on the lives of people touched by mental illness.”
SUNDERLAND SIGNS ON FOR SUPER-SERIES
SPRINTER Scott Sunderland headlines the second team unveiled by Cycling SA for its CIC Cervelo Super Series this summer.
The three-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist will ride for ISC/Godfrey Pembroke alongside Frenchman Fred Bonail, Graeme Moffett, Shaun Lewis, Lachlan Glasspool, Liam Jeffries, Ryan Johnson, Mark Chadwick, Nick Wood and Dan Wildera.
This year’s elite teams series begins with a criterium at Victoria Park on November 5.
QUOTES OF THE WEEK ...
“Michael Matthews should not expect Simon Gerrans to go over there in his service. He’s too good for that.”
- Robbie McEwen on the UCI road world championship on SBS’s The Bike Lane.
“I’ve always wanted to win a race of this stature and of this kind and it was my time to win it.”
- Vincenzo Nibali after winning the Giro di Lombardia.
“My goals for Oceania are very simple — race hard and have fun.”
- 11-time world champion Anna Meares ahead of this week’s Oceania Championships.
“We look forward to hosting even more UCI WorldTour teams and introducing some of the world’s best cyclists to one of the most spectacular courses in world cycling.”
- Victorian Sports Minister John Eren after the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race secured 1. HC classification by the UCI last week.
TWEET, TWEET
My nightmare of a season is finally over. Time for a holiday.
— Simon Gerrans (@simongerrans) October 4, 2015— Simon Gerrans. Bring on 2016.
Originally published as The Coffee Ride #85, with Reece Homfray
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