McGee in "full Tour mode"

With just the Tour de Suisse left before he launches his assault on the 2005 Tour de France, La Française des Jeux's Bradley McGee was more than happy to score a win at the GP de Villers Cotterêts two weeks ago. The victory also happened to be his first one-day victory since turning professional six years ago in 1999, which was another reason for the 29 year-old Sydneysider to celebrate.

Recalling the race as he saw it on his personal website, bradleymcgee.com, he wrote: "The race was aggressive and relentless in pace. Almost a 45km/h average for the 14 laps and 193km's. With a mix of many Pro Continental teams and a few ProTour teams, the race lacked a clear 'ruler' causing constant attacking.

"FDJ rode superbly all day and never lacked a guy for every major move. I was able to hold solid positioning all day near the front before making a leap for victory 1 1/2 laps out, dragging two guys with me - [Samuel] Plouhinec and [John] Gadret. Clearing out from these two at just over 1km to go sealed victory.

"Feels good to put one away just prior to switching into full Tour mode with less racing (only the Tour de Suisse before the start of the Tour) and many training camps," McGee concluded.

See also: April 2005 Tour de Romandie interview with Bradley McGee - Absolutely!