Cycling News

02 June 2008

“I stayed with Chris Legh, a triathlete and a good friend of mine from Australia and I trained with my other mates from Toyota, including Johnny Clarke, in the Rocky Mountains. I had a great time. If everything goes well in the next couple of weeks, I’ll definitely go back to Colorado for training in the future.”

Back to Europe, he wasn’t able to defend his title in the GP of Plumelec that he won last year, so it was the turn of Thomas Voeckler of Bouygues Telecom to succeed him on the finishing line that will be used for the end of stage 1 in the Tour de France on July 5 – there is no prologue in the world’s biggest race this year. “The Bayern Rundfahrt was a better race in terms of preparation for me”, he reckoned. “This race was fantastic, actually. It’s one of the best stage races I’ve ever done in Europe so far: good roads, good hotels, and good weather to top it off. It was the ideal race to come back with. In the first couple of days, I suffered with the intensity of racing however I felt very good by the end.” A top 20 finish in the 25.9km time trial (18th) only 1m19sec down on world championship bronze medalist Stef Clement who ran 2nd behind Stefan Schumacher from Gerolsteiner was a sign that Simon has improved in what has never been his favorite effort. “I’m back on track for the Dauphiné”, was his conclusion of the Bayern Rundfahrt. It will be his first participation to France’s second mountainous stage race. At Crédit Agricole, this is a crucial event for the selection of the roster for the Tour de France. “It’s another new experience for me”, he said. “I will try to help out Thor (Hushovd) in the sprint finishes and I also intend to go in breakaways with the aim of a possible result myself.”

The Dauphiné will start with a 5.6km prologue in Avignon on June 8 and finish in Grenoble one week later (June 15) with hard stages in the French Alps. Simon has only one other race scheduled before the Tour de France: the Route du Sud from June 19 to 22. “If the Dauphiné goes according to the plan, the Route du Sud will be a training race for me, otherwise I will be looking for a last minute result to secure a start at the Tour de France.”

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