Written by 19:16 Pro Cycling Story

A victory years in the making

I want to tell you what a Tour de France stage victory means. My oldest son told me he doesn’t like soccer anymore, cycling is his now favourite sport. My wife told me he is drawing cycling pictures with a rider putting his hands in the air and telling people, “that’s my dad.” He is six years old but knows that this is a big moment for us.

We’ve had seven stages since I won, but my wife, Ali, is still watching my victory. She watches the stages every day, then afterwards goes back to the highlights of my win.

My dad started all this off by getting me on the bike from before I could walk almost. He was there from the start. When I was a kid, tired from training, he would tie a tube to my bike and pull me home. My parents have always believed in me.

My wife and kids drove five hours just to come and spend a few hours with me to celebrate. A Tour de France stage win is bigger than just you.

But of course, my story isn’t so simple. The journey to this point has not been easy to say the least.

I’d like to take you back to 2011. A year that would be a very testing one for me.

I signed for a team called Pegasus that folded before it even started. I was left with nothing and had to return to South Africa. I was lucky enough to get bailed out by MTN-Qhubeka who were racing at Continental level. I was very grateful for them, but I was racing two levels down from the World Tour where I was the year before with RadioShack. I went from doing some of the biggest races in the world to doing Tour of Morocco and racing in Iran.

The transition was not easy to deal with mentally. Before leaving for Morocco, I went to Spain to pack up my belongings from the year before.

Dan Martin was kind enough to let me leave some stuff at his place. I remember struggling to carry all these boxes up to his place. I said goodbye to him. It was a sad moment and felt like it was the end of my career.

I did Morocco, then back to South Africa for some club races.

I couldn’t give up on the dream. I was working hard with the aim of getting back to Europe and didn’t know a lifeline was coming my way.

I went to do a tour in Iran in May. Netapp, a German continental team asked me if I wanted to join them in Europe. I went straight from Iran to Europe and didn’t even have a chance to say goodbye to Ali who was back in South Africa. I flew from Iran to Belgium with MTN-Qhubeka and said goodbye to them. My life was all over the place.

It felt daunting meeting a new team. I didn’t know who was meeting me at the airport, didn’t know anyone on the team and didn’t know what to expect. But at the hotel I felt comfortable once I met the guys, they were pretty chilled and good guys.

I knew this was my last lifeline to get back to Europe full time.

Netapp gave me some opportunities to get results. I had some good results at the Tours of Austria and Switzerland, but nothing significant that showed I deserved a spot on a World Tour team again.

Daryl Impey. Getty Images
Daryl Impey. Getty Images

I knew this new Australian team was starting up at the end of the year and had been in touch with Matt White, the director.

They were looking for someone who could fill the gap and chip in. Someone who could sprint, climb okay, do a bit of everything. I was that guy. I was pushing very hard. I kept messaging Matt saying, “come on man, give me a chance.”

If you ask enough times, eventually they say geez this guy really wants it. I persevered because I had a feeling that this was the team for me.

I was renting a room from Dan Martin in his apartment in Girona at the time. We were having a braai – bbq for non-South Africans. Whitey called and said we have a spot for you.

They took a chance on me. I was the last rider they signed.

The following year I went from never having done a Grand Tour to doing two in one year.

The team originally sent me to the Giro d’Italia then after seeing my performance, they actually pulled me from the race after the second week because they wanted to send me to the Tour de France. This was the biggest race in the world so these guys must believe in me I thought to myself.

I went from racing Morroco and Iran to the Tour de France in 12 months.

This has been the perfect team for me. I got rewarded for being myself. I wasn’t trying to be different, I raced how I wanted and took the responsibility they gave me. When they asked me to lead someone out, I took it as my race winning move. If someone asked me to lead them out, I thought they must believe in me, so I want to honour that.

Slowly I became the leadout man for Gerro and Gossy. Then, as guys left over the years, opportunities started coming my way.

At the end of 2017, we had a meeting and I said to the team I want more responsibility next year. Matty Wilson said to me, so you want more pressure? I expected more of myself and I knew it was time to show it. The team had been building my confidence over the years.

Picture by Zac Williams/SWpix.com – 14/07/2019 – Cycling – Road – 2019 Tour De France Stage 9 , Saint-Etienne to Brioude, France – Daryl Impey wins stage 9.

Now, back to this year’s Tour de France magical moment.    

The plan was for Matteo and me to get in the breakaway. There were several attacks. Edvald Boasson Hagen was the guy who started the move. I hesitated. Another rider went after him and when I looked back, everyone was on their hands and knees, so I sensed this was the moment. I jumped and we pulled a small group forward. I heard on the radio they were blocking the road in the peloton, so our gap started growing. All of a sudden, we were gone. I’m in the break. First box of the day ticked.

The whole day was weird, but not in a bad way. I just felt in control. I didn’t talk to the car on the radio much. The only thing I did was call them up for food and drink.

Everyone knew this group could win. I looked around at the caliber of riders and didn’t know how things were going to unfold because there were so many good riders. At the same time, I just felt in the groove.

I spoke to Wilson in the car when I went back for bottles. He asked, how are you going to play it? I said I’m just going to watch Tiesj and see how he goes on the climb. The next guy to keep an eye on is Naesen.

I’m only going to watch those two guys, they are my picks. They are crafty, experienced bike riders who were bound to get away. If I was with them, I knew I could beat both of them in a sprint.

It was funny, when I spoke to Naesen the next day, he said he didn’t even know I was there with him on the climb. He thought it was only Stuyven with him. I had wondered why they weren’t asking me to do a turn on the front. I was just sitting at the back thinking, this is falling into my hands.

I had 700m to the top and knew I needed to get to the front now. I gave it everything.

I pulled hard because I didn’t want anyone to come back. I drove it straight away and committed.

Then there were two of us left in front. I started thinking, this is the moment. I’ve had this feeling before. In the Tour Down Under last year, when Richie attacked on Willunga, I had that same “this is the moment,” feeling. I was suffering when he went, but just sensed ‘this is the moment, this is when you can win’.

This was the exact same feeling I had in the last 5 kilometres in the Tour. I believed in myself that I could do it.

I remember shouting as I crossed the line. I looked up and saw the mob around me. The emotions came rushing. When I looked down, I had tears in my eyes. I’ve never had that before. It was a moment of realising I’ve reached the top of the sport.

I shocked myself. The whole day I believed I could win. But to actually achieve it?

I’ve just won a stage in the Tour de France. It is shocking. It’s Bastille Day. The day everyone wants to win. I get to win in the South African jersey.

When the president of South Africa tweeted about it, I realised the magnitude of it.

The hardest part of winning something that big is coming back next year and doing it again. It’s very difficult to repeat. I remember when I wore the yellow jersey in 2013, it was amazing, and we were caught up in the high but you only realise the magnitude of it six years later when you’ve tried year after year but failed to repeat that success.

So, I know, coming back next year and doing it again is a massive task. But Mitchelton-Scott is such a special team. It’s the team that has brought out the best qualities in me. I’ve been lucky enough to be part of the backbone of the team. We’ve brought each other up in this team and see each other improve. Our core values have always remained. That’s always what gets us achieving more every year.

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up-to-date.


Tags: , , , , Last modified: Jan 19, 2020
Close

Never miss a story

Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team.

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This