Phil Anderson is an icon of Australian cycling, whose palmares includes becoming the first non-European to wear the Yellow Jersey at the Tour de France, in 1981. Two years later, he claimed victory at the Amstel Gold Race. With the 2022 UCI Road World Championships taking place in Wollongong, Australia, from this Sunday (18-25 September), we caught up with the local legend to talk the Worlds parcours, faxing his UCI Worlds entry and chasing Hinault…
Phil, thanks for your time. Where are you at the moment?
My partner and I are nearly a couple of months into a road trip around Australia. The idea was always to coincide our road trip with visiting the UCI Worlds. We’re in New South Wales now but still about 700km from Wollongong, so we’ll be there around midweek, next week, in time for the road races. We’re then still around 1,000km from where we live so we’ll be on the road for another week or two.
Do you know the Wollongong course well?
A little. But what I do know is that it’s hilly, it won’t be easy and it’s not a sprinter’s course. Mount Keira will present a challenge. It’s not up there with Alpine cols but it’s a decent gradient and will challenge all the riders. But it’s often the distance of the UCI World Championships that troubles the riders. When you’re reaching the end of the season, anything over 200km is a real grind, especially if you have a Grand Tour in your legs. I know from personal experience that it’s a big undertaking and doesn’t matter who you are.
Who do you think will win the men’s and women’s road races?
It would have been a great course for Julian Alaphilippe but I don’t know if he’ll bounce back from his injury at the Vuelta [the Frenchman crashed out on stage 11 but it looks like he will race the UCI Worlds]. It’s also a good course for Wout van Aert. Mind you, any course is good for him! For Australia, somebody like Michael Matthews is strong, albeit at 4,000m there’s probably too much climbing. The Australians who did well at the Vuelta, Ben O’Connor [eighth] and Jai Hindley [10th], could challenge if they have the legs.
In the women’s race, Australia always send a good contingent. You can never discount Amanda Spratt [who finished second in 2018 and third in 2019] plus it’ll be good to see how Josie Talbot gets on, as I know she lives nearby.
What are your experiences of racing the UCI Road World Championships?
I raced a fair few but, in all honesty, Australia didn’t place a huge emphasis on them when I was racing. I had to find my own way there and there was no selection process; I’d send a fax or make a phone call to the Australian Federation saying I wanted to race. I’d have to go to my team’s clothing sponsor and ask them to make up an Australian jersey for me. It’s completely different nowadays. Making the Australian team is like qualifying for the Olympics and is a real big deal. Since I’ve retired, there’ve been lots of great riders come through and, of course, Cadel [Evans] won back in 2009.
You made headlines as the first non-European to wear the yellow jersey in 1981. Tell us about that day over 40 years ago…
Ahh, it was stage five. That year the race went in a clockwise direction, starting down in Nice on the Cote d’Azur. The stage where I took yellow began in Saint-Gaudens and finished atop Pla d’Adet, a ski resort in the Pyrenées. That was my first Tour de France and I went as a domestique but I had a great day, finishing third behind stage winner Lucien Van Impe. I remember [Bernard] Hinault and I spent a good chunk of the day chasing him – well, I followed Hinault who chased him! Van Imp held strong but our team [Peugeot-Esso-Michelin] had finished second in the team time trial the day before, behind Ti Raleigh-Creda, which meant I wore the yellow jersey. They say the yellow jersey gives you great powers and the next day I finished third in the individual time trial. Unfortunately, Hinault won the stage, which put him in yellow. I spent the next couple of weeks trying to win it back but would finish tenth.
The next year, 1982, I won the second stage into Nancy and wore yellow again. This time I held on to it for 10 days before losing it just before the Pyrenées.
I never won the Tour but I’m proud of my record there, racing 13 times, which included five top-10 finishes in my first five efforts.
Was your Tour experience the highlight of your career?
It was up there but I was known as a good Classics rider, too. I won Amstel Gold, Paris-Tours and Milano-Torino, as well as stage races like the (Critérium du) Dauphiné, (Tour de) Romandie and Tour de Suisse. In fact, I won the Dauphiné and Tour de Suisse in the same season [1985], which was my best-ever season as I won 16 professional races. Unfortunately, I never won the two races that I really wanted to win – Tour of Flanders and Liège-Bastogne-Liège – finishing second in both.
Finally, once the UCI World Championships are over and your road trip reaches the finish line, what are your plans?
Well, I’m pretty much retired now so there’s nothing concrete. My partner and I used to run a small business, helping cyclists tour Europe to watch events. But we were looking to retire and then COVID-19 came along so that was a decision made. Now, I still enjoy travelling overseas and riding my bike. We just want to enjoy our life.