THERE’S NO ‘I’ IN TEAM
Q
You raced in the Tour de France in both 2003 and 2004, how special was that?
A
It was good. It’s the biggest race on the calendar but a few races through the year are big and pretty intense. It was great to be there. I think I also road in some races that were equally as big.
Q
You were part of the Lotto team with Robbie McEwen who won three green sprinters jerseys in 2002, 2004 and 2006. You had a selfless role in the team, didn’t you?
A
My role was to be Robbie’s right-hand man. Whether that was chasing down breakaways to bringing them back before the finish or being part of the sprint train. I was there to help him along with a couple of other guys in the team. It’s a team effort to win the jerseys and great to have a leader that understands and respects the efforts of their teammates like Robbie.
Q
You played a massive role in 2004 when Robbie found himself in trouble, tell us about that?
A
One of the famous stages started with a 35km hill and Robbie dropped off the pace 3km in. It was a brutal start to any stage. I pretended I didn’t hear the director asking me to go back and get him on the radio but they drove up beside me. I just told him to hurry up. We needed to finish before the cut off time so he wasn’t eliminated. The time is always a percentage of the winner’s time. It was a long day but we crossed the line with a couple of minutes spare. Robbie turned right to kiss the podium girls because he held on to the green jersey and I turned left to get on the bus absolutely exhausted.