Veteran Simon Gerrans still wants to make an impact with Orica-GreenEDGE

SIMON Gerrans is entering the twilight of his professional cycling career but he is still the man Orica-GreenEDGE turns to in its biggest moments.

Simon Gerrans trainng with hs Orica GreenEdge teammates on the roads between Violet Town and Bright. Pic: Michael Klein.

SIMON Gerrans is entering the twilight of his professional cycling career but he is still the man Orica-GreenEDGE turns to in its biggest moments.

On Sunday the 35-year-old headlines the Australian team in search of a third national title at Buninyong as it goes head-to-head with BMC’s new-look pairing of Rohan Dennis and Richie Porte.

But like BMC which has two cards to play, OGE has an ace up its sleeve in young gun Caleb Ewan who was second behind Heinrich Haussler in Gerrans’ absence last year. Haussler will not be on the start line to defend his title as he remains in Europe but the favourites will have to contend with other WorldTour professionals and big domestic squads from Drapac and Avanti-IsoWhey.

After a horror 2015 season was marred by crashes and injury, Gerrans has been training furiously over summer and says he is as hungry as ever going into his 12th professional season.

“I think a few guys, when they get to their mid-30s, probably start to drop the ball or relax a bit and rest on their palmares,” Gerrans said. “But I kind of see it as I haven’t got that many years left in the sport and I really want to make the most of what I’ve got left.

“I don’t see myself being in the sport forever so I really want to try to nail a few more big results.”

Despite the series of crashes and broken bones, Gerrans managed sixth place in the world championship road race in September and was back in Australia by October to start pre-season training.

“I’m really pleased with how my preparation has come along. I sort of ear-marked this a long way out that I wanted to be in good nick come January and it all seems to be coming together,” said Gerrans who missed last summer’s racing after a mountain bike crash.

“I’ve probably made a point of maintaining a bit more of my condition in the down period. This year there was quite a lot of rehab to be done from all the injuries I had during the year.

“I’ve done plenty of ks out there on my own in training so I’m looking forward to seeing how I fare against the other guys who have been preparing for the summer too.”

The 18-lap race around Mount Buninyong is typically a war of attrition over the tough course which suits genuine all-rounders, but if a sprinter like Ewan makes it to the finish he will be hard to beat.

Porte will be eager to impress in his first outing in BMC colours and will be hungry for the win having finished third in both 2012 and 2014.

The race will also mark the debut of several other riders with new teams, including 2011 national champion Jack Bobridge at Trek, Cameron Meyer at Dimension Data and Simon Clarke with Cannondale-Garmin, after their off-season transfers.

[e-mail]

Originally published as Veteran Simon Gerrans still wants to make an impact with Orica-GreenEDGE