00:00Sous-titrage Société Radio-Canada
00:30Was that good at the start of a Grand Tour, like this year?
00:36I would say no, but I've been, yeah, close to before in the Vuelta 2021,
00:45and I also felt quite good at the Giro last year,
00:49but I think I've found a bit more fitness than the Giro last year.
00:56How do you explain that? How did you do it? Is it just confidence?
01:00No, it's also, like, it's just fitness and numbers have improved.
01:07Like, the metrics are just better coming into this year,
01:13so better preparation that you learn from what you did in previous years
01:18and how to do it better.
01:19All right, next question, Simon, please.
01:28Yeah, hi, Michael. Simon from the ABC in Australia.
01:31Thanks for taking the time for us this morning for you, obviously.
01:37I was listening to an interview on Cycling News with Larry Warbass,
01:42obviously your road captain, I guess,
01:45and he was saying that your numbers are just absolutely off the charts this year,
01:50that you're a machine, and that, you know,
01:53this is such a great opportunity to sort of maybe get a top five,
01:56maybe even a top three.
01:59He also mentioned that he's sort of made a couple of little adjustments for you
02:03in terms of getting your positioning sort of right on the bike.
02:07Like, how often, I guess,
02:09how much have you needed to, you know,
02:12constantly tinker with your positioning in order to get the most out of it,
02:15and do you really feel like you've sort of hit upon a bit of a sweet spot
02:18at the moment?
02:21Yeah, it's a lot.
02:24Sorry.
02:24Yeah, for sure, for sure, position on the bike's important,
02:28and, yeah, a lot of teams also look a lot more aerodynamic,
02:32and, yeah, Larry also, yeah, helps me, yeah,
02:37to find, like, good position on the bike,
02:39which I also practised in Tour of the Alps.
02:42Yeah, faster position as well.
02:44So it's always, like, a work in progress.
02:48But during the season, you're not going to make huge, huge changes.
02:55Yeah, with, like, equipment and things,
02:57so it's always around the sort of off-season period
03:02that teams can bring in new things.
03:06And then with the, he was saying I have, like, really good power numbers.
03:15Yes, my first year as a teammate with him,
03:17so I've always been doing good power numbers.
03:19He just didn't know me before joining the team.
03:25But, yeah, like, I found a little bit extra this year
03:28with, like, good preparation.
03:29He also sort of mentioned that, like, you've got a bit of, I guess,
03:36confidence descending as well.
03:38And I guess one of the things he said which sort of stuck to me
03:43is, like, when you're as good as you are,
03:45like, you just have to go for those general classification opportunities.
03:50Like, how much of a sort of, I guess, mental obstacle is it going from,
03:54I guess, hunting for stage wins to thinking,
03:57okay, I'm going to have to try and be consistent over three weeks now?
04:02I think for sure it's a challenge.
04:05And I just had to work on my, yeah,
04:09just work on everything, weaknesses and strengths,
04:12especially weaknesses because in a grand tour they can make you come undone.
04:18But it's also been a pretty steady progression as well.
04:23Yeah, I've been doing GCN a lot of week-long stage races and it was especially
04:31since joining this team that they've been trying to help me, yeah,
04:37improve on my, on what I need to so that I can do three weeks.
04:41And I did it last year, so I can't see why I can't do it this year.
04:44Just one more, if I may, quickly.
04:48Quite a few Aussies, I think there's 14 on the start list this year.
04:53Obviously, there's a couple of pretty strong ones as well,
04:55Jai Hindley, Jai Vine.
04:57Obviously, you're a Perth boy, West Australian.
04:59Like, the WA team would be pretty good if there's a general classification team
05:03in its own right.
05:04Like, what do you put that down to?
05:05And I guess how much comfort is there being a lot of Aussies in the peloton,
05:10particularly in such a big race, even though I know they're probably not going
05:13to be your friends over the next couple of weeks?
05:19I think it's really nice that we have a lot of Australians in the race.
05:22It just shows that the, yeah, what was, like, going on the cycling scene
05:30in Australia 10, 15 years ago was really, well, from 10, 15 years
05:36until there's some younger guys too, up until now was really good for, yeah,
05:43like, bringing us all up to a high level where we can all make it
05:48into the top of the sport.
05:51And for Perth, we also had a really good local scene back when I was coming through,
05:57and that was really essential for me to becoming professional.
06:04Thank you.
06:07Good.
06:08Next question, please.
06:14Yeah.
06:15Then we go on with James from Cycling News, please.
06:19Go ahead.
06:21Hi, Michael.
06:23Nice to meet you, first of all.
06:24But how important will this first week be for you before getting to the stages
06:28that really suit you best towards the back end of the Giro?
06:32Every stage is important in a Grand Tour when you're on a ride GC,
06:36so definitely the first week is also important.
06:40I'm not sure there'll be huge differences in the first week,
06:44but you don't want to be too far on the back foot.
06:48So it's always important.
06:53Yeah, and I think we've only seen you do one ITT this year right at the start
06:57of the season, the UE Tour, so maybe not the best tell of where that form would be.
07:00How much have you worked on that as something that may be a weakness for you
07:04in this race, but how much have you worked on your TT heading into this Giro?
07:08I've worked a lot more on the TT than last year
07:11because it's a clear weakness, I guess you could call it.
07:18Like, it's a discipline where I was losing too much time.
07:22So at the same time, it's also an opportunity
07:25because working on it, there's a lot more gains to be made.
07:30So hopefully that pays off this year.
07:32Michael, growing up in Australia, what was the race you were dreaming of as a junior, as a kid?
07:43Was it the Tour de France? Was it the Giro? Was it Paris-Roubaix?
07:46What brought you to cycling?
07:50I would say in terms of watching races, it was the Tour de France
07:56because when I was really getting into cycling, Cadel Evans won the Tour
08:01and I was also watching it.
08:05But more than just watching the races, I just enjoyed cycling and training.
08:11So that was actually the main driver, not necessarily the dream of the big races.
08:18It was more just because I enjoyed it.
08:22And then through under-19s, under-23s,
08:27then I realized I actually had the ability to become professional.
08:32Before then, I was just riding my bike for enjoyment and training.
08:42Just to follow up, but you're dreaming of the Magia Rosa now?
08:45Who doesn't dream of it?
08:51But let's be realistic here.
08:54It's extremely hard to win this race.
08:58So, yeah, I'd be happy with my race as long as I do the best I can.
09:05Whether that puts me in the top 10 or the pink jersey
09:09or I'm struggling to get through.
09:12Like, if I do the best race I can, I'm satisfied with that.
09:18But, of course, I want to bring home some results too.
09:23If that's all right.
09:24Sorry, thank you.
09:26You mentioned it's going to be a very tough race to win, obviously.
09:30You've got, I think, five former winners.
09:34Obviously, Primoz is possibly favourite.
09:37One, obviously, again, well up there.
09:40But these are sort of some of the big names.
09:42And your name has been mentioned alongside them
09:44as being a potential winner.
09:46That must be, I don't know, is it overwhelming?
09:50Is it sort of, are you able,
09:52you seem like quite a relaxed guy to be able to sort of take it on board.
09:56or how much are you sort of leaning on your team
09:59to sort of distract you from all the chat?
10:02I just take it as a compliment that people think I can do it
10:06because, yeah, it just shows,
10:10it just makes me feel that I've come a long way
10:12when, yeah, now I'm getting mentioned.
10:17And that's quite nice.
10:19Hopefully, I can also deliver on that.
10:20But if I don't, like, I'm used to getting beaten.
10:23So, it's not a big problem for me.
10:26Thank you.
10:27Thank you.
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