Now back in Australia, Cyclingnews diarist Trent Wilson is enjoying a good run of form. The Selle Italia-Colombia rider, along with his equally larrikin Aussie team-mate, Russell Van Hout, returned from Europe early last month, deciding it was best to finish their season with a solid block of racing Down Under, beginning with the final race of the Tattersall's Cup Series, and finishing with the Herald Sun Tour and Tour of Queensland.
"That was a bit of a disaster, really," said Wilson about Tatt's Cup Tour of the Murray River, where he was judged most aggressive rider on the ninth stage before finishing in third place that day. "Russ and I were thinking we were going to make some good coin, but to be honest, we were marked by everybody; we couldn't move anywhere until the last day, when the tour was nearly wrapped up."
Despite this, 'Willo', as he's known to his mates, had his eye on a few other races, one being the Grafton to Inverell classic two weeks later. Race conditions were described the toughest in the 45-year history of the 228 kilometre race, with a howling headwind and a winner's time an hour slower than that seen in recent years, but Wilson was undeterred, creating the final five-man selection with 20 kilometres to go on the climb of Wire Gully. Though as he admits, the lack of a sprint put paid to his chances, especially going up against Health Net's Greg Henderson, a previous scratch race world champion, who took the race comfortably from two young Victorian Institute of Sport riders, with Wilson in fourth.
"I rode better than the results showed... I just can't sprint!" he laughs, albeit a little nervously.
The nervous chuckle may also have something to do with the fact that Wilson is on the hunt for a new team next year. After Selle Italia-Colombia's brilliant performance at this year's Giro d'Italia, which saw the team earn three stage wins, the mountains classification and a place on the final podium - and which Wilson and Van Hout were a part of - it seems direttore sportivo Gianni Savio is in the midst of a little 'restructuring', with his eyes on making the ProTour in 2006. Sure, the restructure is understandable to some extent, but it's also the harsh reality of a domestique who's rarely given the chance to ride for himself.
"Same as every year, pretty tough," Wilson said when asked about the market conditions in securing a contract over in Europe. "If you're in Division 2 and you're not in the ProTour... if you're not Baden Cooke or Stuart O'Grady, it's pretty tough every year."
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Which makes next week's Herald Sun Tour all the more important. Three years ago, Wilson took his best-ever result in the race, finishing fifth overall and claiming the mountains classification prize, with two top-10 places before that, so the lanky Parramatta rider is no stranger to solid results in the race. This year, he'll be riding for a local team based out of Sydney, Caravello/FRF Couriers, comprised of a number of youngsters along with experienced New Zealander Gordon McCauley. "I've always ridden against him, but he's one of those guys you hate to race [against] because he's always aggressive from k zero, so he's good to have," remarks Wilson about the veteran Kiwi.
"I've shown enough form for them [the team] to have some confidence in me, so we'll see what happens. I'd love a top five on general classification, and/or the king of the mountains jersey or a stage win. I'd been there [winning the mountains classification] and been close [to a stage win] a few times, but I've never won a stage there.
"Out training, I've been feeling average, but as soon as I pin a number on, I've been travelling well. All of a sudden, the lights come on, and I feel pretty good. It's [the Sun Tour] a pretty hard tour, so it could suit me if the form's there."
