Jack Bauer is in the form of his life

Bauer celebrates his Utah win ©Lyne Lamoureux

Sep 9th, 11. 2010 NZ Road Champion Jack Bauer talks to RoadCycling.co.nz about his form, the upcoming Tour of Britain, World Champs, Tour of Southland and 2012.

"If my form's not on track now it never will be!"

Last month, Bauer was in the USA racing the Tour of Utah with his UCI Continental team Endura Racing.

After a break in July the goal of the week long tour was to build form for the 26 year old's two goal events for the second half of season, the Tour of Britiain and the UCI Road World Championships.

"I used the week at Utah as training, took the mountain stages easy and just rode my own pace. Along with the obvious benefits of racing at altitude, bagging a stage win was a bonus!" Bauer said.

On Stage 2 of that tour, Bauer attacked on the second to last corner. The move was meant as a leadout for his teammate, but when he realised he had a gap, the Kiwi made the most of the opportunity and sprinted the top class field to stage victory.

"After Utah I had a week and a half back home in Girona, I shut things down for a bit and took it pretty easy. It can take a while to get back into the European time zone and recover from travel."

Last year Bauer raced, trained and lived in the UK. This year his team is racing in Europe and the Kiwi has joined many other cyclists living in Girona, Spain, a move Bauer considers a fantastic decision.

"It's a beautiful place to live. A lot of fun with better training, weather and surroundings. A place like Girona inspires me to get out on my bike, whereas in the UK that wasn't the case. It was more of a struggle to clock up the hours.

Jack Bauer ©RoadCycling.co.nz

"Plus I love living near the coast. Sand, sun that's more my scene. And of course a lot of cyclist live here, so it's great to have other people to ride with."

In the last week, Bauer has been back at altitude in La Molina, a ski resort northwest of Girona in Spain, near the French border.

"It's a beautiful area. We took eight of the team up there for a pre-Britain training camp, and got some great work done. So... if my form's not on track now it never will be!"

Tour of Britain Sep 11-18

Bauer does not have a set role in the team for the Tour of Britain. He has GC ambitions, but with a well-balanced team and a few options for the overall, the first few days of racing will determine who is the leader and who are the support riders.

The eight stage tour has a mix of course profiles - seven road stages and on the final day the tour concludes with a TT in central London. 

"I don't like to focus too much on individual stages, rather I'll take my chances as they come. It's not like I'm an all-out TTer, sprinter, so since I'm more of an all-rounder I need to race smart, and when the oppportunity arises, go for the win," he said.

"I am definitely looking forward to racing in the centre of London with the TT and final circuit race. It's always great racing in really historic areas like that."

He expects the weather and road surfaces, plus the frequent short, sharp killer climbs to be the tour's biggest challenges.

Bauer at the Worlds last year ©RoadCycling.co.nz

World Championships

Bauer raced the UCI World Championships time trial event last year as a late call up to replace an ill Jeremy Vennell.  

As a relatively unknown rider, he surprised many with his flying performance. He was the 13th rider to start, and when he crossed the line he had the 2nd fastest time. He finished in 23rd place. 

What most did not know was it was only his second time trial event ever.

This year's Worlds final selection has not yet been announced, but Bauer is on the longlist for the New Zealand team. If he had a choice, he would pick to ride the road race over the time trial event.

"I'm ready for it, and keen to prove myself with London Olympics around the corner," he said.

Season's lessons

2010 was Bauer's first year with Endura Racing, the year prior he had his first taste of international road cycling with nine months in Belgium,  and before that he was a top NZ mountain biker.  

Each season he has learnt more and more about who he is as a rider and how best to develop his skills, this year was no different.

"I've learnt a lot this season - tactically how to race better and smarter, how to eat, train and live better to improve my riding. I've been able to pick up a lot off my teammates this season as well as my director who lives in Girona. It all makes a difference come race day.

"I think you're always learning in any job, and with riding it's no different. One thing I've learnt this year is that if you leave too much out on the road when you're training, you'll have nothing left in the tank come race day!"

After the Tour of Utah win, Bauer fielded a few calls from teams interested to discuss his plans for 2012, but at this stage he is undecided about his future.

"It's a difficult year for picking up contracts with a couple of teams merging, folding and a lot of free riders on the market. At the moment I'm just focusing on the last couple of events on the calendar."

No Southland this year

For the last two years Bauer placed 2nd overall in New Zealand's end of season tour, the Tour of Southland, but he told RoadCycling.co.nz he will not be racing this year.

"No not this year. I've raced it the last three years and I am keen for a break."