Amazing journey out of Africa for Daryl Impey

THERE were two moments when Daryl Impey returned home to South Africa late last year and the magnitude of what he achieved in 2013 hit him.

Orica-GreenEDGE rider Daryl Impey. Picture: Sarah Reed.

THERE were two moments when Daryl Impey returned home to South Africa late last year and the magnitude of what he achieved in 2013 and how far his career had come hit him.

The first was a family gathering to celebrate how a kid from Johannesburg had become the first South African to wear the yellow jersey in the Tour de France.

"We were all together - my wife's family, my family and our extended family and we had a bit of a party and were sitting there talking about it and looking at the yellow jersey," Impey said.

"Of course I had it with me because everyone wants to see it and when I went home that's when reality set in. Guys were randomly coming up to me at a restaurant and saying 'well done' and then you realise how big it is.

"It was really rewarding to sit back and soak it all up because during the year you finish the Tour de France but you never have a chance to kick back.

"You don't get that chance to really let go, and I don't mean get wasted and do stupid things, it's more about relaxing with everybody."

The second moment was a reality check of equally as big proportions, only this time it reminded Impey how far he had come and that not everyone enjoyed the same freedom as he did riding his bike.

As he pedalled up behind another cyclist, he realised the rider in front of him was carrying a gun in the back of his jersey.

"I was riding behind this guy and maybe it's only one out of a couple of thousand, but it's sad that somebody is actually thinking that when they're going for a ride," Impey said.

"I went up to him and said 'hey, is that a real one' and he said 'just in case something happens' and that's a little bit of reality that guys are scared out there.

"But having said that, there is not a point where I'm out on the bike thinking it's unsafe, I don't feel whatever that guy was feeling, but it was the first time I had ever seen it.

"But South Africa is still a great country and when we go back home we don't feel unsafe."

Impey describes 2012-13 as his breakthrough. After five years as a professional and in the second year of his contract with Orica-GreenEDGE, Impey debuted at the Tour de France (2012) and won his first WorldTour race.

If he thought leading-out Simon Gerrans to victory on Stage 3 of last year's Tour was a buzz, he had no idea what lay in store when they won the team time trial on Stage 4, then Gerrans handed him the yellow jersey on Stage 6.

"It's one thing getting to the Tour de France and you're standing at the team presentation and they call out your name you think 'this is the biggest race of the year and everybody's watching'," Impey said.

"Then to go one step better and to win the team time trial, lead Simon out and get the jersey, you feel so accomplished, you think 'this is why I do it'."

Luckily, Impey's wife Ali and baby son Ayden - now aged eight months - had decided to come to Montpellier for Stage 6 from their home in Spain.

But not even leading the biggest bike race in the world compared to what it meant to be a father.

"People say having the yellow jersey will change your life, but having a son - that changes your life in a real way," he said.

"The yellow jersey changes things financially or people putting you on a pedestal, but that all fades away, so definitely being married and having a son are the best highlights."

Impey is in Adelaide and about to start his third Tour Down Under and since joining Orica-GreenEDGE, considers being called an "honorary Aussie" a badge of honour.

Although he spends his off-season in Johannesburg, his summers still include barbecues, beer, family and golf.

"I pretty much tick all those boxes," Impey says with a smile.

Cycling's popularity in South Africa is a far cry from cricket, soccer and rugby but it is growing.

When Impey claimed the yellow jersey last year, the following day in South Africa was declared "Yellow Impey Friday" where people were urged to wear yellow to work.

There are plenty of kids riding bikes in South Africa but they still face challenges to make it their profession, including complications in getting a visa to move to Europe.

"Certain countries need a visa and when you're talking countries like Ethiopia and Eritrea, they've got even less chance of becoming professional," Impey said.

"We have a piece of paper saying 'you're allowed in Europe for these dates' and if you exceed those dates ... it's over.

"So they're very hard things to overcome and sometimes they're even out of your power."

Impey hopes his achievements, along with those of Kenyan-born Tour de France winner Chris Froome, will help grow the sport in a meaningful way through funding, sponsorship and partnerships to help junior cyclists in Africa.

Impey played various sports as a kid but made his way to road cycling via mountain biking.

He and Reinardt Janse van Rensburg at Team Giant-Shimano are among the only South Africans on the WorldTour in 2014, but Africa has its own Pro Continental team called MTN-Qhubeka.

Impey rode for MTN-Qhubeka in 2011 as well as with Team NetAPP which helped him land the contract with GreenEDGE that saved his career, because his 2010 season with RadioShack didn't go as planned.

"With RadioShack I felt I was just a foreigner fitting in, 'you do that job', and I got a little bit complacent because I also thought 'oh this is it, I'm in the WorldTour'," he said.

"Then I remember when I joined this team (Orica-GreenEDGE) for the first time, it was make or break.

"In 2012 I thought 'either I'm going to be a professional bike rider or I'm going to stop doing this' and I decided to give it 110 per cent and if I didn't get another contract, that was fine.

"The change of mindset set things up for me and I got more confidence and the team gave me opportunities I thought I was never going to get."

The opportunities have kept coming and last year Impey inked a new deal keeping him at Orica-GreenEDGE until 2016.

This year as well as returning to the Tour de France, he hopes to go well in big classics like Milan-San Remo and Amstel Gold.

"But obviously Simon (Gerrans) will have a big target on those as well so I'll probably be second or third choice but that's fine by me," Impey said.

"I still realise I've got a lot of things to prove and we're there to achieve the best for the team."

DARYL IMPEY TIMELINE

1984 - Born in Johannesburg, South Africa.

1997 - Starts racing his mountain bike as a 13-year-old.

2000 - Turns his attention to road cycling.

2008 - Signs a professional contract with Barloworld and wins the criterium at Herald Sun Tour.

2009 - Records the biggest result of his career to date by winning the Tour of Turkey.

2010 - Signs a professional contract with RadioShack and debuts at the Santos Tour Down Under.

2010 - Rides in the Dehli Commonwealth Games.

2011 - Spends six months racing with MTN-Qhubeka and Team NetAPP.

2011 - Crowned South African individual time trial champion.

2012 - Signs on to become part of Australia's first ever WorldTour team with Orica-GreenEDGE.

2012 - Wins his first WorldTour race at Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco and debuts in the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France.

2013 - Wins stages of Bayern-Rundfahrt and Vuelta al Pais Vasco.

2013 - Becomes the first South African to wear the yellow jersey in the Tour de France, leading the race for two days on Stages 6 and 7.

2014 - Starts the first year of a new three-year deal with Orica-GreenEDGE, keeping him with the team until 2016.