So Jo, thanks for taking the time to do this interview from Melbourne just prior to the Worlds there. How has preparation been in the run up to this event?
Everything’s gone great, we’re very much looking forward to the Worlds now and after our success at the London World Cup we’re keen to keep moving forward and progress. We’ve been working really hard in the run up to the Worlds but this event for us will be a major stepping stone to our big goal which is the London Olympics.

The World’s are important, there’s no doubt about that but the Olympics are THE big goal for you now, that’s what all athletes dream of, Olympic success.
Yes sure that’s the big one, the one we really want to win. To win here in Melbourne would be a great confidence boost certainly but success here isn’t essential and we’ve our main focus on the London Olympics.

Yourself, Laura Trott and Danni King broke the world record at the recent World Cup in London which was an amazing performance, what have you been doing since then in the run up to these World Championships?
We headed to Majorca, Spain, for a training camp shortly after the London World Cup and continued with some hard training without a real break then it was straight to the track in Manchester to do our usual training drills and riding together as a team making sure we were on the track the majority of the time.

So there are four of you as part of the 3km team pursuit squad, Laura Trott, Danni King and Wendy Houvenaghel, but obviously only three of you take part at any one time as part of the race. How is it determined who is selected for the events whether that be qualifying or a final?
The strongest rider at that time is selected although we’d normally change our line up in qualifying and other rounds so that we can stay fresh and focussed. It’s never set in stone whenever they make a selection.

So who makes that call on the day, is it down to your own honest feedback to your coaches on how you are feeling?
Its always based on evidence or how we’re timed on the track, there’s lots of analysis to go on. Shane Sutton, our head coach and the other coaches make the final decisions based on the final efforts we’ve put in on the track.

What would a normal track team pursuit training session entail?
We’d focus on riding as a team, always riding together and rarely training on our own. The skills side is vitally important. 99% of our training is as part of the team.

So what events are you down to ride at the worlds and Olympics?
I’m due to ride the team and individual pursuit at the worlds but with the individual being scrapped from the Olympics I’ll just focus on the team event at London.

You’re already a former world champion on the track and the current team pursuit world record holders so London 2012 is your primary goal. It will be your first Olympics so how have you been planning mentally and how are the nerves as we approach the event?
Ever since I started riding the bike at 15 years old I knew that the Olympics were going to be in London so its always been something I’ve been working towards so I’m not really nervous at all. It’s just so exciting, we’ve had a great start to the year and I just can’t wait to start racing really.

So how did you first get into cycling?
I got involved through British Cycling’s talent team, where they basically send out talent scouts to schools throughout the UK. I was about 15 years old when they came to my school and we basically did a timed test, endurance test and sprint test. My figures were pretty good so I got invited back for some more testing and I was then enrolled on the talent team. At that time I was a first year junior so I had a year of racing before I joined the national squad as a second year junior where I rode the junior world championships and I’ve progressed up the British Cycling programs ever since.

Women’s cycling is going through a boom with the formation of many larger more organised teams now. You form part of the UK’s Matrix Fitness team managed by Stefan Wyman and its building well.
I think being a track rider, its better that more of the Olympic track events have equal events to that of the men now where previously they didn’t. This has been reflected in the other major track races where national teams are bringing better quality fields to events especially in the bunch races. Regards the road its a little more difficult for me to comment simply because I’ve been focusing primarily on the track but it is great to see events like the Tour of Flanders catering for both sexes when they have the women’s race on the same day giving the women some good coverage and more prestige to the results. If more organisers can be encouraged to do the same then we’ll continue to see the women’s side flourish.

What are your plans after the worlds, the time between the worlds and Olympics?
I’m going to be doing some road races and be based in Surrey close to London and then also maybe head to Belgium for some racing there. I don’t have a definite plan of races as yet but there will be plenty of races open to me and these races will hopefully put me in good form for the Olympics.

So will the GB team be allowed on the new London Velodrome, to become more familiar with it prior to the beginning of the Olympics?
No, we’ll just have normal training in Manchester. I think the whole Olympic park goes into what has been termed ‘lock down’ in May so no riders will have access to the velodrome. I know we’ll be traveling to London only a few days before the events which means we’ll also miss the opening ceremony.

After the Olympics you’ll be taking a holiday then!
Yes definitely! I’ll be looking forward to a holiday! It’s difficult looking further than the Olympics to be honest simply because it’s been a primary focus for so long and it’s almost strange to think of life beyond London 2012.

Looking further ahead in your career, how do you see things developing, do you see yourself as riding in Europe with some of the bigger teams there?
I’d like to possibly do a year on the road because I enjoy it a lot, but I’ve also the Commonwealth Games and more Track World Championships to focus on.

So what would be your strengths on the road?
I’m more of a time triallist and a breakaway rider I guess.

What does being part of Bike Pure mean to you?
It’s great to be part of any organisation that promotes honest, drug free sport, I think it’s a really powerful message you send out. To speak out about honesty and ethics in sport and not shy away from it I feel is important. It’s great to be involved with it and so many other riders who are now on board.

We wish Jo all the very best for the forthcoming World Championships and the Olympics. You can catch Jo in action when she takes part in the team pursuit at the World Championships on Thursday 5th April and the Individual Pursuit on Sunday 8th April.

Please check out Jo’s website here and follow her on Twitter here.
You can also visit the Matrix Fitness team website here.

You’ve had a great start to 2012 with 5th overall, King of the Mountains title and young rider title in the Tour Down Under, plus gold in the team pursuit at the Track World Cup. Was it always a goal to try for a high overall at your home Tour?
Thanks Andy yeah it has been a pretty good start to the year with the two jerseys and 5th overall in the Santos Tour Down Under, then jumping onto the track to work towards my Olympic goals this year. The high GC was never a goal of mine leading into the TDU. After the first stage when I was leading the young rider classification my goals changed from having a go at getting off the front for exposure on stirling stage to just trying to finish with the front bunch.

Was there any point during the Tour Down Under that you felt like you were in with a shot at the final GC?
The night before the penultimate Willunga Hill stage Dave Sanders told me that I can podium the next day. I was shocked and not backing myself at that point still but when I realised Dave was being serious I trusted his judgement and mentally got ready for a big day.

You’re no stranger to success on both the road and the track and still only 21 years of age, will your focus switch to the road after London 2012 Olympics?
After the London Olympics my focus will be changing to the road but never ruling out that I may come back to the track further down my career.

With London 2012 in mind, your season is geared to success in the Team Pursuit. There are some great team pursuit squads putting in some good times at present but during last months Track World Cup in London we all got a taste of the intense yet healthy rivalry between Team GB and the Australia, what are your thoughts on the competition?
Well just like you said it was a little taste of what both teams can do and I’m sure both us and the GB team have more work to do before we are at full flight.

Will you be concentrating solely on the Team Pursuit or will you be riding other events at the London Olympics?
Every bit of my training is going towards the team pursuit. These days with everything being so specific there are not many people who can swap and change between different events and our coach Ian isn’t willing to risk gold in the team pursuit.

What are your thoughts on the removal of the Individual Pursuit?
The removal of the individual pursuit was in my eyes pretty crap, especially with such a strong pursuit group in Australia with three of us consistently going sub 4.20 even when not primed for track. Then there’s Jack (Bobridge) with the world record of 4.10 it’s definitely a medal opportunity lost for us.

Team Rabobank have been helping you on previous seasons in Europe. What’s your relationship with the team and will we see you in Rabobank kit after the Olympics?
Rabobank were great to work with last year. I learnt a lot from them and I could not thank them enough for the experience. At this point in time I have no idea what team I will be riding for next year but anything is possible.

You recently won the Australian U23 road race championships and showed what a versatile rider you are. Did you prepare specifically for that event?
I had actually been juggling my track and road work leading into the road nationals and Tour Down Under. To the point that I actually did a track session the day before TDU classic so you could say I wasn’t specifically training for the road race.

You are a talented all round rider, what area would you say is a weakness and one you have to focus on more during training?
My sprinting is probably my weakness and my climbing is also a weakness of mine at certain stages of the season (straight after an off season) haha

Who is the worst room mate?
I’m probably the worst room mate with my sleep talking, night terrors and on the odd occasion a bit of a sleep walk.

When watching the team pursuit it’s sometimes difficult for spectators, especially on television, to see the amount of pain you guys are enduring throughout that 4km. Can you give us an insight to your feelings in those closing few laps of a major team pursuit event?
I don’t think any session doesn’t hurt but the constant longer efforts can mind numb you a bit sometimes. There’s a few different feelings in those closing few laps of a team pursuit. Generally I’m counting whether I have to be on the front again and preparing myself for that very painful lap but on the odd occasion I may be hoping the guys in front of me in the team get out of my way because I’m on a good one. I still feel that pain on the good days and it will always be there but there is something about being able to push that pain aside and not let your head roll off your shoulders on those days. Keeping positive at that stage of the race is a huge bonus and upper hand if you can do it every time.

Looking further ahead into your career, which races do you see yourself wanting to excel in?
I actually have no idea what races I would like to excel in in the future but I would love to be able to start with the shorter tours and classics at the start of my career and see where that takes me.

You’ve been a role model for our organisation for a number of years now. What does that mean to you as a cyclist?
It’s a great honour being able to promote clean cycling and showing it is possible to win without any help from banned substances.

Cycling is doing so much to combat doping within cycling. What are your thoughts on the fact that some other sports are a long way behind in relation to out of competition testing and blood testing?
I just think the general public needs to have a good look at how much effort our sport is putting into anti-doping compared to some other sports, and other sports need to follow in our footsteps. I’m happy our sport is leading the way in anti-doping.

Who is your favourite training partner and why?
Probably Jack Bobridge as we have known each other since we both pretty much started cycling and have had the same goal in mind for the last 4 years.

Who is the worst training partner?
Probably the Sunday rider who blows you away on your recovery ride after you passed them along the beach!

Who never buys the coffee?
The Sunday rider…jumps on the back and attacks us to leave us at the coffee shop all by ourselves.

Off the bike, how do you spend your recovery days?
I spend a lot of time in front of the Playstation with my brother when I’m home or watching the good old idiot box.

If you weren’t a cyclist what would you be doing?
I have always liked Motorsport so that is what I’d try get into if I wasn’t a cyclist.

How did you get into cycling and who do you most look up to?
I was picked up through a program called talent identification when I was 15. I use to swim and when I started cycling I could see a much brighter future and enjoyed it a lot more as it is a much more social sport. I’m not quite sure who I look up to most but have always looked at Jack (Bobridge) and aspired to ride as well as him at the same age. He has always pushed the limit and showed that it is possible to go faster than anyone else so I respect him a lot.

Who is the joker on the Aussie track squad?
If by joker you mean always takes that joke one step or a leap over the line I’d have to say that’s me according to the others haha.

Are you a coffee addict like most cyclists?
It’s not a recovery ride if you don’t stop for at least a double shot.

Whats your favourite ProTour kit?
I like a few but ones that are simple appeal to me more so leopard and sky.

Will your family be traveling to watch you in London in July?
Yeah if I make the final team my family will definitely be traveling to London to watch me race which will be a pretty special moment for me!

We would like to thank Rohan for the interview and wish him every success this year and throughout his career. You can follow him on Twitter here:

Photos courtesy of www.jxpphotography.com

Fast- forward six months to the Criterium Du Dauphine, for two days Daniel Lloyd and his Garmin-Cervelo team drove the bunch along. Watching on Euro-sport the commercial breaks came and went and still the poker faced Lloyd sat on the front. But each day as the finale loomed and Garmin-Cervelo faded, the man for whom all the work was being done, Tyler Farrar, was nowhere to be seen. Not his fault perhaps? After all, other teams had their tactics, cycling is not so predictable. Had Farrar taken a win, perhaps Lloyd’s stock would be higher? It’s the nature of team sport, good individual performances get lost in defeat, just as poor performances can be hidden in victory.

Jump forward another 5 months, it’s the first frost of a very mild autumn on the south coast and I am out on the bike with Lloyd again. There is no tempo this time, it’s just a ride and a chat and with no contract for next season Lloyd is contemplating retirement. The door remains slightly ajar with one last opportunity, When will he hear?

“I don’t really know it’s the final chance really, at least with a top level team” Is he fed up? “I have got past the point of being pissed off that I cannot carry on; though I think next year when the racing starts it will hit me. I am pissed off that I have not got a final yes or no; it kind of stops you from continuing on. I like riding the bike but if anything the last couple of weeks has taught me I like riding it to get as fit as I can, I don’t just like riding, I have had plenty of opportunities to go out but I cannot be bothered to go out. For me the whole thing of riding is having that plan for the next 4 to 8 weeks to stick to and trying to get better. It’s hard to stick to an 8 week plan, I don’t even know if I will be racing!

What about racing at a lower level?
“Not straight away, no I will leave it 2 or 3 years, so I don’t have the same expectation and other people don’t have the same expectations”

In light of recent comments from Hushovd, I ask him about the Garmin team, what it was like?
“I enjoyed it the whole way through; I got on well with the staff, directors and riders. I think, you know, our group as a whole, Cervelo did not seem to fit in with the management, as there is only one who has been re-signed. (Andreas Klier) None of us really know, the 5 of us that came from Cervelo that have not signed for next year, what the problem was. Back in April, May we were asking about next year and the feedback was all very positive we don’t know what changed between then and the end of the season. In May I was a bit worried about my race programme, I hardly had any days of racing in June, July & August. I wrote to the Director, I don’t complain too much but only had 12 days of racing in 3 months; I could have done with some more racing. The team were aware of Lloyds concerns “If you are worried about next year, you don’t need to be” he was told “When you have just had a kid it’s something you want to hear” (Daniels son Jude was born in April) “If you hear something like that and you are happy with the team you are with it stops you looking round for another place”

In hindsight was it the wrong thing to hear?
“Yeah, I mean it did not change my work ethic or attitude on the bike in training or racing or wanting to do my best. But it changed me in respect of responsibilities with a house and family and keeping a job, you start putting feelers out early, before we found out that Leopard Trek were merging with RadioShack and before HTC were definitely going. By the time I started to get the drift that actually there might not be a place for me, that had all happened and there were loads of riders on the market. Managers were waiting to see which riders they could take from those teams. I am certainly not bitter and not blaming anyone, I realise there are loads and loads of riders at my level, I have no right to stay here, if you are Wiggins or Cavendish you have a right to stay in cycling but at my level there are a lot of other people who have the same power, maybe not the same knowledge & experience but they can gain that and they are cheaper when they are younger”

Uncomfortably honest as always but it will be a shame if that experience is lost to the sport.
“I was still learning as well, you do see a lot of young riders coming through who have all the power in the world; I wish I had that talent. In terms of helping a leader though, timing is as important as anything in terms of being there at the right time, if you are not there at that moment all that power cannot help”

By now we had stopped for Coffee in the Hampshire town of Ringwood. It was market day and we looked slightly out of place in our cycling kit in the busy coffee house. We manage to find a table on which we both put our smart phones, mine to record the conversation, Dan’s, in the hope that it would ring, I notice that the screen on his phone is all smashed up? “I don’t know whether it was because I was stressed out at the end of the year but I came off in training and broke my phone. It was stupid; I was constantly looking at my phone in training. I kept thinking the next email was going to be the one with more positive news, a gust of wind caught my front wheel and I just ended up on the floor and smashed my phone, I was so pissed off” he says ruefully. “When you are a pro you don’t really mind crashing, yes it hurts but as long as it’s not your fault you accept it. When you crash in training and it’s completely your own fault, it’s so annoying”

I take him back to when Cervelo was absorbed by Garmin, was he relieved to be taken on when other riders were not?
“I actually had another couple of options, I could have gone to other teams last year, and there were two fairly solid offers on the table. That’s the thing you know, if you are in a successful team like Cervelo was or HTC when it folds all the other teams come in like vultures and see who they can get. It’s almost better to be in those teams, I don’t think out of those two teams anyone has been out of a job for the last two years. When you are in a team that doesn’t fold there is no way for other teams to know you are available. There is not really a transfer system. They assume you are under contract, by the time they realise you are out of contract they have filled their rosters!

Daniel Lloyd is a hugely likeable guy, after more than 8 years as a full time rider I cannot imagine he has made one enemy in the pro peloton. Why does he think he has no contract next year?
He starts to talk about less places being available but he tails off “…I’m not really sure, it’s another surprising thing from within the Garmin team, I had the support of a lot of the riders, big riders in the team respected what I did as a team member and gave me support towards the management, you start to think you must have done something seriously wrong if they’re not going to take me when I have this much backing, I don’t know, you can speculate all day.”

I take him back further, to when he first went abroad to France to race in 2002, was he nervous?
“I was, I had done half a year with Russell Downing out there and got a bit of a hammering really, even though I had had a good first part of the season back here, I had won a few races”
And if he does retire what are the highlights?
Tour De France obviously, it’s not everyone who gets to race and finish it. The Tour of Flanders, that’s the one I really always look forward to” Lloyd has been on the scene a long time, I suggest that a lot of that time he has gone unnoticed, does he feel ignored in the press “I’m not really bothered about it you know, I never did cycling for the money or to get into the press. I wanted to do the big races and get better every year and achieve personal goals that I had within the sport and one of them was not to get as much press as I could. It’s just not me, I not happy with self-promotion, perhaps in hindsight it would be better, and my name might be in managers heads a bit more. When I first joined Cervelo, I did well and there was a lot of respect for the work that I did. They rewarded it with a two year contract. I really got into the role of helping others and was hoping that would continue for quite a few years. It’s a bit like living your dreams through your son or daughter in some ways. I got to the point where I knew I could not win a mountain stage in the Giro and I can’t win the Tour of Flanders but I have teammates who are well capable of doing it so I can be part of it. How fantastic it must be to be part of the world championship squad, everyone talks about how much of a team performance that was, they can all look back at it and be part of the team that won the worlds for Great Britain in 2011! The pleasure that Wiggins and Millar and all the others got that day is what I get.”

Does he want to stay in cycling?
“I really want to stay in the racing side of the sport, I don’t want to stop racing but I may not have any choice. I love racing at a high level and when I get home and there is a race on tele, I will watch that as well” There are a few different directions to go, it’s just choosing the right one”
It’s easy for me to urge him to carry on, to continue to chase the dream, but Lloyd knows that at the end of every month the rent has to be paid. Two years with a smaller team may put him two years behind in another career “It’s difficult” he says.

No doubt other doors will open for Dan, he has ideas and there are opportunities out there.
“Because I had not planned on finishing right now, I have not got a definitive plan of what I want to do afterwards. It might be boring but what am I going to do next that’s not boring in comparison?”
When we leave the café, the early chill is gone, it’s a familiar route home but there is no urgency. We even go off-road, a short cut across the meadows, some “rough stuff”, just for a laugh.

A day later Dan sent me a text:The door that was ajar had closed!

Originally published on :

http://blog.sportsmassagebournemouth.co.uk

Not only does Alex excel on the track but he is a distinguished road rider at junior level, being the current Australian U19 time trial champion. Still only 17 years old, Alex has time on his side and is still eligible to compete at the 2012 Junior worlds. We had a chat with the modest Victorian when he’d settled back into school fresh from his world junior title triumph.

Congratulations on your rainbow jersey. How does it feel to be World Champion AND a world record holder?
Thanks, I can’t really describe it! It’s just simply amazing to know that all that hard work has paid off!

I first met at the Aussie track nationals on the day Jack Bobridge produced that stunning ride to break the world record in the IP. I was impressed with your attitude and commitment to the sport. Which Aussie track rider has been a role model to you and given you the impetus to be a world champ yourself?
Luke Durbridge has been a big inspiration to me because I admire his road time-trial ability and the way he was able to translate that onto the track in the team pursuit as I have done myself.

Describe what it was like in the build up to the final, were you nervous? What goes through your head in those 4 minutes?
We were all nervous but at the same time confident that we could do it after qualifying first comfortably. All that was going through my head was making sure I had a solid start and got onto the back of the boys perfectly as the start is definitely not my strong point.

How do you warm up and prepare for the Team Pursuit?
We use rollers and have a set warmup which includes some efforts to get the heart rate up and get the body ready for the big task ahead.

At what point were you aware you had become a World Champion? It must have been a mixture of emotions – a world record and a world title?
I became confident that we could win at 3 laps to go (1km to go in Moscow) when I could see the Russian team out of the corner of my eye, but did not believe it until we crossed the finish line. It was the most amazing feeling ever, a mixture of relief and happiness, topped off with complete exhaustion!

Were your family there to see it? If not how did they find out?
Unfortunately my family weren’t there to see it, I let them know straight after through a text message.

Who has been most pivotal in your career up until this point?
It’s not fair to name one person as so many people have played different parts in getting me to where I am. Coaches, state institute, family, friends and more! There’s just too many people to name!

After your World championship debut you headed more than 10,000 miles to the Isle of Man where you were selected for the Youth Commonwealth Games. You continued your good form with an amazing three gold medals (time trial, team time trial and road race). What are your plans for the remainder of the season?
I’ve been looking forward to the Youth Commonwealth Games since I was selected a couple of months ago. I was lucky enough to carry on the good form. I shall now most likely take a short break and then re-assess where I’m going and what I want to do with my career.

Have you slept in the rainbow jersey yet?? Its ok you can tell us!!
I didn’t take it off until I went to bed actually, even did drug testing in it! Wasn’t game enough to sleep in it though, just hung it in front of my bed so I could stare at it!

The Aussies have a great tradition of outstanding team pursuit results. What, in your opinion, does it take to make a good pursuit quartet?
I believe that you must have a team that will do anything for one another, a team that are practically brothers. We ride as one and do everything together. We have spent so much time together it’s quite weird coming home and not being together anymore!

How deep did you have to go during that 4 mins of pursuit?
I don’t think I’ve ever dug that deep before, especially the kilometre, all that was going through my head was “don’t drop that wheel!”

All being well, you have a great career ahead of you. What would you like to accomplish in future?
As much as I’d love to speculate my main goals at the moment are just to keep my head down and keep getting the results to get me higher in the world of cycling.

You are now a Bike Pure role model. What does that mean to you?
To me being a Bike Pure role model is the perfect way to promote a clean sport, especially along my peers who are coming through to the next level of the sport.

A big thank you to Alex for taking the time to do this interview, we wish him every success in future. You can also follow Alex on Twitter here.

photos courtesy of jxpphotography.com

From all of us from Bike Pure, we would like to thank John-Lee for taking time off his busy schedule to do this interview for us.

You are the first South African to have signed a contract with Team Sky, how did you feel at that moment when the management offered you a contract?
Its obviously a dream come true as it’s my first Pro Tour team and honored to be part of such a new big team.

Many youngsters look up to you for what you have achieved over the last few years, what advice do you have for the upcoming future champions?
The road is never easy! You will have good days and very bad days. You always have to keep on moving forward. We have our family and friends to help support us through the bad patches always!

Looking back on the 2011 Tour de France, we only saw one positive drug test from Kolobnev, from your own perspective, do you believe that we are winning the battle for a drug free cycling?
I am very sure its getting there! Slowly but surely!

You recently underwent hip surgery in Cape Town that forced you to stay off the bike for quite some time, what are your plans for the rest of the season?
I broke the neck of my femur 4 years ago in Tour of Portugal, I had a pin put in and then had it removed about 2 years later as it was giving me problems but I am pretty much sure that is where the Osteonecrosis started at the head of the femur. For a while I have had some strange symptoms and pains so then after our first training camp it seriously started getting worse. I had a MRI scan done and that’s when we saw I have Osteonecrosis to the head of the femur. So I went down to Cape Town to have a “Birmingham hip resurfacing” done. I am fully recovered now and training normally again. My plans are just to get in as much races as I can to try and get the racing fitness back again. I am on reserve for a couple of races and one of the targets will be Tour of Beijing.

Many athlete’s says no to doping and recently the Institute for Drug Free Sport South Africa launched “Play Fair – Say No To Doping” campaign, what’s your views on athlete’s using drugs to perform well?
I have a passion for the sport and will always have and when I achieve something I feel proud of myself that I know I did it clean! To be a cheat you just make a fool of yourself.

Athlete’s within the South African cycling community says that more testing should be considered at major races such as league, stage races etc, do you agree with this?
Yes its true that they can do more testing but we get tested a lot already.

Most of the cycling fans in South Africa are standing behind you, who would you say is your mentor, supporter and inspiration when it comes down to your cycling?
I know there are a lot of people that support me and stand behind me, it really helps a lot with motivation and inspiration. But without my parents I would not be where I am now!!!  My wife also plays a big role in supporting me!

There are a lot of talented riders in the peloton that stand out, who would you say stand out the most?
There are a lot of young riders that stand out! Edvald Boasson Hagen, Geraint Tomas, Marc Cavendish has to be one of the top and the list can just carry on.

What message do you have to all of your fans out there?
Never stop believing!

John-Lee Augustyn can be followed on Twitter @JLAugustyn as well as Team Sky @TeamSky or like Team Sky’s page on Facebook for regular updates, pictures as well where fans can leave a message.

We wish John-Lee Augustyn all of the best with the rest of the cycling season.

Many will remember the iconic image of Holloway that was taken by Lyne Lamoureux’s of Podium Insight as he pulled on the stars and stripes jersey of US Pro crit champion.

Fast forward 12 months and Holloway is all set to defend his title with his Kelly Benefit Strategies team in Grand Rapids, Michigan on August 20th.

It’s been an eventful year for 24 year old Hollywood, having won two stages of the Tour of Americas Dairyland event in June, he has suffered some saddle sores recently but feels he’s back on track for the championship, “The form is good, I’m not 100% but good enough to repeat if I ride smart and use my head, we have an amazing team at Kelly Benefit Strategies and honestly any of our guys can win the jersey.”

The championship course consists of a downtown circuit in the heart of Grand Rapids and is set to be held there for the next two seasons. Commenting on the circuit, Holloway said, “The course seems like a straight forward eight corner downtown crit with a long sprint. It’s going to be a fast race with lots of attacks and I’m looking forward to it!”

Tomorrows event will see a major change in the rules regarding the participation of foreign international riders. It will be the first time that a US only contingent of riders will contest the right to wear the stars and stripes of criterion champion. This rule change shows the way the sport has evolved and progressed in the US over recent years and it’s a welcome move.

As for the remainder of the season, Holloway is aiming to ride as many events as possible in the US and is awaiting confirmation of riding with the team in Asia before the end of 2011.

Holloway also has a passion on the track boards having raced them from an early age. He has also previously ridden 6 day races, “I’m up for the six-day season ahead. It’s always am honour to wear the stars and stripes. It’s never easy to get and it’s nice see the work pay off for the Nationals.”

We wish Daniel a successful remainder of the season and the very best for tomorrows US title race.

You can follow Daniel on Twitter @The_Hollywood

His 2011 season was cut short during this years Giro d’Italia when he crashed badly, resulting in a compound fracture of his hip and an enforced period of up to three months off the bike. After undergoing surgery to repair the damage, Marco is finally turning the pedals again in the hope of a full recovery.

We fired some questions over to Marco….

Italy has a historic passion for cycling, at what age did the sport become apparent to you and how did you get into it?
I have been always passionate about the sport of cycling. My Grandparent was a fan of cycling. He died in 1992 and that year when I was 16 years old I started racing. It was suggested to me by my school mate Matteo Algeri, son of Pietro, a popular director sportive. From that moment my passion grew.

Many young riders enter the sport with little to fall back on should they not reach their goal of a successful career in sport. You, unlike many,  have a degree in engineering, tell us more about that.
When I have started racing and achieving good results, my parents never encouraged me to go on with cycling. They wanted me to study. I liked both and did both until I graduated in engineering. Going to school was one of the things I loved the most and I was really proud of my degree, achieved it in 5 years, what at the time seemed impossible to achieve for a normal student, not to mention for a professional bike rider.

You joined the pro ranks as a stagaire in August 1998, off the back of the ‘Festina’ doping scandal that hit that years Tour. How did the negative publicity of it affect you?
It was a hope that cycling was facing its biggest problems and fighting the sport’s major disease. I thought it was a good thing because things had to change afterwards.

1999 was your first full season as a pro. You also rode your first Tour de France that same year finishing 113th overall, 2 hours 40 behind eventual winner Lance Armstrong. What are your memories of that first Tour and how did riding it affect the remainder of that season?
I have beautiful memories. I entered the Tour with no ambition and did a good race. I did nothing special but to finish and I was super proud of myself. I remember I was still good after those three weeks, but physically I was just tired. I did race the following week with good performance, but outside I was just trying to sleep as much as possible.

There is much talk lately of the idea there should be a separate independent body that overlooks all doping controls, completely separate from the UCI and national federations. We have seen discrepancies between the decisions made by different national anti-doping bodies and if ’national pride’ is a factor in these decisions, would you agree with the implementation of a separate body?
Yes certainly, that would be ideal to have an independent body that would manage the doping positive cases and even the controls themselves. But who pays for the independent body? Will it really be independent then? Those are the real questions. I think it is important to realise that it is in the long term interest of every part involved (athletes, sponsors, media, educators, governing bodies etc) that respecting the rules is the RIGHT thing to do for the new generations and the development of the sports as a whole.

Cycling is lambasted as a being a ‘doping sport’ by many onlookers but it is at the forefront of anti-doping compared to all other sports. The simple equation is -  the more you test riders, the more positive tests will come to light, so it has become a victim of its own success to a degree. Would you agree?
I don’t agree. For an athletes perspective it is a success through hard and necessary steps. Closing eyes in the name of short term view and success would be a dramatic failure in the long term and would seriously harm the wealth of all the parties involved.

The UCI recently released proposals at banning riders who test positive from entering a career within the sport once they retire. Although a good proposal, once you look into it it comes with many conditions. What are your thoughts on this?
I haven’t looked at the proposal in great detail, but it has to be discussed at a point that it can be another good weapon to prevent the use of performance enhancing drugs in sport.

Many cycling fans aren’t familiar with the fact that pro riders contribute part of their salary to anti-doping. Can you give us an insight as to your anti-doping efforts off the bike and what your team does on an anti-doping level.
As a rider, 3% of our salary goes to the team to pay an external agency (the one run by Oliver Catlin) to test us in and out of competition and whenever and on whatever.
2% of the prize money goes to the UCI to contribute to anti doping. Off the bike I try to teach that shortcut are never beneficial.

You’ve ridden for some high profile teams throughout your career and have been at the US based HTC Highroad for the last number of years. The team visited the US earlier in the year, how is the reaction amongst US fans to pro cycling there and what was your lasting memory of the trip?
US fan are generally less educated with cycling and I like their higher enthusiasm for the sport. The races are always well organised in terms of safety and ability to promote the event. The last trip was a training camp in Westlake, CA, where I found out one of the best places to ride your bike.

Its tough being a pro and the effect it has on you as you mature are interesting. Would you say you are a different rider now to when you started as a young pro?
Yes I am definitely. In the end it is always about riding your bike as fast as you can, but now I know how to train and I know how to race properly without being scared or worried about results. I focus only on what I can do, avoid negative feelings and the rest comes by itself.

Do you still have your own coach or mentor?
Yes I do have a good coach and a mentor to who I talk with when I have some troubles.

Which up and coming young rider impresses you most?
Peter Sagan is for sure one of the youngest riders who is winning a lot.

You’ve had a lengthy enforced spell off the bike recovering from your horrendous accident and have recently got back on the bike. What is planned in the next few weeks and months?
I hope to fix all the physical issues coming out after the injury and come back to that fitness level I had previously. My aim is to peak for London 2012 where I dream to do the Olympic TT.

We’re sorry to hear about the closure of team HTC, its a huge loss to the sport. There’s something wrong when a team with the most victories can’t secure a major backer. What are your thoughts on this?
It is a lesson that we all have to look into and prevent it from happening in the future. It leaves some open questions. I wonder what any potential sponsors are looking for to make investments in cycling.

From Dany Blondeel of the Belgian project in N. Ireland: Have you ever been tempted to use some performance enhancing stimulants, or presented with them due to peer pressure of the teams you have been involved with and what did HTC Highroad have in place to prevent this?
I have been when I was an amateur. My father prevented me and acted like a real man of values. Highroad was really careful in scouting and selecting riders with certain moral values. Highroad also set up an external anti doping agency to perform additional testing on us.

from Martin Wolfram: We saw you posted some images of the food you were eating when you were in hospital. Could let us know what kind of food you enjoy outside of the hospital?
I like all that my wife cooks!

From Paul Harte: I have one hero in the current ProTour peleton – Marco Pinotti!! I wish him all the best and a speedy recovery.  I would love to know more about his training. How does he train for a big time trial, World and national championships? Any specific sessions he does?
I take the length of the time trial and cut it into 6 to 3 times. Then race at race power for that specific length. As an example, if its a 40kms TT: I do 6×7 km and ride it at race speed with 5-8 minutes recovery in between. This is the peak of generally 3-4 weeks of specific training. (I do this for worlds or national championships, otherwise I do a stage race where I can do a TT as a test.)

You can follow Marco’s progress on Twitter.
Many thanks to Marco for the interview and we wish him a full recovery and safe 2012.

www.ILoveTrialBikeForGirls.be 

What got you into biking?

Charlotte: My dad was into MTB-ing and when I was 6 I started riding short tours with him on Sunday and I really liked it. When I was 8 we went to Italy, Lake Garda, and did my first real MTB trips there. About 4 years ago a MTB school was started in the town where I lived by Patrick Meerschaert, one of the great Belgian MTB-ers who unfortunate died last year. The training is in the winter season and it is a lot of fun.

Perinne: ) I started with trials after I had seen a demonstration by former world champion Thierry Klinkenberg. After the demonstration I tried Trials at the Trial club from Aywaille. I progressed quite quickly and received my first training from Thierry Klinkenberg As I was the only girl between all the boys, I was quickly spotted and pushed by Thierry.

Why Trials riding as opposed to bmx racing?

Perrine: Before trials, I had tried many similar sports like skateboarding, BMX, inline skating, unicycling, … But what is different about the trials is the “fun” factor, this sport requires a lot of rigor, balance, training, drive, character and perseverance. That’s what attracted me to the sport.

Charlotte: I participated in a trials initiation via the MTB-school and I really enjoyed that. Ronny Belaey, Kenny’s father spotted me there and asked me if I would be interested in continuing in the sport. There weren’t a lot of girls practicing and he told me I had talent. Why trials and not another cycling sport? Trials requires a lot of precision, balance, power, character and perseverance. The competition itself is also individual, you are not riding with a whole group at the same time and I like that more. Other than that trials is just a fun sport to do, even though there are not a lot of girls practicing trials.

Do you think you have any world champions on the team?

I don’t know, it is a difficult question. Both girls are still quite young, with Charlotte being only 14 and Perrine 17. They both definite have the drive and the talent to get far but still have a couple of years to go before they will be ready to compete for the title. The prime focus for the moment is to have fun and get experience. And hopefully in a couple of years they will be ready to have a go at the world championship. They certainly have a good example in Belgium with multiple world champion Kenny Belaey.

What are your dreams for the future?

To grow the team with 1 or 2 more riders and also expand internationally. But most of all make sure trials gets the attention it deserves. It is still a small sport and a lot of people don’t realize how difficult the sport is both physical and technical. If I can help making the sport more popular, especially for girls, I will have one of my dreams realized.

With anything on 2 wheels in Belgium popular- is off road a big element?

Road cycling and cyclocross are still the 2 popular 2 wheels sports in Belgium. Now that Sven Nijs has gotten into MTB because of the Olympics it is getting a bit more attention. Which on one hand is good for the sport on the other hand there have been a lot of good riders in the past who did not got the attention Sven Nijs is getting. As for Trials it doesn’t get a lot of attention in Belgium. It is a very small sport. We have with Kenny Belaey the current World Champion in Belgium but you hardly ever hear about the sport. But we have been promoting the sport for over a year now and we are making some good progress.

Why is it important for the team to compete with honour and not cheat?

We are the first girls trials team in Belgium and are starting to get some attention, both in Belgium as in some of the other countries. Both girls are young and want to be an example to other riders who want to start with trials and show them that you don’t need to cheat to achieve great things.