Mansfield … at the foothills of the Victorian Alps was the birthplace of Australian cyclist Simon Gerrans and latest Patron of the Maillot Jaune Club in Melbourne. As a teenager, Mt Buller and Mt Stirling offered the perfect training ground for the future holder of the Tour de France Maillot Jaune.
Gerrans, the accidental cyclist, rides for Orica-GreenEDGE. He took up cycling after injuring his knee in a motor bike accident at 16yrs while riding the ‘dirty dozen’ mountain bike trails near Mansfield.
Seeking advice on his injury, Gerrans spoke with Mansfield neighbor, former Maillot Jaune holder Phil Anderson, whom he credits with introducing him to the sport.
Simon’s natural ability enabled him to later become an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder, after which he won the 2002 Under-23 Australian Road Race Championship.
In 2003, Gerrans went on to ride as a trainee with the Carvalhelhos-Boavista team, based in Portugal and then as a trainee for the AG2R Prévoyance team in 2004. He turned professional in 2005, staying with AG2R Prévoyance and participated in his first Tour de France in the same year.
His biggest triumphs are winning his home race – the ‘Tour Down Under’ twice, and getting the better of one-day races such as the 2009 GP Ouest-France. After winning Stage 10 of the 2009 Vuelta a España, Gerrans became the first Australian to win a stage of each of the three Grand Tours.
In 2011, Gerrans came 3rd in the Amstel Gold Race and won the Danmark Rundt. Shortly after that victory, it was announced that Gerrans would join Orica GreenEDGE for the team's inaugural season in 2012.
Returning to Australia, Gerrans won the 2012 Australian National Road Race Championship for the first time, out-sprinting Lampre-ISD's Matthew Lloyd and Team Sky's Richie Porte for victory.
Other wins included the 2012 Milan to San Remo; the 2012 Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec. In the 2013 Tour de France, Gerrans claimed the Maillot Jaune on Stage 3 in Corsica by winning the sprint finish and was also part of the winning Orica GreenEDGE team in the Stage 4 team time trial in Nice.
