Lee ‘Hollywood’ Turner
He’s a veteran of 18 Grand Tours, was the winner of the most celebrated stage of the 2022 Tour de France, and now even features on blocks of Cadburys chocolate!
On the first rest day of the 2023 Giro d’Italia, Bicycling Australia contributor Lee ‘Hollywood’ Turner phoned his mate Simon Clarke for a catch up. With Clarkey agreeing to be recorded, here’s how the conversation went.
Lee Turner: Hi Simon, to get things rolling, how many Grand Tours have you done?
Simon Clarke: Hi mate. I believe I’ve done seven Tour de Frances, and I’m sitting here at Giro – I believe this is my 4th Giro, and I’ve done 6 Vueltas … that’s 17 Grand Tours, and this is my 18th according to Pro Cycling Stats (he says with a laugh).
LT: And before that Tour de France stage victory what was your greatest win, in your opinion?
SC: I’ve had many memorable results, both winning with the team and for myself. The Teams Time Trial in 2013 in Nice (with GreenEdge) was particularly memorable, not only for myself but as a team effort. We weren’t favourites on paper, then to come out and smash everyone.
GreenEdge was only in its second year, to get an achievement like that was pretty special. And then my stage victories in the Vuelta and and the polka dot jersey back in 2012, they are very special memories so far as personal achievements go.
LT: Thinking back to last year when you won the Tour stage on cobbles, when you woke up that day did you think ‘it’s on’. Or was it just another race day … did you have a feeling about it?
SC: Well, what’s been different in the last couple of years is I’ve moved to a smaller team, and that’s really changed the game for me. In a way, even moreso than I ever expected.
Last year for example, we had Jacob Fuglsang in the Tour, but he was kind of only half focused on GC. It was kind of ‘look after him, put him in the right position with 10k to go, and he’ll find his way’ kind of thing.
And that gave me the opportunity to really conserve energy in a way I’ve never done in a Grand Tour before. I’ve done so many Tour for guys like Rigoberto Uran, and I just kill myself every day to make sure they’re safe and in position. And that’s just so taxing.
In the Tour last year I knew I was coming in with really good form. I was super light and felt really strong. So I thought ‘I’m just going to pull the ripcord every day and go for it’.
On Stage 4, when van Aert hit that little kicker and went for it, I could’ve chased. But in retrospect that’d be wasted energy. So I sat up and saved the leg, I was really fresh, I felt like I hadn’t really even started the Tour.
That night Zac Dempster came to me and said ‘we have a chance’. I hadn’t really put any focus on the pave stage – I kind of work on numbers when it comes to picking breakaway days. And never has the breakaway won on the pave stage at the Tour de France. So that was a contributing factor when it comes to getting into the breakaway.
LT: When the race route was released, you didn’t circle that stage?
SC: Absolutely not. Traditionally, teams go and ride all pave stages. But my team didn’t do any recon! So I had zero preparation for that specific day, stage 5. The important thing is you pick a day when you think the breakaway will be successful.
The night before, when Zac Dempster came to me and suggested we try for the break, I started to think about it. I thought ‘If the team believe it, then I will jump on board’.
LT: Is a Tour de France victory really that much bigger than stage wins at the other Grand Tours? Is it really the big one of the three?
SC: Yeah … it really is. I don’t think it is personally, to win a stage at the Vuelta or Giro is almost as hard as the Tour. But having now won a TDF stage, how you get treated differently, and how people look at you differently, and even how the media treat you, suddenly instead of just being an alright bike rider you’re ‘the guy who won the Tour stage’.
LT: What was the feeling like when you knew you’d won. When it went to the photo finish did you think you had it?
SC: I actually thought I’d lost. I did that big throw, and my head was between my legs. I really had no idea how close I was or wasn’t. I thought I’d got there just a bit too late.
LT: And when you were told ‘Simon, you won it.’
SC: It was such a massive relief. We make so many sacrifices to just get to the race. No one in the Tour de France is just there to finish. We’re world-class bike riders and there to get results, not just participate.
The sacrifices to be in WorldTour condition are phenomenal. I now have two kids at home and am away from them a lot. Every time you do another three-week training camp and then ride the grand tour you’re away for months!
We’ve most likely ridden the Dauphine or Tour of Swiss as a lead up race, and spent the best part of five or six weeks away from home, and then you’re gone for a month for the Tour. There are a lot of sacrifices so when you achieve a result, well it justifies all those sacrifices.
LT: What has changed since you won that stage?
SC: People look at you as a race winner and, not to sound cocky, but as a champion and a successful rider. Suddenly you go from ‘that alright guy to ‘this guy is a TDF stage winner’. It changes a lot. Even personally, if gives you a lot more confidence.
Like the other day, when we got caught so close to the finish at the Giro (as pictured above). On any other day in the breakaway I would have expected to get mown down by the bunch. But that day I thought ‘you know what, I reckon the two of us are stronger than the bunch’, and we got pretty close.
LT: Did you pick up any extra sponsors after winning that Tour stage? I did see that all of a sudden you’ve got your own Cadbury chocolate bar!
SC: Potentially yeah. Obviously the story behind the chocolate bar was from 2015 when I gave Richie Porte the wheel to help out a mate. That request came in after the Tour, I’m sure it helped my profile. There have also been presentation requests and things like that. Sponsorship wise, in pro cycling it’s more sticking with the team sponsors.
LT: Do you get a bonus from the team after winning a stage?
SC: Yeah, most teams have bonus tables in place. Actually, I didn’t have a specific bonus written into my contract due to the late signing – I signed a basic contract in late January last year. But the team were really appreciative of my result and they paid me a bonus for my result.
LT: That was Israel Premier Tech’s first Tour de France stage win wasn’t it?
SC: Yes it was, they were very happy.
LT: Who was the first person you called when you won?
SC: My wife.
LT: I was hoping you’d say that!
SC: But I didn’t have my phone with me, I had to borrow my masseurs phone and fortunately I remembered my wife’s number. I rang her but she wouldn’t answer due to the unknown number. So I rang about 30 times and she eventually answered.
LT: Had she been watching?
SC: Yes, she did know, she’d been watching.
LT: What has changed since you won that stage?
SC: People look at you as a race winner and, not to sound cocky, but as a champion and a successful rider. Suddenly you go from ‘that alright guy to ‘this guy is a TDF stage winner’. It changes a lot. Even personally, if gives you a lot more confidence. Like the other day, when we got caught so close to the finish at the Giro. On any other day in the breakaway I would have expected to get mown down by the bunch. But that day I thought ‘you know what, I reckon the two of us are stronger than the bunch’, and we got pretty close.
LT: Did you pick up any extra sponsors after winning that Tour stage, I did see that all of a sudden you’ve got your own Cadbury chocolate bar!
SC: Potentially yeah. Obviously the story behind the chocolate bar was from 2015 when I gave Richie Porte the wheel to help out a mate. That request came in after the Tour, I’m sure it helped my profile. There have also been presentation requests and things like that. Sponsorship wise, in pro cycling it’s more sticking with the team sponsors.
LT: Do you get a bonus from the team after winning a stage?
SC: Yeah, most teams have bonus tables in place. Actually, I didn’t have a specific bonus written into my contract due to the late signing – I signed a basic contract in late January last year. But the team were really appreciative of my result and they paid me a bonus for my result.
LT: There’s a rumour going around that after that win, as a gift to yourself, you bought a flash new coffee machine and it’s turned you quiet snobby. Is this true?
SC: (Laughs) …potentially. Yes it’s true. I’d always wanted to buy a Rocket coffee machine and couldn’t really justify forking out three of four grand for a machine. After winning the stage I decided to do it.
LT: We’re talking a coffee machine and not a Porsche or anything, so that’s fair enough.
SC: Yes (car revs loudly in background). And just as you said that an Audi R8 just pulled into the car park here, I might go and make him an offer.
LT: One thing I want to know, how come after every stage, including the one you won, your hair is just so perfect?
SC: (Laughs) It’s just natural. I put a helmet on and I’ve got such thick hair that it’s not phased by having a helmet over it for five of six hours. When the helmet comes off it’s pretty well how it was when I started.
LT: It’s very impressive. Now you’ve won a stage of the Tour, do you feel your career is complete, are you content?
SC: Yes, I really do, and I am content. Obviously I still have more goals before I retire. But if I was to retire tomorrow I’d be much more satisfied with my career than if I left a year ago.
