Despite having made an encouraging return to competition at the Vuelta al Pais Vasco, Simon Gerrans is not at 100% for the Ardennes Classics, meaning Michael Matthews will lead the team in tomorrow’s Amstel Gold Race.

"It's close, my elbow is still not 100 per cent,” Gerrans told Cyclingnews. “I haven’t got full range in the arm, so I’m not able to completely straighten it out. I’ve kind of had to adjust my riding style a little bit to accommodate that for a while until I get the full range back into it again. I haven’t been able to put a huge amount of strength through that arm, so it’s kind of limited how much explosive style training I’ve been able to do in the last few weeks.”

Gerrans broke his collarbone in the offseason before fracturing the radial head of his elbow in his first race of the year in Strade Bianche. He was only able to return in the Basque Country, but was pleasantly surprised by his progress.

“I wasn’t expecting really big things going into the race because I had such limited preparation. I’d only really been on the road for about a week, so I got there and thought that I was really going to struggle. I did a lot better than I anticipated, so I was pretty happy about that,” said Gerrans.

After third places in the last two Amstels, Gerrans has resigned himself to the fact that he wont be able to contend this year, but hopes he can feature more prominently in Liege-Bastogne-Liege, where he is defending champion.

“They’re a big focal point for a lot of guys in their season so a lot of guys are in their best condition. To be a little bit below that, I think that it’s a little bit unrealistic to be hoping to win the race,” said Gerrans. “I hope that I’ll be racing a lot closer to the front in Liège than what I expect to be at Amstel but, like I said, realistically with what I’ve been able to do over the last few weeks I’m already happy with the level that I’m at. Realistically, I don’t think I’m at a level to be going for the win in Liege.”

Gerrans has full confidence in the man who will lead Orica-Greenedge in his absence as team leader: Michael Matthews. 

“Michael’s made a great progression this year already,” said Gerrans. “Finishing in the front group at Milan-San Remo, I think that is his first top 10 in a WorldTour one-day race, that’s already a big progression from what we’ve seen from Michael in the past. If he continues down that path then we’ll hopefully see him in the front again on Sunday at Amstel.”