Share A Brew With…Tour de Perth Runner-Up Neil van der Ploeg!

Fresh from his podium result at the 2013 Tour de Perth, we caught up with?Neil Van Der Ploeg?of?Search2Retain p/b health.com.au Cycling?to talk about the race, the 2013 season, and most importantly – beards. Q. Neil, congratulations on 2nd on GC at Tour de Perth! How important was this result to kick start your season? A. Well, it’s the first race of the NRS and I thought I had some good form going into Perth, so I was very keen to try and get some runs on the board. You never know what’s around the corner in a sport like cycling, look at my brother Paul for example! Things can happen, so when you think you have form, you have to race and hope it can translate into a result. Q. Shit got real when you shaved your beard off before the TT, how many seconds do you think were gained by that sacrifice? A. Well, I’m not too sure. I definitely thought about the aerodynamics of the beard but I think the main catalyst was when I saw a reflection of my face the night before; it wasn’t pretty! My hairline was looking a little receeded, and the beard was so thick, it looked like my face had shifted upwards about 10cm, looked all out of whack! So I shaved. That was the longest and luscious my beard has ever been, but I have no regrets. Q. Once a podium position was in sight, which riders did you see as your biggest rivals? A. Well Joe Cooper was the obvious rider to beat, Jack Haig was super close and given the hilly last two stages he was threatening too. And then you had Nathan Earle who was keen to sprint up any hill we came to, and then get in every second break that went clear, so he was pretty threatening too. Q. How has the?Search2Retain p/b health.com.au Cycling?team?supported you both before & during Tour de Perth? A. The team has supported me a lot before the tour. I’ve been with the team for a few years now and they have helped in a lot of ways. They put together the team, run the team and organise pretty much everything. There is far less to worry about makes it easier to focus on training and racing. The search2retain p/b health.com.au style of racing is very much a team effort. I put my hand up before the tour thinking I could potentially win it, and once I was in 2nd pretty much the whole team were committed to a GC result. The team tactics and racing is what drew me to the road so it’s great to be part of a team that fully embraces that style of racing. I look forward to playing a support role to the climbers in some of the hilly tours! Q. As a team who punches above their weight, can you explain to us just how hard it is to take on the bigger teams like Genesys & Drapac? A. Because they have bigger budgets, they can afford to do more training camps, course recon, and have more athletes who are financially supported. Essentially, this end result is a team with a great depth of riders, who are very well prepared and practiced. Perth was not typical, but Genesys had 5 riders in the top 8 in the ITT, which gave them heaps of GC options, which is difficult to deal with! They certainly came into Perth very well prepared! Q. Recently you were named in the National Team for the Tour of the Qinghai Lake which is a fantastic achievement! Is it testament to the work being done at S2R? And how do you feel you will go in the race? A. Definitely, hard work by many people. As for the race, well, that is anyones guess! I’m certainly hoping to go over there to be competitive. I know a few Australians who have done well in the past, like Rhys Pollock and Cam Peterson, this gives me some confidence. Q. Thanks to a social media campaign by DS Mark Isaacs you’re also off to race the OCBC Criterium (Mark can you fix the name if I got it wrong please??) this year. Does he not like you that much, to send you off to race in such heat?? How do you rate your chances over there? A. Yeah, there seemed to be plenty of enthusiasm to get rid of me! That’s fine with me, happy to be got rid of in this case! Again, it’s hard to say! I am hoping to go over there and be competitive, the field looks like it will be super strong, but I’m keen for the challenge! And finally… Q. If you could be any superhero for a day, who would you be? And why?? A. Only for a day? That’s just cruel! Maybe Storm from x-men. Firstly, she’s female, and this is almost certainly my only chance to experience what it’s like to be a woman. If there was enough time to prepare with the lift company, I would use her powers to create the ultimate powder day on Falls Creek, that way heaps of people can enjoy the superpowers. I just hope she knows how to ski, otherwise that could be very disappointing! Keep up to date! Follow Neil on Twitter @neilvdp?and Search2Retain p/b health.com.au on their website, Facebook & Twitter?throughout the 2013 season.