Cannondale-Drapac stagiaire Cyrus Monk has had a very positive start to his new WorldTour role, helping teammate Wouter Wippert to 2nd place at the UCI 1.1 Arnhem-Veenendaal Classic, before heading to the UCI 2.1 Tour of Alberta where the team came away with three stage wins, shared between Wouter Wippert and Alex Howes, and a third on General Classification also for Alex Howes.
“My role in each of the races has been to help the team control the race in the early stages, and then be one of the last lead-out men for the sprints, so I think it’s going well so far”, said Monk of his race experience with Cannondale-Drapac.
The 20-year-old University of Melbourne student has enjoyed every aspect of his new stagiaire role, as well as balancing the final year of his Science degree. While the rest of the team are using race travel days for rest and relaxation, Monk has taken to video calling into tutorials for group presentations and tuning into lectures whenever he can. “It does cut out a bit of my relaxation time that everyone else is making the most of, however, I think it’s good for the head to stay busy and take your focus off the bike when you’re not on it”.
While Cyrus has grown close to some of his Cannondale-Drapac teammates, he finds the bond at a higher level doesn’t tend to be as close as he is used to, citing language and cultural differences as the main factor, believing that having common ground like the Drapac Pat’s Veg team do, all as student cyclists, makes for a more tight-knit unit.
Cyrus’ life has been a whirlwind since he was selected for his stagiaire role, having to pack his life up to move to Girona, Spain in August this year. However, the Drouin native finds Girona a relatively easy place to adapt to. “Unfortunately, mi español no es bueno, but it’s definitely a work in progress!”.
Up next for Cyrus is some rest and study in Girona, before finishing off his Cannondale-Drapac campaign with some one-day races in Italy. He will then head back to Australia to finish out the 2017 season with his Drapac Pat’s Veg teammates.
For more information on Drapac Pat’s Veg please visit www.drapaccycling.com
