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For many years, Simon Kessler was a stalwart in the South African professional cycling scene. A key part of Doug Ryder's early teams like IBM-Lotus and Microsoft, his palmares includes two national road titles as well as being a regular member of the SA National Team to races like Le Tour de Langkawi. Coaching was – and still is – a big part of his life and he developed into a well-respected road captain and mentor to his younger teammates as his career progressed. The aforementioned credentials, though, are but a snapshot of Simon's greater cycling and life story. Lesser known perhaps are his moving to Europe straight after school to pursue a professional contract. Or experiencing – and overcoming – career threatening injuries. Not to mention driving all over Europe as an 18-year-old, often alone.
'My Dad is French, and my grandparents lived in Paris,' says Simon. Now domiciled in Boulder, Colorado, the well-travelled Kessler explains that his family heritage together with his father being a sought-after cycling coach were but pieces of a bigger puzzle that allowed his entry into the European racing scene. Enter an encounter with a Parisian-based international cycling legend in late-1992.
'Laurent Fignon visited Johannesburg in late 1992 and I got the opportunity to train with him. One day we raced up one of Joburg's tougher climbs and I was only a few seconds behind him at the crest after a maximum effort. While Laurent was winding down his pro career by that time, he was suitably impressed and put me in touch with Guy Gallopin, who ran the amateur team Corbeil Essonne. Guy is the brother of Alain Gallopin, the latter having been Fignon's long-time soigneur and confidant.
The Gallopin name has been synonymous with professional cycling for decades. Alain's partnership with Laurent Fignon and subsequent directeur sportif acclaim aside, brothers Guy and Joël both raced professionally in the 1980s as did nephew Tony in more recent years. Thanks to Fignon's recommendation, both Guy and Alain were now aware of Simon's talent and goals, and he found a place for the young Johannesburger at Corbeil Essonne.
'I had been part of the South African team that competed in the Junior Tour of Austria in 1992,' he remembers. 'So I had already been exposed to some international racing. Starting with AS Corbeil–Essonnes was an eye-opener, though, even though I was still racing in the junior category. The racing component aside, it was living over there pretty much straight out of school that was a true growing experience. I can remember driving to races all over Europe by myself, and also up to Belgium to visit my SA friend Anthon Vermaerke, who was forging the same path as me. But I stuck at it and eventually got some good results on both the track and the road, which got me promoted to a category 1 amateur rider.'
Thanks to Simon's dual citizenship, he raced as a Frenchman, winning four Ile de France championship titles as well as two silver medals at the French national track championships. He was also selected for the French junior squad in the team time trial discipline and, although not making the final cut, his progress was being noted by his club and talent scouts alike.
'Those were the days when there was no U23 category,' he says. 'It was just professional and amateur, which actually changed a few years later. Fortunately for me, AS Corbeil–Essonnes was planning to field a fully-fledged professional team in 1994, so my trajectory was looking promising.'
For Simon, 1994 is memorable for a few things. A fourth-place overall finish in the Argus Cycle Tour at the tender age of 18 in the colours of his French amateur team and stagiare position for the professional Catavana–AS Corbeil–Essonnes–Cedico in October are the obvious highlights. But sandwiched in between was a tough season of European amateur racing and a nagging pain in his leg that was becoming more prominent.
'I was totally burnt out by the time the Boland Bank Tour came around,' he remembers. 'Alain gave me the opportunity of a trial with Catavana for the Boland Tour. We were riding for the defending champion, Lars Michaelsen. Even though Lars was a first-year professional, he had already won Paris–Bourges as well as some other races. We rode on the front day after day where each stage played out the same for me - I would run out of gas and finish 20 minutes down. Despite this, Alain would always wait for me with an encouraging word to perk up my spirits. He knew the true value of good morale and encouragement.
'But something with my left leg just wasn't right,' he continues. 'My leg would go numb during hard efforts, which increased as that season progressed. So that, together with my increased fatigue from all the racing, led me to call it quits at the end of 1994 and seek medical advice back home in South Africa.'
But Simon's diagnosis and subsequent intervention were less than conclusive and downright traumatic. Specialists were insistent that the problem lay behind his knee. And while Simon embraced his post-op recovery with his customary discipline and vigour, the actual results were disappointing to say the least.
'The surgery was invasive and particularly brutal,' he laments. 'But it didn't solve the problem. I was still in a lot of pain and my cycling career seemed to be over.'
A long stint of recovery followed, as well completing his tertiary education and working in marketing and advertising. But cycling remained in the forefront of Simon's mind, as well as seeking a solution to what he thought was a unique injury.
'But I still had the desire,' he says. 'After some extensive research, I read about a French doctor in Lyon who had helped a few riders overcome symptoms that mirrored my own. It appeared that the problem was in fact related to the iliac artery, which would become overstretched due to excessive pedalling and a closed hip angle. It wasn't long before I had contacted Dr. Chevalier and found a way to schedule an appointment and surgery.'
Bearing in mind that the procedure was to take place in France, Simon managed to cut costs by making his initial post-surgery recovery in a cheap room above a bar next door to the hospital. Then it was on to his grandparents in Paris for further convalescence before heading back to South Africa to plot his next move.
'I can remember watching the Springboks playing a test on a tiny TV in that dingy room,' he recalls. 'It was during that time that I wrote down my cycling goals, which included turning professional and becoming SA Road Racing Champion.'
The records show that Simon Kessler did indeed become the national road race champion of South Africa in 1998, thanks to a solo breakaway. A place on a local professional team followed shortly thereafter, as well as selection for the South African team to the Commonwealth Games that same year. What they don't show is the two years of gradual progression and hard work to get there.
'I did some big seven-hour solo rides around Hartebeespoort Dam, with my Dad motor pacing me. Some full-length time trial simulations were peppered in there too. Fortunately for me, my SA title meant that Team Ref Holdings took me on for 1999 although that team folded after only a few months. Then it was a couple of seasons with Minolta before I joined Doug Ryder's team where I stayed until I moved to the US at the end of 2003.'
While Simon decided to call time on his racing career, he had maintained his coaching business as a sideline throughout, a skill which he had inherited from his father while racing as a junior. He gave a U-15 Rob Hunter his first training programme ('Rob later told me that he could see that I knew what was doing training-wise.') not to mention tending to the training needs of Daryl Impey in his formative years. Even while racing for Microsoft, he coached half the team. Needless to say, his transition away from racing was relatively seamless and the wealth of experience he gained through the highs and the lows of his racing career stood him in good stead for what is now his full-time occupation. In some respects, he has come full circle, what with him and Impey launching their own podcast recently. And he coached Team Picnic PostNL rider Kevin Vermaerke, son of his childhood friend Anthon, to the World Tour. For Simon, though, the term "coach" means more than writing plans and analysing power outputs.
'I'm very interested in the mental side of sport. This probably dates back to my days of trying to turn professional and having to be self-reliant in many respects. That together with setbacks I experienced bred a strong sense of self-regulation and resilience, which I believe are key factors to success in any sphere of life really. My own training and racing experiences aside, I have explored other areas in order to gain more insights into my own physical and mental limits. A weeklong camp with Wim Hof was something to remember, not to mention a nine-day darkness retreat with no food. Those kinds of things allow one to alter their perspective on what the limits of human performance truly are.'
