My first two races back at Tour du Limousin and GP Plouay were great and proved to be ideal preparation for the Vuelta. In terms of my fitness, I am very happy with where I’m at. Last year my form peaked a lot earlier and by the time the World Championships came around I felt I might have been starting to come down slightly from my best form. It can be a real fine line perfecting a performance peak and I learned a lot from last year.

I guess you could say that the best thing coming out of my crash at the Tour de France was the forced rest and then the possibility to slowly build my condition for the remaining part of the season.

Following the races at Limousin and Plouay, I headed to Annecy to catch up with my coach and Osteo Benoit, I then flew to Seville last Tuesday to join the rest of my teammates.

Simon is feeling positive after todays final stage of the Tour de Limousin in France. He achieved a top 10 result with 8th place in stage one and now heads into tomorrow's GP Plouay with a confident outlook. 

"Limousin was about getting race fitness and finding my legs. I didn't expect much from the race other than to suffer and help out my teammates. The top 10 result in stage one was a bonus and I started to feel better each day".

The Tour de Limousin was the first race back for Simon since breaking his arm at the Tour.

"After having a disappointing Tour de France, I had a couple of days off the bike before resuming training and focus towards the last part of the season.

Altitude Volvo, who is one of Simon's Melbourne based sponsors, will be donating $250 from every car sold this weekend to the Murdoch Childrens Reserach Institute. There are some great prices on the entire range of new and selected used Volvos. Every test drive will also go into the draw to win Family Escape at Falls Creek.

The sale starts on Friday 30 July, 9am to 6pm and continues on Saturday 31 July, 8.30am to 7pm.
Saturday 31 July Activities:
Complimentary BBQ
Free Showbags and children’s face painting
Handball competition with Melbourne Football Club Players
 
Altitude Volvo Brighton: 913 Nepean Hwy, Bentleigh VIC P: 9576 5399 (Between Patterson & South Road intersections) www.altitudevolvocars.com.au