Gold Race glory beckons for Gerrans

Simon Gerrans believes that an intense period of preparation will pay off, as he prepares for Sunday's Amstel Gold Race in cycling.

Gerrans enters tomorrow's race as the favourite, having already tasted success in the Milan-San Remo this season, and the Australian is confident of his chances ahead of the gruelling event in the Netherlands. "If I stick to my guns, soon enough I'll be standing on top of the podium," he said, "I worked quiet hard in the Australian summer to prepare, but since the win I backed off a bit to prepare for the Gold Race. It means a lot to win a classic like this, though." Gerrans is back to top form after suffering a difficult year in 2010 when performance levels dropped, but he says he was always confident in his ability to bounce back and scale the heights of the sport. "I tried to change my approach. I focused on those little, explosive climbs - the punchy climbs, the sprinting - but then I had a heavy crash later in the year and that really knocked me out. "I was in really great shape and close in the Gold Race last year, but tactically it didn't unfold well."