Stuart O’Grady Saddles Up For Return To Racing At Jayco Herald Sun Tour
Stuart O’Grady (image courtesy jxpphotography) Cycling road warrior [W:Stuart O?Grady] will make his return to racing following a serious injury at next month?s Jayco Herald Sun Tour. ? The 39-year-old will be the spiritual leader of a stellar Australian team that will include defending champion Nathan Haas, 2011 Milan-San Remo winner Matt Goss, 2012 national champion Simon Gerrans and 2012 Vuelta a Espana king of the mountains winner Simon Clarke.? They will be joined by 20-year-old Queenslander Jay McCarthy in the six man line up for the race from Thursday 3 – Sunday 6 January. ?Unfortunately for O?Grady it won?t be the first time he uses Australia?s oldest stage race for his return to the saddle.? ?He made a similar return to racing at the ?Sun Tour? in 2007, following a horror crash on a steep descent in the Tour de France that almost claimed his life, fractured eight ribs, broke his shoulder, collarbone, three vertebrae and punctured a lung resulting in a blood clot on the brain.?As the Olympic, world and Commonwealth gold medalist and two-time Tour de France stage winner has done throughout his career, O?Grady bounced back, returning in 2008 to win his first Jayco Herald Sun Tour title.?Thankfully his most recent crash was not as serious as the 2007 episode.? A pile up at the post Olympic Games Vattenfall Classics in Germany in August left O?Grady with a broken shoulder and four fractured ribs.?With a 15cm plate and eight screws holding the bones together, O?Grady commenced a lengthy rehabilitation process.??The crash threw everything out of schedule,? O?Grady said this week.? ?It was eight weeks either in hospital or on the coach in rehab, but you?ve just got to be flexible and deal with it.??Aside from his stunning 2008 win, the South Australian also scored three stage wins in his first tour appearance in 1997 and feels it?s the perfect launch pad for his 2013 season.??I feel I really need to kick start my season as early as possible.? It?s not going to be easy, but as you get to the end of your career you realise how much you want to be in form all the time.??The plate and screws will remain in his battered body until he decides to hang up the wheels on his 18-year professional career.? He turns 40 next August and is hoping to line up in his 17th Tour de France next year which would equal American George Hincapie’s record. ??I?m in full training mode.???At the moment I?m spending every hour on the bike I can, which isn?t easy at this time of the year when you?ve been away for 10 months and everyone wants to see you and you want to see them.? So it?s a fine balance.???The head is saying one thing and the body the other.? I?ve still got a funky feeling in my shoulder with the plate but you get used to it.?? O?Grady has a number of aims and is riding for a number of reasons in the 2013 edition of the Tour. ?It?s the ?Sun Tour? and it?s the 60th edition, there are two pretty good reasons,? O?Grady joked. ?We don?t get to race enough in Australia so when we do get the chance I think it?s important we do so.? ?It?s a big month with the ?Sun Tour?, the nationals and Tour Down Under. It?s a race I?ve won and it?s good to be able to pay back and say thanks, especially to Gerry Ryan who has supported me since the beginning,? O?Grady added. ?I?ll be having a crack, but realistically I?ll be at the service of one of our other boys.? We have a strong team and we won?t be short of guys on form.? At the opposite end of the experience spectrum, up and coming rider Jay McCarthy will finll the sixth and final position on the Australian team. In what will be his first year riding for a ProTour outfit in Team Saxo-Tinkoff, McCarthy could not think of a better way to start what is an important season. ?Once I saw the team I would be riding with it was a little bit nerve racking, but also exciting at the same time to be able to ride with some of the biggest Australian names we have,? McCarthy said. ?There is a lot of experience in the team and plenty of guys to look at, see how they read the race and get some good tips off. ?As a 20-year-old moving up into a WorldTour team it?s going to be a big step but I spent two weeks with the (Saxo-Tinkoff) team last month in Spain for a team pre season get-together and I think I have chosen a really good team for me to help along my development.? The new look four-day Jayco Herald Sun Tour returns for its 60th edition from Thursday, 3 to Sunday, 6 January 2013.? Starting with an individual time trial in Williamstown, the Tour will take in regional centres Sunbury, Bendigo, Mitchelton Winery and Healesville, culminating with the highly popular Arthurs Seat climb on the Mornington Peninsula.
Jayco Australian National Team
Name
State
Age
Profile
Nathan HAAS
QLD
23
Reigning Jayco Herald Sun Tour champion & 2011 Japan Cup winner. Victories provided gateway to his first ProTour contract with Garmin-Sharp in 2012. Finished 2nd overall at the 2012 Tour of Britain.
Simon CLARKE
VIC
26
2012 Vuelta a Espana stage and king of the mountains jersey winner on Grand Tour debut. Won the best 23 rider at the 2007 JHST.
Simon GERRANS
VIC
32
2012 national champion, Milan – San Remo, Tour Down Under and Grand Prix Cycliste de Qu?bec winner. Two-time winner of the Jayco Herald Sun Tour (2005 & 2006), only Australian to have won a stage in all three Grand Tours.
Matthew GOSS
NSW
26
Australia’s fastest sprinter, 2011 Milan – San Remo champion (first ever Australian winner), 2011 world championship road race silver medallist, two-time individual stage winner at the Giro d’Italia. Won a stage and the points classfication at the 2008 Jayco Herald Sun Tour.
Jay McCARTHY
QLD
20
Will join his first ProTour team in 2013 signing with Team Saxo – Tinkoff. Won the 2012 Tour de l’Avenir prologue and was part of Australia’s under-23 road race team at the world championships.
Stuart O’GRADY
SA
39
Olympic gold medalist on the track and 2007 Parix-Roubaix winner. Ridden every Tour de France since 1998 and has won two individual stages (1998 & 2004). Won the Jayco Herald Sun Tour in 2008.
Jayco Herald Sun Tour
What:
60thedition of Victoria?s oldest stage race
When:
Thursday, 3 to Sunday, 6 January 2013
Course:
Prologue – Thursday, 3 January ? Williamstown ITT ? 4.8km Stage 1 – Friday, 4 January – Melbourne (Sunbury) to Bendigo ? 144km Stage 2 – Saturday, 5 January – Mitchelton Winery to Healesville ? 145km Stage 3 – Sunday, 6 January ? Moonah Links to Arthurs Seat ? 90km
