Simon received the key to the shire of Mansfield in a ceremony held in the town's main street. Organised by the local council, Simon was honoured by the local Major for his sporting achievements. The Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club also presented him with life membership.

Join in with Trashbag's newest auction item...one of Simon's under shirts. 

"I've got half a dozen or so, but that one was my favourite and definitely my most used, that one was pretty good. I think I got it in my very first year pro, so back in 2005, and so I think it's quite fitting to retire it and give it away following my first Tour de France stage victory."

Log onto www.ebay.com.au, type in "Simon Gerrans disco undershirt" in the search box and get bidding. All proceeds to the Catherine Freeman Foundation. Auction closes 4pm sharp on Thursday.

Last weekend I participated in the Around the Bay in a day. It was a great day and fantastic to see so many people on their bikes. I didn't tackle the any of the longer distances, settling for a very social 80km roll down to Mordiallic and back with my mates from AVIVA. 80km was more than enough!!

I've hardly touched my bike since the World Road Championships at the end of September. Following the ride I was able to duck home for a quick shower and a change of clothes before heading back down to Alexandra Gardens to greet and congratulate just a few of the 16,500 riders that had tackled Around the Bay in a day.

This year I followed the Jayco Herald Sun Tour, however not in the same way I normally would... I replaced my Credit Agricole jersey with a Media Bib, and what an eye opener it was.

I was working mostly with the TV guys. My job each day was to do a stage preview and give a prediction on some of the team tactics we might see and who the potential winners could be. To be honest with you, for the first couple of stages I found this really tough, it is completely different to doing interviews or even public speaking. I was really fortunate to have a very patient cameraman and producer who were there to give me plenty of help and advice. By the end of the week I was starting to get the hang of it, and feeling a lot more comfortable in front of the camera.

Simon will join the Cervelo Test Team for the next 2 seasons after officially signing at the World Road Championships last month.

2008 has been Simon’s most successful season as a professional to date with wins in the Tour de France, Criterium International and Route du Sud. Simon now joins the newly formed Cervelo Test Team for his 5th year in the professional peloton and is energized about the opportunities that lay ahead.  

Simon has been invited as the special guest of the 2008 Kelly Country Classic. The event, in its 3rd year, is the annual fundraising event for Northeast Health Wangaratta. The event has raised $11,500 for the hospital in its first two years and the committee hopes this figure is over and above $20,000 after the ride on November 9th. "This is a great cause and one that I am more than happy to assist. I spent a bit of time in the Wangaratta hospital after a motor bike crash a number of years ago so it is nice to be able to give something back" said Simon.

Last weekend was my final race of the season at the World Road Championships. It was a hard circuit and with Lloydy being the only finisher out of the nine Aussie starters this proved that it was also a hard race. To be honest I wasn't feeling that great leading into the race so I was happy to be able to help out the guys for the first 200km. I was a little disappointed not to finish but i've had a great year so i'm not complaining.

After competing in a block of one day races over the last 3 weeks (Hamburg, Paris-Brussles, Fourmies, and Wallonie) I wasn't feeling as good as I would have liked and was therefore a bit concerned about my form going into the Worlds. In the last 4 years, my form at this part of the season has been a lot better so I was starting to get a little worried. It was therefore nice to have a good ride personally and to assist my teammate William Bonnet at Isbergues on the weekend . I am now feeling a lot more confident that I can put in a solid ride at the Worlds this Sunday, which will also be my last race of the year.

Simon has been named in the Australian cyclones team to compete at the 2008 World Road Championships in Varese, Italy on Sunday 28th of September. The team was narrowed down after selectors announced the squad late last month. One notable absence is that of Cadel Evens who will be cheering on the cyclones from the sideline after another stunning year in the saddle.

After a 10 day break from racing since the Eneco Tour, Simon will line up in the Vattenfall Cyclassic in Hamburg over the weekend. This will be Simon's 2nd attempt at the race after finishing 58th last year while also producing a stunning attack in the final kilometers. With 10km to go Simon attacked the peloton and was joined by Vladimir Gusev of Discovery Channel. They maintained a slight advantage before being caught at the 1.5km to go mark. Simon goes into this weekend feeling motivated for his last few races of the season and ready to perform.   

We have just completed stage 4 of the Eneco Tour and I am feeling quite good. I'm being very realistic about my chances for a result this week as the race is more suited to bunch finishes, as we have seen in the past 3 days. I knew that this race wasn't going to be one with many opportunities for me personally however it should be a good solid week on the bike and will hopefully set me up for the remainder of the season. Yesterdays race was fast...we averaged 53km per hour in the first 50 minutes until a break formed. It has also been tough with the rain and the cooler weather.

I have been at home for 10 days since the Olympics and I can tell you that it is great to be in the one place for a while. You tend to get used to living out of a suitcase but it is always nice to come home and pack the suitcase away. After nearly 4 weeks at the Tour de France, I raced a couple of criteriums before going into an Olympic Camp in Italy. We were not there for long before heading to Beijing. It was awesome to go to the Games and the whole size of the event blew me away.

I have entered the 4th week of the Tour de France...the Post Tour Crits!! During the first 2 weeks straight after the Tour, towns throughout Europe hold Criteriums where professionals from the Tour line up against local riders in circuit races around 2 hours in length. A large percentage of the Tour peloton line up in these crits, with the more popular circuits being in France and Belgium. I have frequented the French towns of Lisieux, Camors and Dijon for the past three years. They put on great events and the crowds that turn up to watch the racing is on par to that of the Tour.

By Simon Gerrans

The final stage of the Tour is a great day for any bike rider participating in the race. We have rode 3500km over the past 3 weeks and have been challenged by sun, wind, rain, mountain passes, crazy descents, doping issues, illness and disappointments. On the other side, the energy of the spectators was something else and the personal joy of accomplishing my life long dream of a stage victory in the most challenging race in the world is something that I will never forget.

By Simon Gerrans

When you reach the final time trial in the Tour de France you know you’ve all but reached Paris. For some riders, like Cadel, today’s race is the decisive factor in whether they claim the ultimate prize in cycling, wining the Tour de France. For others like me it is just part of the process of the Tour and making sure that I ride hard enough to beat the time limit.

By Simon Gerrans

The great thing about the 20th stage of the Tour de France - which is a 53km time trial - is that after it is over I will be 53 kilometres closer to Paris. I really have absolutely nothing to achieve by killing myself out there in the stage from Cerilly to Saint Amand Montrond. The 19th stage from Roanne to Montlucon over 165.5km was one of the hardest in the Tour - and fastest at 45.728kmh average. I struggled all the way.

By Simon Gerrans

When the peloton rode up through the crowds to l'Alpe d'Huez on Wednesday afternoon everyone was saying: 'Well, the Eiffel Tower is in sight now'.

By Simon Gerrans

Now I feel like I am really into the third week of the Tour de France. We have finished stage 17, the Alps are behind us and the fatigue and pain are constant. But importantly, health-wise, I feel good.

By Simon Gerrans

What a mighty thump back to earth the 16th stage of the Tour de France provided me. From being a Tour stage winner on the mountain finish to Prato Nevoso one day to placing 134th at 31 minutes and 49 seconds behind the winner the next day. Suffice to say I have experienced a wide range of emotions.

I must admit..I still can't believe it!! I had a terrible sleep last night, my mind was racing all night. I would have only got 5 or so hours of sleep. Lucky it's a rest day today. I have received so many messages of support from family, friends and cycling fans who stayed up to the early hours of the morning yesterday. Thank you everyone. I really appreciate your support...and will do my best to reply.

Simon.

By Simon Gerrans

You spend so much time dreaming about winning a Tour de France stage as a professional bike racer that when the moment comes you are not ready for it. I can vouch for that after the most amazing ride of my life - even as I write these words I am still coming down from my win today in the first Alpine stage of this year's Tour.

By Simon Gerrans

When riders get caught for being drug cheats, one of the things they don't realise is how severe the impact of their actions are. This week on the Tour de France is an example.We have seen three riders fall foul of doping authorities with their samples taken in only the first four stages - Spain's Manuel Beltran and Moises Duenas plus Italian Riccardo Ricco.

By Simon Gerrans

You watch a stage of the Tour de France, see the break escape and then the peloton fail to chase as the gap of the leaders widen beyond 20 minutes. You think it is just a transition stage, there is nothing on the line for the overall contenders, and that it is a rare opportunity for those who go on attack. What you may not realise though is how wrong you can be.

By SimonGerrans

The Tour de France is a hard slog. There are times when you feel like you are beating your head against the wall, especially when it comes to trying to get in the winning break. Timing is the key. And there is a balance between having the gumption to make the effort - or take the risk - for a break or go with one, and knowing when not to make an attack.

By Simon Gerrans Aahh ... the rest day. The first of two in this year's Tour. What do we do? We always go for a ride. You need to really to keep the sensation going. Most people think that after 10 days you need the rest, which you do. But at the same time your body is used to the routine. To just do nothing would make you feel worse. In any case, it is not that we go out and ride hard.

By Simon Gerrans

It is regarded as one of the riskiest descents on a bike of them all in the Tour de France. I am talking about the ride back down a mountain after a stage finish like what we did after today's ninth stage. On this occasion the decent was down Hautacam, the finishing location for the finish.

By Simon Gerrans

If there was one person I felt sorry for today, it was Cadel Evans after his crash in the Pyrenees. I didn't see the fall. But when I came around the corner where he and several others had crashed 106 km into the 224km ninth stage from Toulouse to Bagneres de Bigorre in Pyrenees, they were just picking themselves up. From what I understand the Eusklaltel-Euskadi rider took the corner too hot, too quick and that caused a bit of a reaction behind and a half dozen guys went down.

By Simon Gerrans

It was very important for Credit Agricole to be represented in the breakaway today as we thought that the race profile would be ideal for the right move to survive until the finish. Our team was really active at the front and were in all breaks up until the 40km mark when Laurent Lefèvre (Bouygues Telecom) made a solo move and the peloton sat up. Lefèvre was later joined by three other riders forming the main break of the day. After once again missing the break, we changed our plans and decided to ride for a brunch sprint for Thor.

By Simon Gerrans

What can I say about the positive test for EPO by Spanish rider Manuel Beltran? I first heard about it on the news. after the 159km seventh stage from Brioude to Aurillac that was won by Luis Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne).The ramifications are huge, but what a way for one Spaniard to spoil the party of another - Sanchez - who won convincingly at the tail end of a great day of racing. But now we have this - Beltran testing positive. I really can't believe it. This news is the last thing the Tour needs.

By Simon Gerrans

The die has been cast. We know, as a team, what we are racing for, even though it is what we hoped would become our 'raison d'etre' when the Tour de France began - the green jersey. Thor Hushovd claimed the jersey that denotes the points competition leader and the best sprinter of the Tour with his fourth place on the fifth stage from Cholet to Chateauroux. You can see that there is a bottle neck there in the points category with Thor leading on 88 points, Spain's Oscar Freiere on 85, Kim Kirchen on 81, Erik Zabel on 72, Robbie Hunter on 60, Mark Cavendish - who won the stage - on 51 and Robbie McEwen on 49.

By Simon Gerrans

There are days in the Tour de France when despite all the speculation, expectation and logic appearing rock solid, the end result is the opposite - as stage three showed us all on Monday. We - at Credit Agricole - were one of the sprinters' teams caught by the effectiveness of a four man breakaway that formed and stayed away early in the 208km stage three from Saint Malo to Nantes.

By Simon Gerrans

There is a lot more behind a stage winner's success than what meets the eye, and the win by Thor Hushovd in the second stage of the Tour de France was a prime example. Sure, it was a win for Hushovd to savour as an individual, especially after his run-in to the Tour when he had to skip his national road title race last weekend because he was ill. I don't think Thor came to this Tour really confident because he missed last weekend. He was lacking a bit of confidence because he wasn't 100 per cent sure of his ability - as can happen. But now he has won that stage, he will be up for it in the days ahead.

By Simon Gerrans

You forget each year until you come back to the Tour de France just how dangerous the race is with all the spectators and obstacles on the side of the road. Everyone crowds closer and closer to the middle of the road, just to try and see how the race would come and then pass them by. Then just as you are coming up on them, they duck for cover. The worst situation is when you a have an old lady looking through her camera and she doesn't realise how close the bunch is and turns into the middle of the bunch.

These last few days until you actually stick a number on your back and start racing in the Tour de France are the longer days of the race because all you are doing is just waiting to get up, on your bike and begin racing. Until then you are just doing all the extra stuff out of the race. And by the time you get to the first stage, it feels like you have been going for a week already. So now we are just looking forward to getting the job done. And we will do so on stage one, a 197.5km stage from Brest to the finish in Plumelec which is a popular city for cycle racing in France and where I have raced. There were one or two races I did there as an amateur. And I have  raced there twice as a professional in the Grand Prix de Plumelec. The second time - last year year - I won. I know that finish, know it well. It will be very hard to predict.

Simon has joined his Credit Agricole team in Brest for the start of the Tour de France. After a short ride this morning to get used to some new equipment, the riders headed into the centre of Brest for the Team Presentation. "The Tour de France presentation is always fantastic as it attracts a huge enthusastic crowd".

Credit Agricole's line up for the 2008 Tour de France:
Mark Renshaw, Remi Pauriol, Christophe Le Mevel, Dmitriy Fofonov, Jimmy Engoulvent, Alexandre Botcharov, William Bonnet, Thor Hushovd, and Simon Gerrans.

Date	Race	Country	Number of Days
5th - 27th July	Tour de France	France	21
9th August	Olympic Games Road Race	China	1
20th-27th August	Eneco Tour	Holland	8

By Jean-François Quénet
In a strong contingent of nine riders at the start in Brest on Saturday, Simon will be one of the most experienced Australians although he’s only in his fourth year pro. But that will be his fourth Tour de France as well – just like Cadel Evans who will attract most of the media attention this year. From these nine starters, only Stuart O’Grady, Robbie McEwen and Baden Cooke have started more Tours than Evans and Gerrans. Milram’s Brett Lancaster only had a taste of it last year as he had to pull out on stage 5 because of injuries, while Adam Hansen from Team Columbia, Crédit Agricole’s Mark Renshaw and Trent Lowe of Garmin-Chipotle will be the rookies in the absence of Olympians Michael Rogers, Graeme Brown and Bradley McGee who have not been selected by their Professional teams.

Cycling Australia has nominated Simon in the Australian team for the Olympic Road Race. The 5 man team which also includes Cadel Evans, Stuart O'Grady, Mick Rogers and Matt Lloyd has been sent to the AOC. The AOC will now consider the nominations and subsequently announce the team publicly on July 4th pending appeals. "I am very excited to be named in the team. It is always a huge honour to be selected to compete in any Australian team, so to represent Australia at the Olympic Games will be an unbelievable experience".

Following his victory in the 206km first stage from LUSIGNAN PETIT to BOULOGNE SUR GESSE, Simon rode a solid Route de Sud finishing the 4 day Tour in 4th place overall. "I was very happy with how I performed here over the 4 days. I knew my condition was improving throughout the Dauphine last week, so I was confident in getting a result here. Hopefully this will confirm my selection in the team for the Tour de France". Simon explained.

The Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré is a 60 year old race that concentrates everything from the Tour de France in one week: a prologue, stages for the sprinters, a time trial and stages in the mountains. In fact, there is no space for riders who like to create surprises and attack from far out. Simon has waited for his fourth year as a professional to discover this event that has a special place in the international cycling calendar in the lead up to the Tour de France.

by Jean-François Quénet

After a month without racing, as he wished when he discussed plans with his Crédit Agricole team, Simon has resumed racing in Germany at the Bayern Rundfahrt (May 28-June 1) and proved himself to be on the right track towards his 4th participation to the Tour de France (July 5-27). He prepared for the German event and the following ones around Boulder, Colorado, from May 6 to 22. “I had never been to the United States before and I wanted to see another country combined with altitude training”, Simon explained.

Date	Race	Country	Number of Days
28 May - 1 June	Bayern and Rundfahrt	Germany	5
8-15 June	Dauphine Libere	France	8
19-22 June	Route du Sud	France	4

For the past 10 days I’ve been up in Belgium and Holland tackling 3 of the hardest and most prestigious one day races on the calendar. I was very focused going into the week as a result in these three races was my first objective for the season. After claiming the second stage of Criterium International a couple of weeks ago, I was feeling confident of my form and was hoping to achieve some good results.

Simon claimed the second stage of Critérium International last Sunday, achieving his first victory for the 2008 season and one of his greatest professional wins. His victory came after a long breakaway with the Tour's eventual winner Jens Voigt (Team CSC). Voigt and Simon rode away from their breakaway companions Sandy Casar (FdJ) and Mauro Santambrogio (Lampre) with 20km to go after their formation 15km into the race. As their lead grew to 2m40, Casar and Santambrogio couldn't stay with Simon and Voigt through the hilly terrain. With 300m to go, Simon attacked Voigt to claim the victory.

Simon formed part of a 16 man breakaway in today's 172.5km stage 5 from Althen-des-Paluds to Sisteron. The strong group was represented by a number of teams with no threat to the overall general classification. With 15km to go, Simon's team mate Pierre Roland joined Barredo (Quick step), Kroon (CSC), Mori (Saunier Duval), and Moreau (Agritubel) in an attack from the leading 16.

Date	Race	Country	Number of Days
2 March	GP Lugano	Switzerland	1
9 - 16 March	Paris - Nice	France	8
22 March	Milan - San Remo	Italy	1
29 - 30 March	Criterium International	France	2
7 - 12 April	Tour de Pays Basque	Spain	6
20 April	Amstel Gold Race	Holland	1
23 April	Fletch Wallonne	Belgium	1
27 April	Liege Bastonge Liege	Belgium	1

The 2008 Australian Championship has been run and won by Matt Lloyd, in a thrilling race that saw a breakaway group of 9 assume a strong lead of over 6 minutes.

The day started out cool and windy with the thermometer reading only 12 degrees on the circuit 1 hour prior to the race start. Light rain soon followed but by the time the race was underway, the rain had stopped and gradually over the next 4 hours the clouds slowly cleared.

Date	Race	Country	Number of Days	Classe UCI
2 Jan - 6 Jan	Bay Criterium Classic	Australia	5	-
13 Jan	Australian Championship	Australia	1	C.N.
20 Jan	Down Under Classic	Australia	1	1.1
22 Jan - 27 Jan	Tour Down Under	Australia	6	ProTour

Simon lines up for his last ProTour race for 2007 at the GP Ouest Plouay this weekend. The strong Ag2r line up includes French champion Christophe Moreau and in-form John Gadret, fresh from his win at the Tour l'An.

Ag2r Prevoyance for the GP Plouay: Martin ELMIGER - John GADRET - Simon GERRANS - Lloyd MONDORY - Christophe MOREAU - Rinaldo NOCENTINI - Christophe RIBLON - Nicolas ROUSEAU

SIMON Gerrans has revealed that he "gambled" his selection in the French Ag2r team for the Tour de France by opting to race less in the lead-up to ensure he began the 3569.9-kilometre race with enough reserves.

The Victorian, in his third Tour, bagged the last and ninth spot on the team led by evergreen French contender and national road champion Christophe Moreau. Gerrans will be one of Moreau's domestiques. However, when told of his selection 10 days before the start in London, Gerrans was warned that if any French teammate produced a top result in the national titles they would take his spot.

Simon has taken the 9th spot on Ag2r's Tour de France team. The 2007 edition will be Simon's third participation in the Tour.

'We have a really strong group of guys this year headed by Chrsitophe Moreau who has shown fantastic form lately. We have a number of riders who will be aiming for a strong performance on GC and there will be pleanty of fire power to back them up.

Simon has arrived in Switzerland ready to compete in the 71st edition of the Tour de Suisse. The ProTour race is regarded as one of the most prestigious stage races on the calendar and is one of only a handful of races leading up to the start of the the Tour de France. The nine days of racing will cover a total of 1225km around the Suisse countryside and will feature a prologue, seven road stages including six mountain top finishes and a final individual road time trial. The race will be Simon's final opportunity to confirm his selection in Ag2r's Tour de France line up.

Simon took out the 1.1 catogorised GP de Plumelec in France last Saturday. The 31st edition of the race, covered over 174km in the western region of Bretagne, was Simon's first victory for 2007.

After finding himself in breakaways for most of the race, Simon attacked the 12-rider lead group with 20km to go. He held on to the lead and crossed the finished line 42 seconds ahead of his nearest rival.

The next two races on Simon's program are the Grand Prix de Plumelec (C.F) and the Circuit de L'Aulne, both held this coming weekend in the north of France. After the two one-day races, Simon will head into a team training camp around the French Alps prior to the start of the Tour de Suisse

Simon has joined Ag2r for the 61st edition of the Tour de Romandie. The Swiss ProTour race is usually a target for the Giro contenders and comprises one prologue, four tough road stages and an individual time trial. Last year's edition was won by Australian Cadel Evans after a strong performance in the final time trial.

Amstel Gold Race - 22 April 2007

La Fletche Wallone - 25 April 2007

Liege-Bastone-Liege - 29 April 2007

Ag2r Prevoyance for the Northern Classics:
José-Luis ARRIETA – Samuel DUMOULIN (only Amstel & Flèche) – Martin ELMIGER (only Amstel) - John GADRET – Simon GERRANS – Rinaldo NOCENTINI – Hubert DUPONT (only Flèche & Liège) – Ludovic TURPIN (only Flèche & Liège) - Stéphane GOUBERT (only Liège) – Christophe MOREAU – Christophe RIBLON (only Amstel)

Simon will be racing in the 4th round of the Coupe de France this weekend at GP de la Rennes. After successful breakaways in the previous two C.F races, today's race may end up in a bunch kick. Simon placed 2nd in his last start in a C.F race and will be hoping for a strong result for his team today.

2007 will see the 76th edition of the prestigious Criterium International. 20 teams will start the race comprising of 11 ProTour teams, 8 Pro-Continental teams and 1 Continental team.

'The Critérium International's winners' list also illustrates, in the form of a nearly comprehensive list of the cycling legend, the vigour required to stand out in this sport. Bobet, Anquetil, Poulidor, Thévenet, Zoetemelk, Hinault, Fignon, Kelly, Roche, Indurain, and Jalabert have mastered it.

Simon will be racing in Switzerland over the weekend in two UCI 1.1 classified races, the Grand Prix du Chiasso on Saturday 3 March and the Grand Prix de Lugano on Sunday 4 March.

Simon has placed 2nd behind Italian Filippo Pozzato (Liq) in the 39th running of the Tour du Haut Var. The 192.4km opening round of the French Cup was raced from Draguignan to Draguignan in the south of France. Check out Simon's race diary for more info on what happened in the race.

Results

1. Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Liquigas
2. Simon Gerrans (Aus) Ag2r Prevoyance
3. Riccardo Serrano Gonzalez (Spa) Tinkoff Credit Systems

*The Coupe de France is a competition open only to French registered teams.

Simon heads to Haut Var on Sunday 25 February for his third race in Europe. This race is classically a hilly race won by an early in-form rider. Look for riders such as Nibali (Liqugas), F. Schleck (CSC) and Ten Dam (Unibet.com).

Simon has withdrawn from the Tour of Mediterraneen due to illness. His next race will now be the Trofeo Laigueglia, a one day UCI 1.1 ranked race in Italy on Tuesday 20 February. The race will be Simon's second one day event in Europe this year.

Simon will contest the GP de la Marseillaise on Tuesday 6 February. The 2006 edition of the race was won by fellow Australian Baden Cooke (Unibet.com), with Simon suffering a bad fall in the final sprint.
Simon will return to the race in the South of France as his first competition in Europe.

After a mixed start to 2007 including a win in stage 5 of the Bay Cycling Classic and withdrawal from the Australian Open Road Championships, Simon has headed over to Adelaide to defend his Tour Down Under title.

Simon joined his Ag2r team mates on Monday morning with a light ride around the streets of Adelaide prior to attending the official Team Presentation of the 9th edition of the race. ‘I’m feeling positive about the race this year.