Michael Matthews has won Stage 14 of Le Tour 2017. For the rider affectionately known as "Bling," this victory has been a long time coming. After having battling to unleash his mojo and sheer potential throughout this years race, the Team Sunweb rider has finally delivered. But Matthews has been targeting this particular stage for a long time, according to his sports director and fellow Australian Luke Roberts.
After Warren Barguil's victory yesterday, not to mention the Frenchman's leading the King of the Mountains classification, Team Sunweb is certainly flying high. Coming off the high of Tom Dumoulin's Giro d' Italia, these are heady days for the Dutch squad, not to mention the soft-spoken and highly articulate Roberts.
But just who is the man calling the shots in the team car as his "Keep Challenging" charges do battle on the roads of Europe? What follows is a conversation with one Luke Roberts way back in February, during the early season Abu Dhabi Tour with 2017 all in front of him.
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“Tom, can you turn on the GPS-tracking to the hotel, please? I don’t want to get us lost.”
It is an early Saturday evening as the Team Sunweb bus descends the spectacular Jebel Hafeet Mountain. Riders are asleep as Luke Roberts steers them back to Abu Dhabi, some two hours away. His business card lists his official title as coach, but Luke is doubling as a sporting director in this race. While these two roles suit the affable Australian’s caring and engaging personality, it is own cycling background that really qualifies him to call the shots.
It was a broken leg that brought Luke’s own cycling career to close. An innate track rider with an Olympic Gold Medal to his name, he says he was strong enough for the track upon his return but not for the road. With a career spent dividing his time between the two disciplines and stints on World Tour squads CSC and Saxo-Bank, the Adelaide-born rider was fortunate in that his then-team offered him a position as sporting director halfway through the season. An unplanned diversion really but then cycling is like that.
And he hasn’t looked back, gaining qualifications in elite coaching and using his own knowledge and tactical nous in guiding young riders to greater things. His job here in Abu Dhabi also extends to virtual press officer; Luke hastily dictates a media release on the team’s result to colleague Tom Veelers seated nearby. It has been a great day for the team, where another Tom, Tom Dumoulin, raced to an excellent third place on the Green Mountain. Luke indulges in ‘proof listening’ and grammatical advice, all the while guiding the ‘Keep Challenging’ squad through the highways and byways of Al Ain. It is tight program, he says of Team Sunweb’s 25-man roster. Dual programs often see resources stretched to the limit, hence his multi-tasking on the winding road back down the mountain.
“The late start tomorrow night gives the riders and staff a little more time to breathe,” says Luke as we approach the bright lights of Abu Dhabi. “I wanted the ‘swannies’ to go on ahead of us so they can get the laundry done before the riders arrive. It’s not ideal for massage too late. They need their rest”
As Team Sunweb arrive at the race hotel, Luke is already back on the phone. There are reports to write and people to inform, but more importantly there are riders to guide. Real coaches nurture and protect their charges. And Luke Roberts does that to the tee.
