Dream a little dream | Cyclingnews

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(Image credit: Mark Gunter)

An interview with David McKenzie, November 2, 2005

Perennial hard man and one of Australian cycling's real characters, David McKenzie has decided to call an end to his professional cycling career. Tough times with the Linda McCartney team and he and his wife's attempt at a subscription-based cycling team, iTeamnova.com, have been well documented, but despite it all, 'Macca' has continued to land on his feet. Anthony Tan relives some of his happier days with him, as well as a new venture he's got in store that could be a first from the land Down Under.

"There's something about that last split second before you cross the line, you're in a world of your own and no one can ever take that away from you. And it's the most amazing feeling - and I'm not just talking about a stage win at the Giro, I'm talking about a stage win at the Sun Tour, a national title, whatever, it's just an amazing feeling and you're on top of the world... It only lasts for about three seconds, but it's so good, and I'll really miss it. It's little special things like that that I'll miss."

It's been a funny career for this likeable 31 year-old from Ballarat in country Victoria. Always a stocky rider with chunky, powerful thighs, short blonde hair and blue eyes, McKenzie began competitive cycling at the age of eight, and like many Aussies before him, he started his career on the track, making his first appearance in national colours at 16 years old. "It's all I ever wanted to do," he said about his entry into the sport.

Those young legs saw him compete in the Kilo and teams pursuit, but through his Victorian coach Dave Sanders, McKenzie came to realise he had both speed and endurance. Three years later, he was whisked away overseas with the Australian Institute of Sport under the direction of former East German coach Heiko Salzwedel, where he raced and raced and raced until his name caught the attention of a Spanish amateur squad from Valencia, Porcelavatta. It was tough but that's the way he liked it, and by the start of the 1997 season, McKenzie had turned professional.

They didn't, but riding for the ill-fated Linda McCartney outfit three years later, 'Macca' got his chance. Entering the 83rd edition of the Giro d'Italia as write-offs and told they'd never finish the race, McKenzie and his team decided to prove the Italians wrong. Finishing high on the overall classification was out of reach with names like Francesco Casagrande, Gilberto Simoni and eventual winner Stefano Garzelli, but a stage win? Anything's possible, thought McKenzie.

"What I get a kick out of is that at that time of year in Europe, it was probably one of the biggest sporting events on, and that day, it was probably televised to about 300 million people - and I managed to get four hours of airtime. So on that day, my name was broadcast over the airwaves over and over again - they probably got sick of it! But that was awesome for me - it couldn't get any bigger that day."

When Baden Cooke and Perras broke away and finished half a minute ahead of the next group on the fifth stage, the wiry Canadian took the race lead. Just two stages remained: an 11 kilometre uphill time trial and a one-hour criterium, and with a leading margin of 31 seconds, it appeared McKenzie's ambition was destined to come true. However, one rider that may have underestimated was 25 year-old Simon Gerrans, a talented, boyish-faced neo-pro from McKenzie's home state riding for AG2r Prévoyance, and a hardened neo-pro having ridden his first Tour de France this year.

A brilliant ride by Gerrans coupled with Perras' slightly sub-par performance saw him turn a 32 second deficit into a 14 second advantage, which is the way things stayed at the end. "I was a little disappointed, more so for Dominic getting beat by 14 seconds. I just wanted to be part of a winning team while I was racing in the Sun Tour," McKenzie says. "But I feel really lucky in a way, getting a name for myself in the Sun Tour winning 11 stages, always being motivated for it."

The chairman of HLP Group, the principal sponsor behind McKenzie's team at this year's Herald Sun Tour and a privately owned financial services company based out of Victoria, happens to be interested in cycling. In fact, he's so interested that the idea of forming what may be Australia's first Pro Continental Team - "and we're not talking Div. 3, we're not talking a small, struggling Div. 2 - if it goes ahead, it's going to be a pretty big time team," McKenzie says - is very real indeed, and may happen as early as 2008.

"We basically told him all about it and how much it costs, just basic sort of things, and he said, 'If it starts up and you want to manage the team, the job's yours.' So I had the option to keep racing next year, but I had the option to step out and get involved with the company. The whole infrastructure, we'd be starting out from scratch, but just with our knowledge... " his voice gradually fades out once more, dreaming for a brief moment.