Promising signs for the Herald Sun Tour

THE Jayco Herald Sun Tour has been a fantastic success, Simon Gerrans writes in his exclusive column.

Simon Gerrans

THE Jayco Herald Sun Tour has been a fantastic success.

I am a massive fan of the new January timeslot as it gives the guys who race predominantly in Europe the chance to come home and ride in it.

It would be good if it were to go for a couple of days longer - it'd be great to get to a few other parts of Victoria - and obviously I would love to see it back at a professional level.

But I think this week has shown that the event has got all the makings to get itself right back on the map from here on.

As far as how this race has gone, I think it's been fantastic for myself and for the national team members to get a little bit of racing in our legs because we've all got a pretty busy racing schedule coming up over the next month or so.

Unfortunately we've been a little bit shy on the results here, but it's all been a part of the bigger picture, so we're all pretty pleased with how we've gone in the race.

What has been great to see is the emergence of some great young Australian talent.

We've really seen the under-23 riders dominate big parts of this race and I think that just goes to show that the depth of Australian cycling, and the ability that these young kids have is really encouraging.

This is the Tour De France for these guys, it's a real highlight of their season to race in an event with such prestige.

It's perfect for them to really focus their season and summer around being in the best possible condition for these few days of racing and we've seen that.

I think a lot of these guys are in their top condition and their top condition is very impressive.

There's no question in my mind that the sport in this country is in a very healthy state and we're going to see Australia be a real force in world cycling in the years to come.

From here we move on to the national championships in Ballarat next weekend and then it's straight over to Adelaide where I'll spend a couple of weeks and compete in the Tour Down Under.

Then I'll be straight on a plane to Europe and back into the swing of things over there.

But I see no reason why I won't be back riding in the Herald Sun Tour in the years to come.

I feel like I've improved each day that the race has gone along and I think that's going to put me in really good stead for the races in the near future.

Simon Gerrans rides for Orica-GreenEDGE and is a two-time winner of the Jayco Herald Sun Tour.