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Interview with Austral winner: Luke Ockerby
Q. Luke, congratulations on winning the 113th Austral Wheelrace! How does it feel to see your name up there as a winner, alongside some of the biggest names in Australian cycling?
A. Its an honour but at the same time i still haven't achieved even half of what some of the guys have done, but its one of those races where you can look back on it in a few years and see your name there, and thats probably the best thing.
Q. When you knew your mark would be 60 metres, were you confident that you would be able to get a good result?
A. Well i haven't made a final of Austral before and i was off 60 for Melbourne cup on wheels and never made the final, so i knew i would have to work hard to make the final, and once i was in there i knew i had a chance.
Q. Can you tell us what you were thinking going into the last lap, with favourites Glen O’Shea & Rick Sanders bearing down on the field?
A. Well i never looked back to see who was there and i thought Sanders was on my wheel and it wasn't until later i heard Law and Ewan were on me, and i just caught Sanders out the corner of my eye almost at the finish line and i didn't know who it was, but to hold him off gives me a bit of confidence because he has been hitting some pretty good form and at Christmas carnivals he was moving there aswell, and O'Shea showed at Nationals he is getting the form back but it was always going to be tough for him from scratch.
Q. In the long term, do you see yourself as a track rider, or do you think you will lean more to road racing? Or maybe both!
A. I prefer track alot more, but i have a pretty big road season ahead of me so hopefully ill be fortunate enough to get some results on the road this year and that should make it a bit more enjoyable!
Q. Do you think this win will give you greater confidence for the rest of the year?
A. Yeah, but at the end of the day its a handicap race so you cant get to far ahead of yourself, but its still a bug win.
Q. What’s coming up for you, has your calendar been set for 2011?
A. Bendigo madison will be the last track race for myself i think, and then i am doing most of the national road series.
Q. After achieving such great success so early in the year in the Austral, do you think there will be any problems with motivation or are your coaches & supporters keeping everything grounded?
A.No i dont think so i'm pretty motivated at the moment and have some long term goals i want to achieve so just focused on achieving those.
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Q. In 2006 you broke two vertebrae mountain biking, which must be tough for a 14 year old to deal with. Do you think that made you mentally stronger, because you came back in brilliant fashion with a gold at Junior Nationals in 2007 and taking three medals in the 2008 Tasmanian Road Championships.
A. Probably not mentally stronger, i had a few months off after last years nationals after a shoulder operation and it was the same situation after my back, for the first few weeks all you want to do is ride and then you get over it, but as soon as you get back on the bike you realise what you've been missing and each time it just makes you work harder to get back to where you were.
Q. The Australian public have now seen you really make the transition from a junior to the senior ranks with your win on Saturday night, has it been difficult to make the transition?
A. Yes the road has been alot tougher for myself to make the transition but i am really happy with how i have made the transition on the track.
Q. In 5 years time, where do you think we will see Luke Ockerby?
A. Hopefully in Europe or in the states.
And finally...
Q. If you had to go to a fancy dress party as SpongeBob SquarePants, or a character from Twilight, what would you choose? And why!!??
A. Probably as a sponge, and then i could soak everything up!
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