Michael Freiberg: ‘It's great to have a comeback’
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Updated 28/10/2017 at 12:05 GMT
Former track world champion Michael Freiberg finds himself on the road in Hainan and back in the hunt for championship gold…
Michael Freiberg: ‘It’s great to have a comeback’
Image credit: Eurosport
When Australia’s most prolific UCI Continental team rolls to the start of the 2017 Tour of Hainan (2.HC), the winners of the past seven Subaru National Road Series team titles will do so without star sprinter Scott Sunderland (AUS), who has yet to be cleared after a nasty crash at the Tour of China II late last month.
However, the team will have to look no further than Sunderland’s lead-out to find his replacement for the first UCI race of the 2018 calendar when the nine-stage race kicks off in Wanning on China’s tropical island of Hainan on Saturday.
“I think Michael is quick enough to get the job done, but it’s really how well the guys get the job done on the road,” said IsoWhey Sports-SwissWellness co-founder and sports director Andrew Christie-Johnston (ACJ). “On these big, wide roads, it’s pretty messy actually and with no WorldTour teams here this year, it could be even less controllable.
“I think Michael probably likes that kind of finish more than some,” he explained further. “As long as you are on the winning end of that messiness everything is fine, but it can all go pear-shaped too.”
For the recently turned 27-year-old Western Australian (October 10), it could have perhaps been easier to just sit back and rest on his laurels and continue to hawk his cleverly designed, state-of-the-art AIRhub training device, which is currently being used by ProTour team riders all over the world, including Lotto Soudal’s André Greipel and Orica-Scott’s Mathew Hayman, just to name two. However, that’s not Michael Freiberg’s style.
The former omnium world champion is back on the bike, but this time the 2010 Commonwealth Games team pursuit gold medallist is burning up the road with the Subaru National Road Series (NRS) title and the 2018 Comm Games in sight.
After making the decision to “get fit” late last year, the former scratch race silver medallist bumped into Christie-Johnston at Oceanias in March. The two quickly surmised that a working relationship was in both party’s best interest, and the rest they say is history.
“Acutally the NRS has not been on my radar for quite a long time,” Freiberg told Eurosport. “At the end of last year I just wanted to get fit again. After all, here I was recommending all these training techniques to Luke [Durbridge] and all these other riders using the AIRhub and I thought I had better be able to not just talk about it, but rather be able to do it myself.
So, I contacted ACJ at the Oceania champs and told him I’m going to Belgium to enter a pro kermesse, so perhaps we could do something together. He said if I could lead out Scotty Sunderland they’d have me on the team — he had seen me lead out [Jonathan] Cantwell in 2011 — so they brought me on board.
Since joining the team at Tour de Korea in June, Freiberg has bolstered the IsoWhey Sports lead-out train and domestically has added two stage wins to his palmarés from King Valley and another from Amy’s Otway, along with several other podium finishes, including two runner-ups at Tour of Gippsland last week and a second overall.
Freiberg now finds himself atop the NRS individual rankings with a nearly impenetrable lead of 234 points over Ryan Cavanagh (NSWIS) with only one race remaining — the Tour of Tasmania (November 6-10).
“Technically, we can’t be beaten on the teams,” Christie-Johnston admitted to Eurosport. “Michael can be, but it’s pretty unlikely going into the Tour of Tas, which normally features a lot of different stages so you get a lot of different winners. I think Michael is pretty relaxed knowing that he will go on to win it for the first time.”
For Freiberg, it’s just another step on his continuing journey in the sport of cycling — regardless of the discipline.
“At start of the year, I raced the road nationals in my own colours, and then set a new national record in the team pursuit with Cameron Meyer, Sam Welsford and Stephen Hall,” said Freiberg of his WA team’s time of 3 minutes 55.988 seconds to best the 2010 mark (3:56.834) set by South Australia’s Rohan Dennis, Jack Bobridge, Glenn O’Shea and Alex Edmondson.
“It was a ridiculous time, which would earn you a bronze medal at the Olympics,” he continued. “Everyone was congratulating me on being towed around by three guys, but in all honesty, I think all this proves is that I have consistently raced my bike at a high level for my entire career.
“It’s been a long road, I’ve been out of the sport for a few years. It’s great to have a comeback and be able to start racing again at a really high level.”
As for Hainan, which features the likes of Italian Jakub Mareczko (Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia), Spaniard Jon Aberasturi (Team UKYO), Ukraine’s Vitaliy Buts (Team Kolss) and Italian Marco Zanotti (Monkey Town), Freiberg will have his hands full. But tells Eurosport both he and his IsoWhey teammates are up for the task.
“I’m normally the leadout guy, so it’s come down to me and I’m going to have to step up to the plate. We got six real strong guys in front of me, so we are going to have a real good crack at it,” explained Freiberg.
I’m thinking it would be great to get on the podium and would be really happy with that. We have one of the most drilled lead-out trains here, and we showed that at China II. I’m not the fastest one here, but if we get the delivery right we can get the job done.
And what about a potential return to the Comm Games, which is set for the Gold Coast in April?
“There are only two events to qualify for the omnium on the track for Gold Coast — no pursuit opportunities,” he said. “But with the Comm Games falling during the middle of the Spring Classics in Europe, it may be a great opportunity for me to earn a slot on the road. Either way, I will be signing on for a shot at either and will be ready should an opportunity present itself.”
For full stage and race results for the 2017 Tour of Hainan click here.
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