Simon Clarke
The Australian puncheur talks music, bike bling and controversial heroes
CW: Where do you live?
SC: My wife and I have three houses. One is in Andorra where we live during the season. Andorra is a beautiful place. It’s 42km from border to border but with 21 classified climbs so there’s plenty of climbing. We have another one in Italy because my wife’s Italian and then I own one in Australia that I rent out but I’ve never slept in. One day I’d like to sleep a night in my own house!
CW: If you could win any race what would it be?
SC: To win Strade Bianche would be amazing. Where I grew up, there was a two-kilometre dirt road that was steep, with a section of 15 per cent. My whole younger life was spent barrelling down this descent to go out training and creeping up it on the way home. The first time I raced Strade I realised everyone was out of their comfort zone on a dirt road on a road bike but for me it was like I was cycling home.
CW: What music do you listen to?
SC: For training and when on the road, I’m a big fan of listening to Spotify and some electro beats. I love Avicii’s work – and his ‘best of ’ compilation gets a run out at least twice a week. Same with Ministry of Sound – I love their stuff.
CW: What’s the piece of kit you lusted after as a younger rider?
SC: In the Australian Institute of Sport, we didn’t have a big budget and we were racing on Shimano alloy wheels and I really wanted carbon wheels. I knew there must have been a way to get around it, so I figured out if I bought my own set of Shimano carbon wheels it wasn’t a conflict of interest and they couldn’t stop me. I bought my own Shimano C50 wheels – self-sponsored, if you will – and won the 2008 U23 National Championships on them while my team-mates were still on the team-issued aluminium wheels.
CW: Do you speak another language?
SC: My wife is Italian and although she speaks good English now, when we met she didn’t, so we have always spoken Italian together. She speaks to our daughter in Italian and I speak to her in English, which is a good mix. I speak Catalan and Spanish to a decent level, which is necessary living in Andorra.
CW: What has kept you sane during lockdown?
SC: I have a 15-month old baby and I’ve really got to know her. I have a such a busy lifestyle and when I get home from training I often only have a few hours with her before she sleeps again. I didn’t realise how much I missed my family and I really enjoyed being home. I made a lot of bread, too.
CW: Does the future excite you?
SC: I turned 34 in July and time is ticking on, but I really feel like the best years are ahead of me and I am super motivated. I feel like I am getting better every year and my results prove it. I don’t see myself racing as long as [Alejandro] Valverde but physically and mentally I am nowhere near to stopping racing. Cycling is very much a mental thing. Those who were pushed when they were younger can be mentally past it when they reach their physical peak, but I was never pushed when I was younger and I’m strongly self-motivated.
“I had posters of Lance Armstrong on the wall”
CW: Who has been the most important person in your career?
SC: It was super-cool to be team-mates with Simon Gerrans for five years and I wouldn’t be where I am without having ridden alongside him. I watched him very closely because we have a similar style of riding and he unintentionally taught me a lot. Rigoberto Uran is a very different rider to me but I’ve learned so much from his mental approach to the sport. It’s so unique and he is a very successful rider who
I’ve learned a lot from.
CW: Unpopular opinion?
SG: I will defend the fact that I admire Lance Armstrong and that I had his posters on the wall. Doping aside, no one has come close to winning seven Tours in a row. You can dope all you want – and 90 per cent were – but it doesn’t stop you crashing, puncturing, making good tactical decisions, and he was a master at eliminating the variables and getting through races unscathed. He was meticulous with his equipment, and I was inspired by that: to always inform yourself of the best equipment and choose it accordingly.