The start of the 2019 WorldTour season is just days away, with the Tour Down Under kicking off in Adelaide. In Australia, and at several other locations across the world in the coming weeks, first-year professionals will be making the daunting step up to the highest echelons of the sport and competing against the likes of Peter Sagan, Richie Porte and Elia Viviani. At the Tour Down Under we spoke to some of cycling's most experienced characters, who imparted their advice to the new crop of talent hoping to make a mark on the sport.
Thomas de Gendt (Lotto Soudal - pro since 2009)
I don't think I got any advice when I was a neo-professional, but I was in a team at the time that was virtually made up of neos at Topsport. The only advice they gave me was to show initiative and to get bottles even when I was wasn't asked. They wanted me to be aggressive in the races, because when you're a neo you see all the guys that you look up to and get in the bunch with them and have a sense of respect for them. However, in a race you can't really have too much respect for them because then you just end up losing your spot in the peloton.
I guess my advice for neo-pros would be to show respect but not too much, because you need to keep your place. I remember being thrown in at the deep end at the start of my career and doing the Classics. All the top guys were there, like Tom Boonen, and if he gave me the slightest spot I would slip back. Neos need to realise that it's each man for himself in the peloton.
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Koen de Kort (Trek-Segafredo - pro since 2005)
Just try and enjoy what you're doing. I really love riding my bike now - probably more than when I first turned professional. I was really focused on getting results at the start of my career and training was just a way for me to win races. I wasn't particularly enjoying training. Now I just enjoy every moment on the bike and that makes it all a lot easier.
Apart from that, I think it's important, from an early age, to figure out what you're good at. It's nice to want to be a climber or a GC rider but at some point you're going to have to accept that it might not happen for you, and at that point you just need to accept what you're good at and where you can develop. That's the ticket to staying in the WorldTour: develop your strengths.
Heinrich Haussler (Bahrain-Merida - pro since 2005)
Kiel Reijnen (Trek-Segafredo - pro since 2009)
Marcel Sieberg (Bahrain-Merida - pro since 2007)
Tom Southam (EF Education First director - pro from 2004-2011)
Robert Gesink (Jumbo-Visma - pro since 2007)
Daryl Impey (Mitchelton-Scott - pro since 2008)
Matt White (Mitchelton-Scott director - pro from 1996-2007)
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/top-tips-for-the-new-pros-from-the-most-experienced
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