Launceston cyclist Goss to ride Giro

LAUNCESTON cyclist Matthew Goss will this weekend become the first Tasmanian to contest a Grand Tour for two decades. The 22-year-old will line up for the prestigious Giro D'Italia, 20 years after Micheal Wilson rode the last of his eight Grand Tours. Speaking to The Examiner from Monaco yesterday, the former Exeter schoolboy played down his chances of landing a Tour de France berth and revealed a misjudgment may have cost him a top-10 finish in the world's toughest one-day race, the Paris-Roubaix. But he was thrilled to be a part of the 100th Giro, which begins with a 20km time trial in Venice on Saturday. "Getting the chance to race the Giro is a huge opportunity and it's a race that I really love, because of the passion and prestige," Goss said. "Italian cycling fans are some of the most passionate there are and this is their biggest event of the year so it's going to be an amazing feeling taking to the start line every day. "As tours go this is second only to the Tour de France and is a huge sporting event. Not many events would be allowed to completely close down cities like Milan and Rome to watch guys pedalling around on their bikes. "It's really exciting for me because it means I have taken one more step closer to getting a spot in the Tour de France, which may not be this year, but next year." The former track world champion, who flies to Italy tomorrow, revealed he may even be offered the plum role of attempting to land stage victories for his CSC Saxo Bank team. "My role in the team will vary from day to day," he said. "I think some days I will be the sprinter and get the complete support from the team, but on other days I'll be the workhorse who has to ride the front to set the tempo for our guys, generally that will be the days in the mountains. "My approach to the Giro will be pretty relaxed, I have done a lot of racing in the past two-and- a-half weeks so I have taken it pretty easy this week with only a couple of harder days."