SAM BEWLEY
The Kiwi talks about his tough path to the top and how he found his place in the spor t
I never really expected to be a professional road cyclist. I come from a small town in New Zealand where we never had professional cyclists when I was young. But I had fun and I had success on the track and things just kind of fell my way. I was in the right place at the right time and I got a professional contract with RadioShack.
I thank that team a lot for the opportunity to turn pro. But I didn’t really enjoy my first year there. I started to wonder if I really wanted to be pro, or if I wanted to be a track rider instead.
I had done one year of racing on the road with Trek-LiveStrong and the next year I was in the WorldTour. I didn’t really know what I was doing. I’d go to races and get my head kicked in. All I’d be told was that I had to be better at the next race. But I had no idea how to be better. I needed people around me to help me improve. I had coaching from José Azevedo and he was a super good guy, but it was an old-school team with an old-school mentality. It had harsh directors who wanted people to perform. If you didn’t perform, you knew about it.
I think any experience like that in sport is important. It creates resilience and teaches you how to roll with the punches. I didn’t know any of the guys when I joined Orica-GreenEdge. I was on the track with New Zealand at the 2011 World Championships and Shayne Bannan approached me saying they were forming this team and they were interested in signing me. I pretty much said yes straightaway. I don’t know if anybody just decides to become a domestique. In my second year I had a few results in TTs and prologues and I thought that would be my pathway. But then I joined this team. The whole culture here, the way we operate and my personality of wanting to help people meant I headed in that direction. I learned how to do it well and I enjoy it.
I also quite like having a little less pressure on myself – just being able to go home, work hard and know what my role is.
I had to adapt when the team changed from a sprint squad into a GC outfit. Initially it was a good fit because I had that natural power from the track. I was a good fit for the lead-out train. Then it progressed towards a GC team and I had to focus on being a more versatile rider. If you wanted to be a helper, you needed to be able to help across the board. My coach, Julian Dean, has been a big part of that development.
The hardest part was learning to climb. It’s hard when you’re 80kg or whatever I am, but if you want to be a good domestique you have to be able to climb, to a certain degree. Climbing with the top half of the bunch is an important part of it. That took time and I had to change my focus and training. I also think growing up and getting older helps with things.
I’ve done Paris-Roubaix a few times but I’ve only made it to the velodrome once. And that was outside the time limit. It’s not because I’m not good enough to get there, but because it’s Roubaix and I’ve had a lot of crashes, broken bones and mechanicals. It would be special to get there in the front half of the race.
I haven’t won a race yet. That would be nice, but I’m not obsessed by it. It’s not something that’s going to drive me crazy, if I finish my career and I don’t have one. I don’t have any regrets.
I don’t necessarily live for cycling. I do really love the sport and I love being on the road as a part of this whole circus – but with these people in this organisation. The team gave me the motivation to have longevity in a sport that’s far from where I live.