The Coffee Ride #34 with Reece Homfray
AUSSIE cycling freshly brewed every Wednesday morning by Reece Homfray, exclusive to advertiser.com.au
AUSSIE CYCLING FRESHLY BREWED EVERY WEDNESDAY MORNING, EXCLUSIVE TO ADVERTISER.COM.AU
HAUSSLER BRUTALLY HONEST
AUSTRALIAN sprinter Heinrich Haussler has delivered a brutal self-assessment of his “terrible” spring classics campaign which he says he is desperate to avenge at this year’s Tour de France.
Last week he showed he was on course when the 30-year-old returned to cycling’s winners’ list almost one year to the day and at the exact same race when he won Stage 1 of Bayern Rundfahrt.
It was a result that was perhaps easy for Australian cycling fans to overlook amid the excitement of the final week of the Giro d’Italia.
But for Haussler, who rides for Swiss Pro Continental team IAM Cycling, he hopes it is the start of a big two months which continues with the Tour de Suisse and then hopefully the Tour de France which his team has been awarded a wildcard entry.
“I’m definitely happy but not necessarily because it’s been a year (since my last win), but because the classics were that disappointing,” Haussler told News Limited.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been that bad, or had that bad results in the classics before.”
Last year was the opposite for Haussler who was rock solid with impressive results in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad (19th), Milan-San Remo (13th), E3 Prijs Vlaanderen-Harelbeke (11th) and then brilliant in Gent-Wevelgem (4th), Tour of Flanders (6th) and Paris-Roubaix (11th).
But in his desperation to either crack the podium or win a Classic this year Haussler admitted he got his preparation wrong and the result was he didn’t finish inside the top 50 in any of the big ones.
“I was a bit too concentrated, I really wanted it bad this year and it’s a real fine edge between cooking yourself or being on top form,” Haussler said.
“And when we look back on it now in my eyes I would say I did heaps too much.
“It’s still kind of pissing me off but I just have to forget about it and concentrate on my next races, especially this year with the team getting a wildcard to the Tour, that’s definitely the big one.”
Haussler said IAM Cycling’s Tour de France team had not yet been selected but it was certain to be strong.
“They haven’t chosen the team but I’m training for the Tour,” he said.
“I’m building up towards that and from what I’ve been training I’m already on a good level.
“It’s hard to say (what the team’s goals will be) but if you look at Mathias Frank and the way he rode on the weekend (won Stage 2 of Bayern Rundfahrt), he also said he’s very surprised at how good he’s already going and he’s also building towards the Tour.
“Now he’s with IAM. Before he was with BMC and always a main helper for Tejay and Cadel, now he’s got his own freedom and maybe he can have a go at GC.
“We’ve got me and (Sylvain) Chavanel and maybe one or two other guys going for a stage win.
“If we get our nine best riders together we’ve got a very strong team.”
If he is selected, it would mark Haussler’s first trip to the Tour de France since 2009 when he famously rode into Colmar in the pouring rain to win Stage 13. The following year his season ended with a crash at the Tour de Suisse, then he never made it back to Le Tour in his two subsequent seasons with Garmin-Sharp.
Haussler is out of contract with IAM Cycling at the end of this season but has left negotiations with his manager.
“I’ve got a manager that does all that and I don’t have to worry about it, which is good because I can focus on training and racing,” he said.
“But that’s also why (I’m disappointed) ... I’m in a contract year and the classics were just terrible ... but there’s a lot of the season still to go.”
10 TALKING POINTS FROM THE GIRO
BEFORE the cycling world turns its attention to the build up to the Tour de France which officially begins with the Criterium du Dauphine this weekend, it’s worth reflecting on the Giro and some of the things we learnt from the first Grand Tour of the season, with of course a distinct Aussie flavour:
1. Could Rogers’ ban have a silver lining?
It seems ridiculous that serving a five-month doping ban when you didn’t even dope at all could eventually be seen as a good thing.
But Mick Rogers is making the most of his ‘second coming’ since his provisional ban for testing positive to clenbuterol after eating contaminated meat was lifted.
It appears to have made him more driven. Before the Giro Rogers spoke about his new-found appreciation for the sport and not taking the lifestyle or opportunities of professional cycling for granted.
Then he went and backed it up on the bike — big time. Two stage wins, both the result of gruelling solo attacks including up Monte Zoncolan on Stage 20.
At 34, Rogers is in the twilight of his career and it’s now 10 years since he won his three time trial world championships.
But the past week has proven he has much more to give than just supporting Alberto Contador’s bid to win the Tour de France this year.
2. Cadel should ride on next year
His bid to win the Giro d’Italia didn’t eventuate but with so much talk about ‘will he’ or ‘won’t he’ ride on next year, Cadel Evans showed he can still be a winner.
At 37, a second Grand Tour looks like it could be beyond him, especially given the continued emergence of climbers like Nairo Quintana and Rigoberto Uran who when they light it up on the climbs, not many can go with them.
Evans can go with them, but just not for three weeks. Which is why the Australian could perhaps re-sign with BMC — or any team for that matter — and take aim at some major one-day races in what could be his final season on the WorldTour next year.
How good would it be to see him ride the national championships in Buninyong again, return to the Tour Down Under in Adelaide, compete in the new race to be named in his honour along the Great Ocean Road, then attack the Ardennes Classics in which the uphill finishes would suit him perfectly?
3. Cycling — the world game (sport)?
Soccer is universally known as the world game as we will see in Brazil this month. But surely cycling isn’t far behind it.
Nairo Quintana’s victory in the Giro d’Italia was the latest chapter in cycling’s global expansion which in the past four years has seen the first Canadian, Briton and Australian win either the Tour de France or a Grand Tour.
Quintana on Sunday became only the second Colombian to win a Grand Tour and the list of every GT winner and their nationality since 2010 makes for interesting reading:
Columbia (Quintana), USA (Horner), Great Britain (Froome), Italy (Nibali), Spain (Cotnador), Great Britain (Wiggins), Canada (Hesjedal), Spain (Cobo), Australia (Evans), Italy (Scarponi), Italy (Nibali), Luxembourg (Schleck), Italy (Basso).
4. Michael Matthews is officially a big deal
No longer the promising youngster or emerging sprinter who might deliver Grand Tour stage victories, Matthews has become Orica-GreenEDGE’s go-to man both on flat sprints and punchy uphill finishes.
He has pace, good positioning and most importantly in the first week of the Giro he showed he could be relied upon to deliver when it was his turn to go. He also showed no worries performing under pressure, both to beat Cadel Evans in a stage finish but also to wear and defend the leader’s pink jersey.
Out of contract this year, Matthews says he’s going nowhere but Orica-GreenEDGE would be well advised to do whatever it takes to keep him.
5. Our newest tough nuts — Michael Hepburn and Jay McCarthy
Welcome to the big-time boys. Hepburn, 22, and McCarthy, 21, did much more than simply finish their first Grand Tour, they passed with flying colours.
And both proved they are hard as nails.
Hepburn finished the Giro with only one teammate (Svein Tuft) after the other seven riders from Orica-GreenEDGE fell victim to injury and illness.
But don’t underestimate how hard Heppy did it at times.
“It was a pretty hard day, we had Michael Matthews, Luke Durbridge and myself all out the back by ourselves struggling just to make the time cut,” he said. And that was in the first week.
He and McCarthy then battled freezing cold snow and some of the biggest mountains you could imagine simply to make it to the finish so they could start the next day
McCarthy was a surprise packet of the Giro. After being called up to Saxo-Tinkoff’s team at the last minute, he produced a solid performance including third place on Stage 17 (208km) which he could have won.
6. Froome won’t be sad to see Nairo skip Le Tour
Nairo Quintana’s performance to win the Giro by three minutes when he wasn’t even at 100 per cent due to illness is scary.
Not least for all for Tour de France contenders, but they won’t have to worry this year with the Colombian skipping the race to focus on the Giro leaving Alejandro Valverde to lead Movistar in July.
Quintana is a brilliant climber, you don’t finish second overall in your first Tour de France if you’re not a mountain goat.
But his ride to win the Stage 19 individual time trial up Monte Grappa in the third week of the Giro was awesome and showed the longer a race goes, the better he gets.
7. You will never control the uncontrollables
One of the great things about cycling is its unpredictability.
What looks like a flat, straightforward stage can be blown wide open by crosswinds and everyone is suddenly fighting for their lives.
If the weather is okay at the bottom of a mountain it doesn’t mean that’s what it will be at the top, as we saw with the snow and freezing conditions on the Stelvio, made all the more difficult by confusion over whether or not the descent was neutralised by the race director.
But a communication error or not, the weather can be one of the great variables in a Grand Tour and only the toughest will be able to perform in those extremes.
Another variable, which will never be controlled but if only it could be, is the behaviour of the crowd. On Saturday night we saw a spectator run alongside Francesco Bongiorno and push him from behind.
Bongiorno’s foot slipped from his pedal and he almost fell off his bike as his breakaway companion Mick Rogers rode to stage victory.
Both are examples of unforeseen circumstances and whether we like it or not, both are largely uncontrollable.
8. Aussie team is ready for a Grand Tour contender
Matt White dropped the news that the team is strongly considering signing a Grand Tour contender for next year which got tongues wagging.
Cadel Evans, Bradley Wiggins and Wilco Kelderman were all thrown up by the media as possibilities but whoever it is almost irrelevant.
The fact that the team is openly saying it’s ready to have a crack at the GC of a three-week race is a significant step in its development.
Next year will be GreenEDGE’s fourth season on the WorldTour. In their brief history they’ve won stages and led the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France, they’ve won two of the biggest one-day races in the world in Milan-San Remo and Liege-Bastogne-Liege (thanks to Gerro) and now they’re ready to go even bigger.
Some may question whether taking a GC contender to a Grand Tour will compromise their ability to target individual stage wins and what they’re doing right now is working so why change it?
But they have shown enough maturity — both on the bike and in the team car — in their three seasons so far to suggest they are more than ready to at least have a go at supporting a GC rider.
9. Measure Nacer’s speed in the Tour
Out of contract Frenchman Nacer Bouhanni was the dominant sprinter at the Giro with three stage wins, another four top-five finishes and the points classification.
But before we get too excited about the FDJ sprinter, it would be good to measure his progress against the best in the world at the Tour de France in July.
Mark Cavendish, Andre Greipel and Peter Sagan weren’t at the Giro and Marcel Kittel won two of the first four stages before going home due to illness.
There’s no doubt Bouhanni has speed, and yes you can only beat whoever your opponent is on the day, but whether he’s got that top gear remains to be seen this year at least.
10. GreenEDGE putting fans first
To end on a lighter note, Orica-GreenEDGE has changed the game as far as taking the cycling fan’s experience to a new level.
There’s nothing new about their ‘backstage pass’ videos but the boys led by multimedia guru Dan Jones continue to find ways to keep their supporters entertained during three-week races.
The videos were at their brilliant best during the Giro, including my personal favourite shot before, during and after the monumental Stage 20 to Monte Zoncolan.
In case you missed it, check it out below:
‘NO HELMET’ PROTEST
A GROUP of cyclists felt the wind in their hair along Adelaide’s River Torrens last week to protest against helmet laws.
Police agreed not to issue infringement notices to the riders who took part in the ‘Helmet Optional’ ride and instead accompanied them, but wearing helmets, as they pedalled along Adelaide’s Linear Park.
Participants in the ride argue both riders and drivers take more care if the cyclist is not wearing a helmet and that it should be an option, not compulsory.
The ride coincided with the Velo-city Adelaide Global Conference last week.
Among the activities was the formation of a new group which aims to take cycling to the United Nations table to champion its cause in global sustainability.
The World Cycling Alliance, which was created by the European Cyclists’ Federation last year, was officially founded last week.
The alliance’s steering committee includes representatives from Australia, India, Canada, The Netherlands, Thailand and the US.
Among those attending the first official meeting was Bike SA chief executive Christian Haag who said the conference had been a success.
“There’ve been over 500 delegates here, there’s been a good vibe and a lot of inspiration,’ he said.
“Forming a world alliance is to drive the agenda, particularly the agenda on infrastructure investment and advocating better choices of transport, and the formalising and sharing of knowledge.”
Meanwhile the Amy Gillett Foundation’s ‘a metre matters’ petition was formally submitted to the Federal Government last Thursday.
Almost 30,000 people signed the petition which calls for changes to Australian road rules making it law for motorists to allow at least one metre when overtaking bicycle riders in a 60km/h zone.
The petition was launched at the Cycling Australia national titles in January and has the support of superstar cyclists Richie Porte, Anna Meares and Cadel Evans.
“The a metre matters petition is a demonstration of unity that bike riding is great for all Australians and that improved safety on our roads is fundamental to growing cycling,” Amy Gillett Foundation chief executive Tracey Gaudry said.
QUOTES OF THE WEEK ...
“I lacked it in the mountains against my competitors, but that is something to reflect on in the near future. Most of all, I gave it my best, so I am not going to have any regrets.”
- Cadel Evans reflects on placing eighth overall in the Giro which was his third top-10 finish in the Italian race.
“I think this Giro has been like the Titanic, it started off as a new experience, all pretty exciting and then it slowly turned to s*** and in the end it was just dos hombres left.”
- Michael Hepburn tells Orica-GreenEDGE Backstage Pass about his team going from nine riders to two
“There are also other Colombian kids coming up behind us who are very strong, who will have a future in European teams and races.”
- Giro winner Nairo Quintana tells Cyclingnews.com that there’s plenty more where that came from.
“This is may be fate because I won my last race on the final stage of the Tour of Bavaria in 2013, in Nuremberg on May 26th. It’s a relief to win because I had to ask myself many questions during the time in between these two victories.”
- Heinrich Haussler after winning the opening stage of Bayern Rundfahrt last week.
TWEET, TWEET ...
That's a wrap. 3 weeks, 21 stages, 3400k, 75000 calories, 32000 vertical meters 90hrs riding time and one very sore bum! @giroditalia
— Jay McCarthy (@JayMcCarthy1) June 1, 2014 Sub-type: comment CAPTION: That's a wrap. 3 weeks, 21 stages, 3400k, 75000 calories, 32000 vertical meters 90hrs riding time and one very sore bum! @giroditalia & mdash; Jay McCarthy (@JayMcCarthy1) June 1, 2014
— Young Australian Jay McCarthy reflects on his successful debut at the Giro d’Italia.
Originally published as The Coffee Ride #34 with Reece Homfray
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