By Shane Stokes in Olten
Australian Simon Gerrans is, like last year, here in the Tour de Suisse aiming for a strong ride. He wants a place on the AG2R Prévoyance team for the Tour de France and knows that a good performance in the race could secure his selection.
"I am not certain yet for the Tour," he said while cooling down on the rollers after his TT effort. "I guess there are about half a dozen guys for the last spot. There are a few slots left but some of the guys aiming for them are in the Dauphiné and going well. I guess it is pretty tight for those last couple of places. If I am going well here I guess it will be all good. We will see."
Gerrans finished 89th in the prologue, 24 seconds behind stage winner Fabian Cancellara, but feels that he should have the condition to ride aggressively on the road race stages. "The form has come up good, actually. I will see how the first few days pan out. If I lose a lot of time on one of the mountain stages I will back right off and then have a go on a particular stage. Kind of like last year.
"It is obviously a real climbers race. It will be good to try to the legs and see where I am at."
The mood is high on the team following Christophe Moreau's determined march back into the Dauphiné lead on Saturday. This further fuels his desire to be one of the nine riders heading to France. "Cadel [Evans] was seemingly the only one who could follow him today when he went," he said. "Christophe is back in the lead now and that is very motivating for the Tour. It's great to know the guys are going that well."
