The advice of cycling great Robbie McEwen was front of mind for rising star Angus Haggerty as he tackled the gruelling climb of stage three at the Pro Velo Tour of Tasmania.
The Bond University Bachelor of Commerce student finished mid pack in the first two stages of the tour for the McCarthy Homes Queensland Cycling Foundation Team.
He then looked to make his mark in the scramble over Gunn’s Plains, drawing on positioning skills emphasised by McEwen and practised during a recent stint in Flanders, Belgium.
Haggerty met with the 12-time Tour de France stage winner ahead of his trip to the cycling capital of the world, with the veteran urging him to embrace the challenges of triweekly European kermesse racing, which sees cyclists complete 90–120km of riding on a 5–10km loop, with those who are lapped eliminated from the race.
“Robbie told me to embrace the experience and practice my positioning skills in the first month, as I initially wouldn’t finish any races due to getting lapped,” Haggerty said.
“It’s all about positioning in the bunch of 150 riders and if you’re at the back, you’re exposed to all of the wind, making it impossible to catch back up.
“It was a shock stepping up from Australian to European racing and I didn’t finish races at the start, but after three months, I was able to finish and even crack into the top 20.”
The experience had the 19-year-old Haggerty, a natural climber, primed to test his legs at the highest level of racing in Australia.
“Tasmania was suited to my riding – it’s hilly with steep mountains,” Haggerty said.
“I was particularly looking forward to stage three…it was an hour-long climb, about twenty kilometres, which played to my strengths.”
Haggerty, who names four-time Tour de France winner and Slovenian cyclist Tadej PogaÄŤar as his idol, has big ambitions for the future.