Face to Face with Alex Carver - A Talent ready to re-launch in 2012 with "Orange Army"

Genesys Wealth Advisers has made some well calculated and healthy additions to its list for 2012 and none more than Alex Carver. A rider that has interested me since i first saw him race, he is a flexible rider, one who could be the complete package in a short period of time... I'm really looking forward to racing with him in 2012, but first lets pick his brains a little so we can all know him a bit better... follow him on twitter @AlexCarver91

I sat down with Alex as he prepares to launch his assault on the 2012 season with the "Orange Army", here is what evolved;

Firstly Alex what excites you about riding for Genesys Wealth Advisers in 2012?

I am super excited about riding with Genesys Wealth Advisers in 2012! I am looking forward to a year where I can get some good results for myself and for the team. As, in the last couple of seasons I have been in Italy pretty much getting my butt whipped by those little Italian climbers. The level of racing in Australia has increased immensely in the last few years and I cant wait to get into some competitive racing with arguably the best team on the domestic circuit!

What are your first races with the team? And what are you hopes and expectations going into these events?

My first race with the team will be the National Championships in Ballarat in about a week and a half. I will be racing Bay crits with Hassy, Steele, Heino and AJ but my first official race for the team will be nationals. The next race on the calendar will be The Tour of Mumbai in India that will be at the end of January. After that I have about 2 weeks at home before going to Perth to defend my Perth Crits Title that I won last year riding for Jayco – AIS. Last year I beat Steele to take the win there in Perth so hopefully I can do the same this year.

Alex was in sensational touch last year in Perth and its going to be great going back in 2012 having him on the team there, such a great event.

Some readers may not know about you talent as a track rider, could you give some highlights of your track results up to now?

I have always ridden the track and but I have not always been that good at it. As a junior I began my bike-riding career on the local track in Lidcombe. Since then I won my first national title as an u17 in the team sprint alongside Scott and Jackson Law. Two years later, I won the points race and scratch race at the U19 national track titles, which got me a spot in the Junior Worlds team to go to Moscow, Russia. In Russia, I rode the Points race, Scratch race and the Madison. I crashed in the point’s race, got 4^th in the scratch race and won gold in the Madison with Luke Durbridge. That sparked my love for the Madison. Three months later I raced and won my first u23 six day Madison with Scott Law in Ghent. The next year I went back to the six day with Scotts little brother Jackson and we got second in Ghent. 2 days after the Ghent six had finished, Jackson and I raced the Zurich six day and won it by 7 laps. And since I got home from that trip in 2010, I have put the track on hold to concentrate on the road.

This gives a little insight into the flexibility of Alex as a rider, something i believe is incredibly important, even more so in Australian NRS series.
  

What are your goals and objectives for the 2012 season at Genesys?

I have a few goals for the year with the team. One objective of the year is to learn and grow into a better bike rider than I am today. Along the way I would like to win at least one stage of each of the NRS tours and races and to also pick up a couple of overseas wins/podiums. It will be my first season I have raced in Asia so I am really excited to get a result in one of the races over there this season.

You have spent some years in the AIS program and now find yourself at Genesys. What do you bring with you to Genesys and what do you hope to achieve from your time with Genesys?

I spent two years in the AIS program in Italy. In those two years I learnt a lot about myself and what it takes to win bike races. I was thrown into the deep end as a first year 23 as I had never raced a road race outside of Australia before. I quickly figured out that it was a REALLY hard sport. Over the last two years I have raced some pretty big races all over Europe including, Italy, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Norway and France. Each country had their different styles of racing. I rode in races like Tour of Flanders (Espoirs), which had cobbles, Valle d’Aosta (Italy/France), which had 35km, climbs and Thüringen Tour (Germany), which had a Team Time Trial in it. Riding all these races allowed me to gain a lot of experience in all different types of racing. My bunch and positioning skills have improved greatly and also my ability to read races has also improved immensely. I hope to bring all this experience with me to Genesys and to also teach some of the other guys in the team what I have learnt over the last couple of years and apply it to racing in and around Asia. I hope I can also learn even more off some of the guys in the team like you to further improve my ability and chances of winning races.     

If you could win any race in the world, what would it be and why?

Milan San Remo, its just such beautiful race. It's one I have always felt passionately about and it would be an absolute dream to compete in it one day!

Thanks Alex for your time mate, i think 2012 could well be the year that you prove your true worth and I look forward to experiencing it along side you... Forza "Orange Army"!


twitter: @shawry_07
@AlexCarver91