After an exceptionally difficult first part of the season because of injuries whilst training and then in Strade Bianche, defending Liège-Bastogne-Liège champion Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge) recognises that he is yet to be firing on all cylinders, but he will nonetheless do his utmost to fight for a second straight victory in La Doyenne.
“I’m probably not quite the level I was hoping to be, I’m missing a few crucial training rides, but it’s definitely coming along,” Gerrans, his eyes hid behind a huge pair of sunglasses, told reporters as he waited for the team presentation on Saturday afternoon in central Liège.
He recognized that winning in Liège in 2014 automatically placed him in the spotlight for 2015, with rivals giving him less room for maneuver, but only up to a point. As he sees it, his absense of results from the first part of the season might well see him garnering less attention than a string of pre-April victories like in 2014 might have generated.
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“As far as being extra motivated as defending champion, I’ve always been motivated for this part of the season, it has always been a big focal point of the year, and there’s no doubt that racing with number one on my back is a bit of an honour.”
“But as far as being watched by the rest of the field, you always get a certain amount of attention, but I’m not under such scrutiny as I was last year because I had such a great run-in to the race that time round, and I had some great results beforehand.” - including a third place in Amstel Gold Race.
Through no fault of his own, this year, he has battled to recover from a broken collarbone whilst training this winter and then a broken elbow at Strade Bianche, "I’ve gone completely off the radar,” he said.
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