The last time Simon Clarke (Israel-Premier Tech) lined up at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race in Geelong was 2015 where he took second place, so he headed toward this year's return with a degree of confidence - that is, until he tested positive for COVID-19 at least.
It was after coming second at the Australian Road National Championships in Ballarat and before lining up in Adelaide for the Schwalbe Classic that the 36-year-old was struck by the coronavirus, but while it didn't hit particularly hard and Clarke was ultimately able to make it to race the Tour Down Under it did take a toll.
"You can feel fine in everyday life but when we have to go so deep, that's when you really notice the effects of, not necessarily COVID, but just being sick," Clarke told reporters. "You know your body's not 100% and I definitely paid for that in Tour Down Under."
"You probably didn't see a whole lot of me last week in Adelaide because of that and I devoted more of my time to supporting the team and to be honest, I felt similar today. But I know one-day races and I know that's my thing and I just tried to block that out and focus on the final."
The attacks kept coming as the 176-kilometre race continued through the four laps of the finishing circuit with the Challambra Crescent climb as its central feature, and with a headwind up the climb and on the right-hand turn after the finish line, it just sapped too much energy to stay away so Clarke said he knew it was bound to come down to some type of bunch sprint, so he saved energy on the final climb.
“I just thought, I don't have to have the legs like at Buninyong to be in the top three over the last climb,” said Clarke, referring to the road race at the National Championships. “I can be in the top 20 and still get a result. And so that's just what I focussed on today and in the end, it worked out.”
Third place behind Marius Mayrhofer (Team DSM), 22, and Hugo Page (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty), 21, meant in both the editions of the race Clarke had lined up in he had made it to the podium. This time it was alongside two riders who were just 13 and 14 when he last stepped up to the podium where Corio Bay forms the backdrop.
"These young kids are just getting faster and faster so a podium with these young kids coming up is pretty nearly as good as a win,” quipped Clarke. “And to do it at Cadel Race, who is a very close friend of mine … you know, I was really hoping to be able to deliver today."
Clarke has found the form of his career since being picked up by Israel-Premier Tech at the start of last season when he was battling to find a contract. He won a Tour de France stage last year and has started 2023 strongly with his visits to the podium at both the National Championships and the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race. His teammate Corbin Strong, too came fifth at the one-day WorldTour race. his results so far this year, too will deliver and the who had to battle to find a team at the start of last season before being picked up by Israel-Premier Tech, was not up near the front for his team, with Corbin Strong also in fifth.
"It's also some great points for the team and we struggled with that last year," said Clarke, referring to Israel-Premier Tech's relegation from the WorldTour. "So I think between Nationals and today, we've been able to make a good contribution to that already."
