Simon Gerrans over the years
Simon Gerrans is an Australian professional cyclist born in Melbourne, Australia. He represented the UCI ProTour team, Sky in 2011 and will represent Shayne Bannan’s squad GreenEdge for the season ahead.
His first known victory came in 2002 as he won the under 23 title and finished fifth at the senior Australian National Road Race Championships. Simon joined the Portugal based Team Carvalhelhos-Boavista in 2003 as a trainee.
The Australian started his professional career in 2005 with Team AG2R Prevoyance and spent a period of three years with the side.
His overall win at the Herald Sun Tour 2005 -6 followed by the Tour Down Under 2006 success recognised him as a world class rider.
The cyclist was unlucky as he was involved in a crash during GP d’Ouverture 2006 which resulted in serious injuries. Gerrans was left with a broken shoulder and was lucky to start training after three weeks.
He moved to Team Credit Agricole in 2008 and secured his first Grand Tour win after winning the stage 15 of the Tour de France 2008.
Gerrans signed up with Cervelo TestTeam in 2009 and despite his previous performance the cyclist was not given the chance to ride at the Tour de France 2009. Nevertheless, he was seen in action at the Giro d’ Italia and Vuelta a Espana.
Year 2009 brought the maximum number of victories for Simon as he secured stage wins at the Giro d’ Italia and Vuelta a Espana.
The Australian also managed the stage 1 victory at Bay Classic Series along with the third place finish at the Gp di Lugano.
The 31-year-old became the first Australian cyclist with a stage win for all three Grand Tours under his belt.
Simon joined Team Sky for 2010 season and was selected to represent the side at the Tour de France.
He was involved in a crash during stage 8 of the Tour and broke his arm which ultimately ended his tour hopes.
He will now be seen in action with Team GreenEdge in 2012 as he said, "This might be a new team on paper but it has been 20-years in the making by people like Shayne Bannan and I know the amount of preparation he does to get things right".
He also mentioned that, "In some ways joining GreenEdge has a coming home feeling to it as many of the people involved, like Shayne and Gerry Ryan, have been a big part of my career for more than 10-years".
Team Green Edge is the first Australian team to ride at the World Tour level. UCI approved the paperwork submitted by the management and GreenEdge squad is all set to take on the 2012 season.
Shayne Bannan’s team has a majority of Australian cyclists in their line up; in fact almost 90 % of the riders are Native Australians.
It has hired some of the most experienced cyclists from professional cycling to ensure its success at the World Tour level.
Some of the top riders to ride along Gerrans in the new side include, Stuart O’ Grady, Simon Gerrans, Pieter Weening, Jack Bobridge, Cameron Meyer and Travis Meyer. Matt Goss, Allan Davis, Leigh Howard and Michael Hepburn will also ride along Simon Gerrans
in 2012.
Gerrans is hopeful to have a good start with the home team and it is expected that he will be given an opportunity at the Tour de France 2012. He is positive to take his career to new heights with the Australian squad.
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