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Getting to Know Dean ‘the Duke’ Windsor

Story posted February 18, by Larry Hickmott  () (with help from Paul Rowlands)

When I first started racing in this country in the late 90’s, the only antipodeans I saw on a bike were New Zealander’s even though I am sure there must have been some Aussies around somewhere. In 2010 however, there is a large group of them all converging on Blighty. Whilst a few of the British teams have signed Australian riders, it is Rapha Condor Sharp that has the largest contingent of them with Darren Lapthorne, Zak Dempster and Dean  Windsor.

The latter has something of a reputation as a crit rider and this year was second in the Aussie championships and looks to have been a great signing for the Rapha Condor Sharp team who will be aiming to improve on their results in the 2010 Tour Series (3 victories). Dean is no stranger to racing on this side of the world and has spent the last three years doing short stints in Europe.

“I’d come over during the break from University (May/June/July)” he explained “and this year I’m here for the full season which should be good and a step forward.”

The one question I get asked more than any other as some one who has moved here from Australia is why? So before anyone else had the opportunity to ask him, I put the question to Dean, why has he come to this country  when the weather in Australia is so much better! “The European circuit is like the mecca of cycling” he told me “and if you want to experience top class racing and race the best riders in the world, you have to race in Europe.”

“This is a big step in my cycling career. You can only go so far in Australia as you only have two UCI races a year where as over here in Europe there is a UCI race every week. It is a good career move and I needed something fresh. I have been with the same team for a few years now so I was quite keen to move to a team that would provide me with a full European stint with lots of races and something different.”

At least with all the Aussies in the team, the rider from Bathurst (New South Wales) is surrounded by the twang of the down under lingo and says of the others in the Rapha team, “there are a few guys I have raced with before in other teams and I’ve seen Tom and Kristian in Australia as well so it does have a bit of an Australian flavour this team. It is comforting to know a few people when you get over here and they’re all good blokes and I really feel at home.”

Aussies like to stick together and on the left of the team, are the three Australians in the Rapha Condor Sharp line-up. Dean is third from the left with Darren Lapthorne on the end and Zak Dempster in the middle.

Dean’s girlfriend is also coming to Britain as will his family during the season so the talented rider will have plenty of support during this first proper season away from home. The last time I spoke to Dean was at the Rapha Condor Sharp launch which is now almost a month ago but Paul Rowlands has been spending time with the team at their training camps and he asked Dean what he has been up to since the team launch.

“We’ve had training camp number one, then I went back to Bristol. It was a bit of change after the launch as I had to set up the house and sort of set up a bit of a life over in England because it’s going to be home for the next nine months.”

“So that was the priority and we spent a couple of days doing that before the first camp and then as soon as we hit the first camp, I was packing in lots of K’s (kilometres). I think we almost got 900 in a week which was quite a lot considering I had not been doing that many k’s before I came over here. Then it was back to Bristol for a bit of recovery.”

“Unfortunately camp two hasn’t gone as planned. I think I picked up something off the wet road and ended up with a bit of a stomach bug and it’s taken two days off the bike to recover, so we’ll see how I go out on the bike today. It’s been pretty full on, there’s not much time to sit around when you’re in England one day and then the next down here where you’re training a lot. It’s been really good”

From Bathurst to Bristol -- quite a change I can tell you!

Paul then asked Dean what he makes of England? “The biggest English experience I’ve had before was Heathrow airport and you know how stressful that is so I never really liked England!”

“So this is the first time I’ve properly been here so it’s been quite an experience. I had a lot of stereotypes I guess you’d say. Everyone said the food was very average but I’ve been out with the boys and the food’s unbelievable! The lifestyle is not really too different to Australia but obviously the weather changes things around.”

“Everyone said it was cold but I looked outside on the first day, saw the sun was out and thought I’d be able to get away with three quarter pants and some light gloves. I went out there, turned around and put another six layers on! It’s definitely different but it hasn’t been hard to adapt to at all.”

Dean and the team have tried to escape that cold by going to Spain where they are now well into their second training camp there. The weather hasn’t been that great there either but certainly better than that in Britain. Since arriving in England for the launch in January, Dean’s programme has revolved around training but soon he’ll be jetting off for warmer climates for his first race as he explained to Paul.

“The season starts with the Tour of Taiwan which I’ve ridden before, so it’s something I know. I know what form you need to perform well but my racing I’m aiming for is later on in the season with the ‘Tour Series’ and a few of the races in Britain, so at the moment I’m still in the base fitness phase.”

Above: The Tour Series in Exeter.

“I want to be going well all year, I don’t want to peak for Taiwan but I still want to be going good to maintain form afterwards. I’m really looking forward to the Tour Series. I’ve watched a few of the DVD’s and watched Lappers (Darren Lapthorne) soak up the victory and Tom (Southam) as well so I’d love to try and repeat one of their efforts and enjoy the English racing”

Racing here in Britain, as I found when I moved here, is very different to Australia at the grass roots level and when I was chatting to Dean, we compared notes on some of the races in the Outback such as those in Cootamundra (birthplace of the iconic Aussie cricketer Don Bradman).

Dean is from Bathurst, home to the country’s most loved motor race, the Bathurst 1000 and he explained how in the Cootamundra race, everyone stayed at the Globe hotel, pre-race food was beer and the riders ranged in age from 16 to 60. Because Australia is so spread out, races like this that take place outside of the big centres such as Sydney or Melbourne are quite unique and handicap racing is quite common place. Whilst they are not easy, they are a world away from what we see in Europe.

“You can’t expect to go from races like these to ones where you are racing the Worlds best” Dean explained when looking back at his attempt to dip his toe into the ocean of pro racing in Europe over the last three years. “It has always been hard to make the jump to Europe for a short time. I think coming here early, getting used to the time zone, the weather and having lots of racing, I’ll be a lot stronger in the middle part of the season.”

Despite coming from a town in New South Wales with a bloody big hill in it, Mount Panorama, Dean has shown himself to be something of a handy circuit race rider. As well as his Silver medal in this years Aussie circuit race championships, Dean has also been on the podium (2009) at Australia’s equivalent of the Tour Series, the Bay Crits in Victoria in January.

Having visited Bathurst on my holiday last December, I thought this was a good opportunity to stick some snaps in! Mount Panorama at Bathurst which is now a much loved motor racing circuit.

Asked whether he has trained for this type of event, Dean replied “I just sort of fell into being a good criterium rider. I don’t know how it came about but I enjoy the hype of the crit racing; the crowd, the corners and the high pace.”

“I have always been competitive and in a longer race there are times when there is a lull whereas in the crit, it is always full on. So I have slowly developed into a criterium rider but I don’t mind the longer road races either. This team has a lot of criterium races in the Tour Series and a lot of racing is going that way, races that draw in the crowds and sponsors so it’s not a bad trade to have. I enjoy the crits and will hopefully do well in them.”

“I would though like to ride a few more Tours and things like that. I have led a few UCI Tours and had jerseys in them so I consider myself an all round rider. As far as the Tour of Britain goes, it’s hard to say how that is going to go but I enjoy being a team player too as well as being the leader. I love the bunch kick so when it comes to the hustle and bustle coming into the narrow streets and round corners, I enjoy that, a little bit of kamikaze I guess. I am a bit of a sprinter.”

With the Tour Series not starting until May though, Dean has plenty of time to prepare for that race and so before then, will be competing in stage races like the Tour of Taiwan.

Look what happens when you try and show off your National Champion colours -- it comes out looking like a nipple tweak and Deano (thats Dean Downing) has not lived it down since and probably never will!

Nicknames
Those of you who have followed the fortunes of Rapha over the years will know that Rapha Condor Sharp already has a well known crit rider, former British champion Dean ‘Deano’ Downing so when Dean Windsor joined, a new nickname had to be found. In the beginning, he was Deano2 but Deano1 had a better solution and came up with ‘the Duke’ after the Duke of Windsor. “That’s a pretty cool nickname” Dean (Windsor) explained “so we’ll stick with that”.

Finally, in his interview with Dean Windsor, Paul Rowland’s raised the subject of the ‘other Deano’ on the team and having listened to the Duke’s comments on the victories of Tom and Lappers in the Tour Series, Paul asked the ‘Duke’ if he’d heard about Dean Downing’s somewhat distinctive victory salute on the Tour Series in 2009...

“I haven’t seen the one where Deano wins” the Duke replied. “Everyone keeps saying he tweaked his nipples or something like that which I’m pretty keen to see now because I thought the boys were just joking around but obviously he must have done something”.

And what of the Duke’s own victory celebration – what can we expect to see in 2010? “I copped a lot of bagging from my team last year because I put a big pout on my face for some unknown reason when I won -- I think in the ecstasy of the victory, you kind of stop thinking for a moment and just do whatever you can.”

“I don’t think Deano really thought about his much and I don’t think people really do. I’m still questioning Tom as to what he was actually saying when he was going down the main straight when he won his Tour Series race ....apparently that’s top secret!”  

Good luck to Dean ‘the Duke’ Windsor in 2010 and I am sure I’m not alone in looking forward to seeing him race in Britain soon.