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ENDURO MAG WINTER 2013

# 24

Mont 24 wrap | Marathon nationals | tekin suspension | kona odyssey | long terM reviews

PVDPinterview

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HOLERABBIT

www.endura.com.auThe entire Endura Sports Nutrition range is available at all good Pharmacies, Health Food stores and Sports Specialty stores. To find your nearest stockist, call Health World Limited on 1800 777 648 or visit the website.

YOU CAN TRUST ENDURA SPORTS NUTRITION

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Crew Issue 24

ED NOTEWelcome to Enduro 24.

Much has been said about how our sport has changed since Enduro Mag was born, but for me, as the popularity of the marathon format has increased, peaking (for the moment at least) with the impressive Real Insurance XCM Series in 2012, I have observed it from a respectful distance. I did a few half-marathons (in one case, after a particularly problem-filled race, finishing only seconds before the full marathon winner Chris Jongewaard) and told myself that I would enter a marathon when I was ‘fit enough’ to race it from start to finish.

The proud and stubborn ex-racer in me could not get my head around the concept of finishing a race up to seven hours after I had started it and by which time, the winners would have likely returned to their interstate homes. I didn’t particularly know when I would be ‘fit enough’ to race a marathon, but it seemed like a perfectly sensible plan to me.

It was when I read the interview in this issue with Jarrod Hughes that I completely reassessed my marathon plans. Specifically, it was Jarrod’s comments about preparing for a marathon race that resonated with me for some reason; Jarrod says “Mentally I prepare for the pain! I don’t think I have done a marathon where I haven’t questioned why I am doing it at some point.” As I read these words, spoken by someone who races at the pointy end of marathon races, they dovetailed neatly with the words of Tour de France legend, Greg Lemond, whose oft-quoted line, “It never gets easier, you just go faster…” has given many an idiot the confidence to embark on some epic journeys.

It was all I needed. I realised that in racing a marathon, regardless of fitness, I would hurt just the same as the guys and girls at the front (and the guys and girls at the back). The clincher was that I also realised that it was extremely unlikely that I would ever be as fit as I wanted to be to race a marathon. Before I knew it I was filling my bidons with electrolyte, eating a bowl of risotto that could have fed Sicily, bedding down at the picturesque Cammeray Waters Bushland Resort and setting an alarm for 5:00am to line up for the Wombat 100.

The story of my Wombat 100 won’t be told here, but it suffices to say the following: things didn’t go to plan; I had more fun than I have had in a while with a number plate attached to my bars; I am more in awe of the elite men and women

marathon podium than I ever have been before; I can’t wait to attempt my next marathon; and finally, I can’t believe I waited so long to enter one.

It occurred to me as I was plotting my next marathon attempt that if I hadn’t read the Jarrod Hughes interview, I might not have entered the Wombat 100 and the desire to attempt more marathons may have lay dormant for many more months and perhaps years.

It also occurred to me that Enduro 24 is packed full of stories, interviews, photos, race reports and reviews, all of which have the capacity to inspire our readers in various and infinite ways, just like the interview with Jarrod Hughes had inspired me.

Enjoy Enduro 24…you never know where it might take you!

ENDURO 243

www.endura.com.auThe entire Endura Sports Nutrition range is available at all good Pharmacies, Health Food stores and Sports Specialty stores. To find your nearest stockist, call Health World Limited on 1800 777 648 or visit the website.

YOU CAN TRUST ENDURA SPORTS NUTRITION

END

4052

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/13

WE DEVELOPED IT

WE MAKE IT

WE TEST IT

WE USE IT

WE RECOMMEND IT

AND YOU CAN

TRUST IT!

PVDPWILDSIDE

MTB

2014

MO

UN

TAIN TO

BEACH

JAN 25-28

PURE TASMANIA

TASMANIAn TOURISMAWARDS 2008

WINNER

Tasmanian Endurance Event of the Year 2012

PANEA Pty LtdE-mail: race@wildsidemtb.com Web site: www.wildsidemtb.com

For information about Tasmania go to discovertasmania.com

PVDP

Enduro's in-depth interview with the big man behind the big name.interview by :: mikkeli Godfree

WILDSIDE

MTB

2014

MO

UN

TAIN TO

BEACH

JAN 25-28

PURE TASMANIA

TASMANIAn TOURISMAWARDS 2008

WINNER

Tasmanian Endurance Event of the Year 2012

PANEA Pty LtdE-mail: race@wildsidemtb.com Web site: www.wildsidemtb.com

For information about Tasmania go to discovertasmania.com

t Enduro, we have had good cause to follow Paul van der Ploeg’s meteoric rise in Austral-ian mountain biking. In 2006, when Enduro was taking off, so

too was Paul’s cycling career. At the tender age of 16, Paul managed to snatch a result in the national XC championships. This ride brought him to the attention of the national selectors and of the Felt Enduro team and Paul was given the opportunity to take his cycling to the next level.

Those opportunities helped turn Paul from a talented kid into a very talented young man and, seven years later, Paul is one of the most complete athletes in Australia. He has raced either or both world cups and world cham-pionships on the mountain bike every year since 2006, has been the first non-European finisher at the world championships, has stepped up to the elite category and has rubbed bars and shoulders (literally) with the best in the business and has even won a world cup sprint eliminator. By 21 years of age, his name was known on the European circuit. And more recently, and probably more importantly, Paul has developed into a rider that everyone fears on every course, by showing that he can ride at the front of the field in a race over 300 metres just as well as he can over 100 kilometres.

back to the future – talent identification

In many ways, while interviewing Paul, it is hard to imagine that the young lad before me

with this five day growth and carefully messy hair (or is it just messy?), who has the choice of chasing an Olympic XC dream or even an Olympic track cycling dream (if he so chooses, thanks to his raw power ), is the same person as the pre-pubescent lanky lad who nearly snuck onto the podium in the junior category at the 2006 national championships at his home town Mount Beauty.

“I remember that race well. It was in my home town and I was pretty amped. I was so amped that I managed to drop my chain within the first 100 metres! I was dead last and had to chase right back through the field. I worked my way toward the front and was within three seconds of third place at the finish line. After the finish, Damian Grundy asked me if I wanted to try to get on the team for the world championships later that year, which were in New Zealand. It was pretty cool, having my family there and racing on my home tracks. I remember coming over the finish line and being able to share that moment with my brother, Dan, who had been hit by a car two years earlier and was, at that time, just getting mobile again. It was a special day.”

Paul’s brother Dan was a talented bike rider in his own right, having raced the 2001 World Championships at Vail. Dan was hit from behind by a car while training near his home in Mount Beauty in 2004, when Paul was 13. “Dan has always been my inspiration. He’s the reason I got into riding and he’s the reason I keep riding: because he no longer can. It was all taken away from him. I remem-

ber finishing the 2007 world championships and being really upset because I wanted to get a good result for Dan and a mechanical meant that I couldn’t. Yeah, he is a massive inspiration to me and he always will be.”

As foreshadowed above, Paul got the chance to ride on the world stage because

of that result at the Mt Beauty nationals in 2006. Shortly after that result, he found himself with the Felt Enduro Team racing the enduro circuit mainly racing 6-12-24 hour races. “We had a great team and it was so much fun. It was the best introduction I could have got to competitive riding, being on that team with Ash Thomas, Jack Lamshed and Jason Jackson with Gerald keeping our bikes running nice and smoothly. It was such a great vibe. I still had year 11 to do so it was great to be able to turn up to races with some fitness, make a mess, have fun, learn form the guys about racing, get more experi-ence, get some exposure for the brand and then go home. I can remember my dad turn-ing up to a race and telling me I was getting spoiled and I had it too easy! He was obviously proud though. It actually got me hooked on the sport, because it was so easy to focus on the fun aspects of enduro riding.”

at the tender age of 16, paul man-aged to snatch a result in the na-tional Xc championships. this ride

brought him to the attention of the national selectors and of the felt

enduro team.

Paul van der Ploeg’s reputation precedes him. He is only 23, yet he has been racing on national teams on the world stage for seven years. Not only that, he’s a freak of nature in terms of his height, power output and how deep he can dig. More recently, Paul has proven that he can win everything from a sprint eliminator to a 50km long, brutal half-marathon and that he can stick it to Australia’s best in the full marathon format…and worst of all, he’s an unbearably nice bloke. Enduro has followed Paul’s illustrious career from day one with great interest and thought that there was no time like the present to catch up with the man to chat about everything from Aussie marathon racing to world cups, French toast to Bratwurst sausages and what it’s like to come from a family filled to the brim with talented athletes.

A

PVDP

Fuelling the 193cm body with a typical hipster breakfast.

photos: mikkeli Godfree, adam macleod & @alwilsonpics

Speaking of Paul’s dad, Gerry van der Ploeg is a force to be reckoned with and is a huge influence on Paul. In fact, when you hear about Gerry’s exploits and his attitude to all things physical and mental, the ‘van der Ploeg boys’ outlook on racing certainly makes a lot more sense. Mention Gerry’s name and Paul can’t help but crack a smile, “Yeah, Gerry is a bit of a legend. What can I tell you about him? Well, he and Mum went to Europe in the ‘70s doing cross-country skiing races. When all us boys got into cycling, he got a bike too. As with his cross-country skiing, he proved to be insanely strong on the bike. I remember we did this 250km race with over 5000m of climbing. We did it in a group. I had gastro the day before and had spewed about 20 times but Dad reckoned I would be fine. I was struggling along but keeping quiet. 12 hours into the ride a few of the guys wanted to stop. They were about 35 or 40 years old and Dad stared at them with his 60 year old eyes, dropped it down a few gears and issued a command: ‘shut up and suffer!’ It was classic Gerry.”

After some great racing experience with the Felt Enduro Team and having learned how to enjoy racing, later in 2006 Paul headed over to New Zealand for the world champion-ships, where he finished a respectable 34th.

The following year, Paul had the small mat-ter of his year 12 to deal with, Felt stepped up the support and helped Paul at XC races, but with no added pressure. “It couldn’t have been better given that I was doing year 12. The team put no pressure on us and we all

just kept racing with the main goal of having fun. To be honest, I would not have enjoyed it being on a ‘serious’ team and if that had been my introduction to racing, I probably wouldn’t have pursued racing and things might have been a little different. I perform best when there is no pressure. If there had been pres-sure at that time I wouldn’t have liked it and I might have ended up doing something else. If that had been the case, right now I would probably be riding my beater out on single-track with my brothers instead of talking to you!”

“I have really fond memories of those times. We used to race hard and really tried to go for the fastest laps and try to win overall…but we also used to put a lot of effort into our novelty costumes! And that’s what I really enjoyed about that aspect of enduro racing.”

stepping up - world cups While still juggling year 12, Paul stepped up

to the top level at the world championships in Scotland in 2007. “I was bombing. I still have this vague suspicion that I have never been faster than I was at that time. I was riding ridiculously fast, but I did not have luck on my side at those world championships.”

“I felt a lot of pressure because of how well I had been riding in the lead up to the world championships. Despite the pressure, when the big day came I was riding well and was in the front group on the second lap. Then I snapped my chain. It was devastating. I had based my whole year around that race, I had been on great form and had to watch it

all slip away. It hurt even more because it was my last year as a junior. It was my last chance to launch my career into the U23 category.”

Paul decided that he would take a year off from study in 2008 but found that he struggled for motivation after finishing year 12. After taking some time away from racing over the 2007-2008 Aussie summer, he some-how managed to pull off the U23 national title in his first year out of juniors. That put him on the high performance program for 2008 in Europe. He also snared second place in the elite STXC behind a storming Chris Jonge-waard.

“I didn’t really think much of that result at the time, but looking back on that race, it’s pretty much where it all started for me in the short track format. What I do remember is how insane the commentator was going when I was riding across to Chris, who had built up an early lead. I suppose I also realised at that time how much of a great spectacle the shorter format cross country is.”

Having put together a successful national championships campaign, Paul headed over-seas again, “I went away with Dan McConnell and Lach Norris. It was just the three of us, based at the AIS facility in Italy. For me, it was a huge step up. It was physically and mentally hard racing against the world’s best. I knew it would be a big step up, but I didn’t appreciate how much of a toll it would take on my body.”

Later that year, after a series of disap-pointing results, Paul returned to Mt Beauty and worked in his parents’ ski shop and the long hours working in the shop off the back

Dan van der Ploeg congratulates his younger brother Paul after the 2006 national XC championship where Paul took his first big result

Paul in the zone at the 2009 world championships

of a hard season in Europe resulted in Paul being diagnosed with glandular fever.

rebuilding to a big result2009 was a year where Paul rebuilt himself and had a big

goal - the world championships in Canberra. He decided after being struck down with glandular fever he would rebuild his form and just enjoy riding his bike again by doing enduros. As his form and enjoyment crept back into his rid-ing, Paul got onto the Discover Tasmania team which Felt bi-cycles supported as well. As part of rebuilding his form and to get his head around university, Paul stayed at home while the team went to Europe. “That was hard, but it was the right thing to do. I did some more enduros and built up to the two world cups in Canada. The Canada world cups were ridiculously hard. I crashed pretty hard at Mont St Anne and at Bromont I did pretty well, getting 54th or something.”

With the form building toward the world championships in Canberra, the team was sent for testing at the AIS. It was there that Paul’s potential began to be appreciated. “Yeah, that was quite fun. I broke the power record on the cycling VO2 max test at the AIS.”

Of course this sounds impressive, but when you realise that this machine has been used to test nearly every elite Australian cyclist, you start to realise what Paul achieved as a 19 year old. “It was pretty funny, Dave Martin, the AIS sports doctor, was over my shoulder while I was doing the test. The machine increases the wattage every five minutes until you can’t push it any more. When I was reaching my limit, Dave leaned over my shoulder, and trying to mask his excitement, said in his North American accent, ‘OK Paul, Cadel Evans finished this test a minute ago, Mick Rogers finished at this point here, no one has been further than this point. Just see what you can do.’”

“I was freaking out. My body was trying to shut down but it was also pretty exciting. I pushed myself for about anoth-er minute until I completely fell to bits. I got to 550 watts. It was pretty cool. I was on the machine for 46 minutes or something…it was intense.”

As most people know, you need a big engine to drag 193cm of muscle around a race track, but at that time Paul had got his weight down to 88 kilograms. For the sports science nerds among you, you’ll have just worked out that Paul was pushing 6.25 watts per kilo at the end of a VO2 max test…which is above the magic ‘number 6’ and is very, very, very impressive.

It’s probably no surprise then that Paul netted his best result to date at the world championships in Canberra. “I was 16th at worlds that year. I was riding really strongly and

I was really happy with that result, especially as it was my second year in U23s and it was in Australia.”

“The worlds in Canberra had such a great vibe. I’ve raced all over Europe and in America with some pretty crazy crowds, but the Canberra Worlds were something else.”

Growing upIn 2010, with Cycling Australia cutting funding, Paul had to

look overseas for support to race in Europe. Thanks to an Aussie connection with Anna Bayliss, Paul got a gig on the Felt World Cup Team. It was a big change for Paul who had been used to living, training and racing with his Aussie mates. “It didn’t go so well for me. I don’t think I realised how big an adjustment it would be. I jumped on a plane, started living with a German family, eating German food and being away from everything that had been semi-familiar to me.”

“I didn’t cope well with the transition and was underper-forming. My short track races were ok, but my XC form was pretty rubbish. I crashed out of two world cups and in one of those, I popped my shoulder out so badly that the team me-chanic had to pop it back in. I also smashed my knee and had patella tendinitis and couldn’t race worlds. It was not ideal

dave leaned over my shoulder, and trying to mask his excitement, said in his north american

accent, ‘oK paul, cadel evans finished this test a minute ago, mick rogers finished at this point

here, no one has been further than this point. Just see what you can do.’

Clockwise from left: Paul drops in on his new Giant 29er hardtail; more man love after the 2009 world championships; brothers in wheelies…Paul and Neil van der Ploeg get rad with the kids of East Timor during the 2011 tour.

ENDURO 249

and a big contrast to 2008 when I had been living and racing with Lach and Dan.”

In what had started to become some sort of a pattern, after being at a low point, Paul rebuilt himself and had a blinder 2011. Start-ing with a win at the national XC champion-ships, Paul put a rough 2010 behind him and made a name for himself in Europe. It all came together when Paul won the Dalby Forest world cup eliminator.

“That changed everything for me. It got me respect within the team. I had felt like I was on the outer a bit, especially because I had a bad 2010. After winning Dalby Forest I felt like I added something to the team.”

While this was a huge milestone for Paul, it put even more pressure on him to get results at world cups, so he would be pushing hard to get an eliminator result one night and then have to try and back up the next day in the XC, “That definitely impacted negatively on my XC results. I would be a bit tired from the eliminator, but even more than that, I just wouldn’t sleep because of the adrenaline of eliminator. It wasn’t all that bad though, be-cause I had a really solid year racing elimina-tors with some strong results, as well as the Dalby Forest win.”

The win at Dalby Forest though, while it put more pressure on Paul, gave him good momentum going in to the world champion-ships in Switzerland where he would line up for the last time as an U23 rider. “I put a lot of pressure on myself that year to get a top-ten at worlds. I was national champion, I wore the green and gold stripes in all the world cups and I expected myself to bring home top ten results at that level. I was focussing too much on the result rather than the process to achieve that result. I ended up 15th, which was still my best result at worlds, but the course was really challenging and I let the pressure get to me a bit and I crashed too much. It was still one of the best rides I’ve ever done in my life, but the pressure I put on myself meant that I did stupid things and didn’t get the result I was after, and that my body could have achieved.”

Paul topped off a great year by squeezing in the Tour de Timor on his way back to Australia. With top form and good motivation Paul, with his Search2Retain teammates, pitched them-

selves against the older fast men Adrian Jack-son, Ben Mather and a mountain bike legend by the name of Tinker Juarez. Paul positioned himself well by finishing second on stage one, burning up the road on stage two with team-mate Luke Fetch to take the leader’s jersey and winning stage three before a series of flats meant that Paul lost ten minutes and the race lead in stage four. The only consola-tion was that Paul slotted into second overall

and handed the jersey over to teammate Fetch, who he then helped to take out the overall and ensured that the team brought home the USD$10,000 winner’s cheque.

It was a fine display from the young Search2Retain team who showed strength and composure beyond their years by control-ling the race in hot and trying conditions and over a course that was very tough, with three of the six stages being won with race times over four hours.

“It was a great way to end the year. Of course it would have been great to win the tour personally and I was in the position to do that, but luck wasn’t on my side. It was great being part of the Search2Retain team win though. It was the first time that I had worked closely together with my teammates over a week to achieve an overall goal. It was a dimension to mountain bike racing that was pretty new to us and was really exciting…it was also pretty nice to bring home a big wad of cash!”

becoming a manAfter returning to Australia, Paul prepared

himself for the transition to the elite catego-ry, which he did successfully, snatching second place in the national XC championships behind Dan McConnell. “I surprised myself with how fast I was when I went into the elite category. I didn’t put any pressure on myself and just rode to see how I would go. That approach led to me getting some really good results…

it’s funny how that works…maybe I will never chase a result ever, ever again!”

Having proven to himself that he could mix it with the big boys in the XC format, Paul headed overseas yet again with the Felt team. However, there would be no end of pressure in the eliminator races, given his form in 2011.

“In Houfallize, I flipped over my handlebars going uphill while chasing Brian Lopes. Still to this day I have no idea how it happened.

The Felt marketing manager dubbed it the ‘monster flip’ and then told me at every race after that, ‘Paul, no monster flipping today!’ It’s not quite what I wanted my enduring memory to be of racing against the legend that is Brian Lopes…”

After a good couple of seasons racing eliminators at the top level and netting a heap of world cup podiums (and a win), Paul fancied himself to take the big one, the 2012 world championships.

“It was by far the biggest pressure event I’ve ever done. I can’t ever see myself having that amount of pressure again. I hadn’t quite reached my 2011 level that year. I had come close a few times, but felt like the year had slipped away from me a bit. I thought if I had a good world championship eliminator race that it would make it all ok. I had put pressure on myself, the Felt world cup team had too, as had the Australian team.”

“I got to the point where I wasn’t enjoying it anymore. I felt sick. I got taken out in the semis and that was it for me. I had a chat to Ralf Naef before the start of the final and gave him some words of encouragement and it was cool to see him win, but it was hard to watch that final knowing that I had the power and the form to be in the final and give it a good go.”

“It’s one of the bad things about the elimi-nator. Sometimes, and at the highest level, someone can just take you out and because the race is so short, you can never get back

“it’s one of the bad things about the eliminator. sometimes, and at the highest level, someone can just take you out and because the race is so

short, you can never get back into the race…a race which you have pinned your whole season on. after that, to miss out on the final by a tyre width or

something…it was a devastating moment.”

into the race…a race which you have pinned your whole season on. After that, to miss out on the final by a tyre width or something…it was a devastating moment.”

“And, as if that wasn’t enough, we found out at that time that the Felt team had folded. So I came back to Australia and started making some calls.”

post surgery comebackAfter his return to Australia, in November

2012 Paul decided to get his dodgy shoulder operated on. It was something he had been putting off for a while, “yeah…since 2007”.

“The surgeon said it would take three months before I could ride a bike but I came back a bit before that. I had taken a break after worlds so by the time I was recovering from the surgery I was super motivated to get fit. I was doing spinning intervals a week after surgery, was riding on the road three weeks later and was riding off road after 4-5 weeks.”

As well as time away from racing fuelling the motivation, Paul also signed on with Giant bicycles. He had been with Felt for over six years but with the European team folding he needed support both locally and overseas and found it at Giant. “Everyone knows how big Giant is. It’s a big family, which provides a heap of connections both here in Australia and overseas. I’m really looking forward to explor-ing the new bikes, the new relationship and the network of riders and support staff both here in Australia and overseas.”

With such huge motivation rumbling inside of him, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise to anyone, but at the end of January 2013 Paul entered his first race back, a criterium at the hotly-contested Sandown Raceway in Melbourne and won against a storming A grade field. “It was ridiculously hard but I was mentally and physically fresh so just went to see what happened. I had trained well and was

just going off base kilometres. I wanted to see how deep I could go and it was fun. I went deep, took the win and was very happy to see that the base kilometres had done the job.”

The first race back on fat tyres though was the Thredbo national round where Paul won the eliminator as well as the point to point over hitters like Chris Jongewaard, Jack Haig and Sid Taberlay. “It was great to win those races…given the time off I really was not expecting that. It was a relief more than anything else though. I had been able to prove to myself that I had good form over the short and longer distances.”

But these results didn’t hint at what was to come at the 2013 Kona Odyssey. “The Odyssey was a big, big shock. On the start line I was asking myself what the hell I was doing there. I’d been chilling on the beach all week and had only entered the event the Monday before the race. The morning of the race I pulled my bike out to put lube on the chain and realised that it was covered in grit from the riding we had been doing during the week. It was no good.”

“When I turned up on the start line, I re-alised that I seemed to be the only one on a duallie and the only one with one drink bottle. Luckily, the dually turned out to be the best tool for the race as those tracks are pretty rough.”

“At one point in the race, Ben Mather, Adrian Jackson and I were all chasing down Chris Jongewaard and I was on the front in the singletrack just having a ball. The oth-ers were getting bounced around on their hardtails but I was grinning from ear to ear. We managed to bring Chris back a bit and then AJ and I worked together to see if we could make contact. Unfortunately, I started cramping and lost contact with AJ before the Red Carpet descent.”

Paul ended up third in the Kona Odyssey, under three minutes down on Jongeward and

AJ. It was a big result for a guy who is 193cm tall and can tip the scales at 90kg in the early or off seasons. “I was pretty surprised. I really haven’t raced too many marathons, just a few random ones like the Wombat and the Golden triangle. I really love the format, because there are tactics and you have to fight with your body and your competitors.”

As well as surprising himself, the Odyssey result surprised others. “People started to realise that I am not just a sprint specialist and if I am relaxed and have good form, I can get results over longer formats as well as shorter ones. I think the key to the Odys-sey was that I just rode for fun. I had zero expectations, I enjoyed the descents and had a great race.”

Among those impressed with Paul’s ride at the Odyssey was Adrian Jackson, who would go head-to-head with Paul at the Bike Buller Festival. “Bike Buller is a Giant-sponsored event so it was pretty important for me being a new addition to the team. Despite there being a bit of pressure on me, I love the Mt Buller tracks and the event was laid back and pretty fun.”

“I took the lead from AJ on stage one and just started enjoying the trails. I almost forgot I was racing. The trails reminded me a lot of the trails near my parents’ home in Mt Beauty. Of course, I pushed pretty hard in the closing stages on the race, before I came up to a chair-lift, which was included in the race time, and had to politely ask the lovely ticket booth lady to sort my lift pass out swiftly as I didn’t know if AJ was just around the corner or not. I then hopped on the lift and watched the ticket booth to keep an eye on AJ, it was a pretty bizarre set up!”

Having built up a decent lead in the first of the three stages, Paul had some fun in the Brake Burner, posting the fastest times in that, then taking the quickest time in the

Clockwise from left: Paul sprays Italian mountain bike legend Marco Aurelio Fontana on the podium of the Dalby Forest world cup eliminator in 2011; the glow of taking the big win; turning it in at Bike Buller 2013.

ENDURO 2411

Super D. Not content with that, Paul also took out the final stage despite a big crash that left him with a black face…something that he was unaware of until after the finish.

“It was great to get a clean sweep at Bike Buller, especially because Giant sponsor the event. It is a great event and was a great way for me to give back to the team that is now looking after me.”

2013 - a transitional yearWith the Australian summer racing season

done and dusted, Paul now has his sights set on something different. With the Olympics three and a bit years away, he is trying to shed some muscle mass and will use the road

as a platform to see if he can be a contender for the Australian mountain bike team for Rio. With shoulder surgery that had been put off for some time now out of the way, Paul is go-ing to swap fat tyres for skinny tyres for the better part of this year.

Paul is excited about the year ahead and how different it will be for him. “I am actually looking forward to it. I know that racing world cups is the dream for a lot of people and I am sort of turning my back on it for this year, but after doing it for five years in a row and with my team folding (which I learned about the week before the 2012 world champs) I was looking for something different. I had a sniff about to see what was on offer over in Eu-rope, but people only knew me as an eliminator rider and with that format being a bit up in the air at the moment, I wasn’t a priority for a lot of teams. Having the Felt Europe team fold really changed my perspective I have to say.”

Paul goes on to say the he is looking for-ward to the change for personal reasons, “I felt last year that my life was getting pretty one-dimensional – I just rode my bike and struggled with uni. I had been racing world cups every year since 2007, had three full sea-

sons over in Europe from 2008 and was just looking for something different.”

“Of course, not racing on the mountain bike this year will be like leaving the family. I will be racing with the Satalyst Giant team and will be based in Melbourne rather than Europe. But I will have a bit of flexibility so I will try to fit in a fair bit of marathon racing here as well. I will also try to focus a bit more on my uni degree, Exercise Sports Science.”

the rocky road aheadPaul’s first race with the Satalyst Giant

team was the Tour of Thailand. As those who have raced in Asia know, the racing is not un-like a scene from the Hangover II. The racing

unpredictable in every way, the conditions are tough, the roads are often bad, there is a lot of carnage, but at the end of the day, it’s great fun.

“It was a massive learning curve for me. I went from racing in Australia to racing Uzbeks, Poles, Vietnamese, Danes, Dutch, Azerbaijanis, you name it. There was very little order in the bunch, which made racing very tense. On stage one I figured the safest place was to be out in front so I made it into the break and finished second behind NZ fastman Rico Rogers. It wasn’t a bad start!”

“After that I had the whole team work-ing for me in the hope that I could place well overall. It was a lot of pressure and things were going well on stage two when I got to within one second of the leader’s jersey thanks to a sprint bonus, but then I missed the main break and slipped back to 7th on general classification.”

“It was a huge learning curve for me and I really gained an appreciation for the impor-tance of tactics in road racing. More than that though, the thing that I really loved was the team dynamic. I’ve never experienced anything like it. Being in contention for the

overall and having the whole team working for me was so special. I had more fun in Thailand in those 7 days than I have had in a long time. It’s not like the whole summer hasn’t been fun, it was just like riding singletrack for the first time again.”

Having survived Thailand, Paul returned to the Tour of Perth with good form and his confidence building. “Things were starting to fall into place for me at that time. The racing was very different to Thailand but still hectic and dangerous.”

Then on stage three, Paul hit the deck, “One minute I was flying along in the bunch at 70 kph and the next minute I was sliding along the bitumen on my newly reconstructed shoulder. In all seriousness, I feel lucky that I’m here talking to you today. It was one of the biggest crashes of my life - a big, big, big crash.”

“The impact caused the clavicle to fracture and luckily the reconstructed area (two screws into a bone) stayed together. I’m see-ing the surgeon this week, but at this stage it’s looking like I won’t need to have it recon-structed again.”

rebuilding…againWhen you look back at Paul’s cycling career,

when he’s knocked down, he invariably rebuilds himself to be stronger and faster. When I put this to Paul, he offers “It’s just like Gerry pruning the chestnut trees on the fam-ily farm…it’s all part of the life cycle!” With a great outlook, heaps of motivation and a thirst to explore what road racing has to of-fer, Paul is looking forward to the future.

In addition to exploring the road, Paul is still open to the idea of coming back to fat tyres for the world championship eliminator in South Africa to see if he can snatch that world title that he missed out on in 2012.

But whatever happens in the near future, Paul will always return to the mountain bike, “I will always return to fat tyres to ride sin-gletrack and race enduros, stage races and marathons. It’s part of me, it’s where I started and it’s where I’ll end up. There’s just nothing like being out on the trail (with or without a race number) just pinning it with your mates and having a great time. That will always be there, and I’ll always return to it.”

“it was a massive learning curve for me. i went from racing in australia to racing uzbeks, poles, vietnamese, danes, dutch, azerbaijanis, you name

it. there was very little order in the bunch, which made racing very tense. on stage one i figured the safest place was to be out in front so i made

it into the break and finished second behind ex-euro pro rico rogers. it wasn’t a bad start!”

Putting the watts down at Bike Buller 2013.

ENDURO 24 12

MAJOR SPONSORS SPONSORS

LAND OWNERS

We got it all folks: Lots of onsite services and entertainment. Heaps of space for campers, Motor homes and families

(childcare options available). One race base, no support vehicle needed. Jags of spot prizes for weekend warriors and

jags of cash prizes for pros. Lunch and dinner provided each day. One of the largest national and international elite fi elds

in Australia. Loads of accommodation options nearby. 30 minutes from Hobart airport. Seven di� erent racing stages.

Multiple gas hot showers - so now you’ll race like a fi end and smell awesome. MASSIVE shindig at the end.

ARCHITECTSDUNBABIN

We couldn’t put on this event without the support of local land owners. We’d like to give special thanks to the following generous land managers: Bernard Woolley, Dawn Flower, David Walsh, Forestry Tasmania, Gunns Pty.Ltd & Mark Dunbabin.

aw yeah!win 1 of 2 bikes worth over $3,000each!

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