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This Sunday meant the end of Bradley McGee’s European career as a pro rider, when the Australian abandoned during final stage of Circuit Franco-Belge.

If there had been any sign of sentimentality for McGee it was quickly washed away in the rain, which went on for most of the race.

“My last European race was as perfect as could be. It’s simply the worst ever: Bad shape, the worst weather conditions and then I was dropped and had to abandon,” laughed McGee a couple of days after the race. “My head just wasn’t in this race with this weather,”

McGee is currently on his way to Australia where he will be doing his final race the Herald Sun Tour. And where as the heart was not in Circuit Franco-Belge McGee is very keen to deliver in his final race as a pro.

“The only reason I’m still racing at this point is Sun Tour. It’s in Australia and I’ve been looking forward to doing it and finishing my career there and there’s no doubt my head’s in this race one hundred percent. It’s the perfect opportunity for me to say my goodbyes,” says McGee.

Now the decision to become a sports director with the team is made you could easily imagine McGee wondering what he himself would have done if he had been in the sports director’s car, but that wont be the case:

“I’m just playing the role as a rider for this one and I’m going to enjoy my last days on that side of the fence. Enjoy being taken care of as a rider – and then next year I’ll swap roles so I’ll be the one looking after the other riders. It’ll be a huge change so now I just want to enjoy these next few days.”

This does nor mean that McGee wont be giving it one hundred percent in Herald Sun Tour – on the contrary:

“It’s a good route. There are some beautiful stages in the mountains and some fairly short ones in the larger cities. I’m sure it’ll be a great race. I want to finish off with a good result – I’ve got one special stage in mind, which suits me well with a climb towards the end, which should take care of the sprinters. I’ve won one stage in this race before and it would be perfect for me to finish with a victory on home ground,” says McGee, who had his debut as a sports director in Herald Sun Tour several years ago:

“In 2002 I was down here with Francaise des Jeux and something went wrong and all of a sudden we found ourselves without a sports director. I wasn’t in the best of shape that year so I decided to take on the role. As it turned out we won the race with Baden Cooke and at the time I said that it was the most physically and mentally demanding I’d ever done. I’ve never been so tired in my life, but of course I’d never tried it before and probably put too many resources into it. But it’s probably a good experience to have had so I know a little bit about what to expect next year,” concludes McGee.