KEVIN MCCALLUM: Ryan Gibbons not a household name just yet

You would not have heard Ryan Gibbons’ name spoken often during this year’s Giro d’Italia. He has been a quiet force in his seventh grand tour, working as, in his own words, a “babysitter” for the other contenders in his UAE-Emirates team.

Thus far, Gibbons’ efforts have paid off. Two stage wins are under the belt and Joao Almeida, their Portuguese star, was at the time of going to print just 18sec off the leader, Geraint Thomas of Wales.              

Gibbons is one of just two South Africans on the Giro in 2023. It is the race where he made his grand tour debut in 2017. He did not finish, but he learnt and remembered.

“It was one of my first World Tour races and just four months into my neo pro year, so I was very excited and unsure of what to expect. That year I had already had some unexpected success so my morale and confidence were high. I never had any real pressure from the team and so I went there motivated but quite relaxed,” Gibbons told me recently.

“I went in as a support rider, but we didn’t have a top sprinter so I was given a bit of freedom in the sprint stages. I led out on two days and both days I still rolled over the line in the top eight or so. On the climbing stages I would look after our climbers and then they pulled me after stage 15, as at the time it was considered risky for a young pro to push themselves through an entire grand tour.”

This logic and mentality have changed very much since then.

He has always been able to climb well and usually improves as the days go by in the three weeks of a grand tour. That first grand tour confirmed that and gave him “self-confidence and ambition”.

“From then, I knew that I had what it took to be competitive in the professional peloton at the highest level. Grand tours are always hard and there are days where you suffer more than others. The weather is often a big factor and unexpected crashes or illness can affect you. Your role and ambition will also heavily determine just how hard it can be.”

Last year he had a discectomy and laminectomy from some herniated discs and nerve impingement and was out of action for the bulk of last season, unfortunately missing his biggest goals. It’s been a long road back, but he said he felt good again this year and close to his best. 

“My role has changed somewhat since we spoke in 2019 when I was still with Dimension Data. I still believe that I am a puncheur but maybe I could be better defined now as a domestique puncheur with a decent kick. There is a huge difference in the two teams.

“UAE has a much bigger budget and is packed full of top stars. They’re one of the biggest and most successful teams with the goal of winning every race we compete in. DiData was limited with a smaller budget and only one or two top starts, so the goals were slightly different. Both ambitious teams and I thoroughly enjoy and enjoyed both set-ups, but my role has changed and expectations and personal ambitions have changed too.

“We have a very strong team here and the goal is to finish as high up on GC [general classification] as possible. This means that my role has been very clearly defined as a support rider. I have been carrying a lot of bottles and seeing a lot of wind on the front of the peloton.

“I’m also the sole lead out for Pascal Ackerman, so on the sprint stages I’ll be hopefully guiding him into good positions in the dying few hundred metres. Naturally, I want to have my own opportunity, but we have a good chance of finishing in Rome on the podium with stage wins along the way, so my chances will have to come next time.”

Perhaps next time will be at the Tour de France.