Brad McGee honoured with Hall of Fame induction

Following an illustrious career as an NSWIS scholarship holder in which he won Olympic and Commonwealth Games gold, and success as a directeur sportif for Saxo Bank-SunGard on the professional circuit in Europe, Brad McGee OAM will soon be inducted into the Sports Australia Hall of Fame.

McGee, a member of the NSWIS Most Outstanding for his success in and out of the sporting arena, gave everything he had on the bike in a 10-year cycling career that made him an Olympic gold medallist, world champion and wearer of all Grand Tour leader’s jerseys.

The first Australian rider to lead the general classification of all the Grand Tours in France, Italy and Spain will be inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame at the 33rd Induction and Awards Gala Dinner proudly presented by Etihad Airways on Thursday 12th October 2017 at Palladium at Crown.

His performances during the four years leading up to his gold medal winning ride at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games were world-class and included an individual pursuit world title and two Tour de France stage wins.

McGee also claimed his fifth Commonwealth Games gold medal in 2002 prior to crossing the line first in the 2003 Tour de France prologue meaning he would wear the iconic yellow jersey for three days.

McGee is extremely honoured by his induction into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame, but has been consciously keeping his cycling mind set on teacher mode as he continues his work as a national coach.

“This is a little bit weird because I thought these days were done,” McGee said of his induction.

“The challenge for me is that I’m in the coaching space so it’s all about giving and enabling and working with young athletes. I deliberately stop myself from saying things like, ‘when I was a boy’, ‘In my day’ or ‘when I did it’.

“I’ve sort of dropped all that.”

McGee just missed out on the bronze medal in the team pursuit at the 2008 Olympic Games and not long after decided to retire after putting his body through an incredible amount of stress, along with several bad falls, after nearly two decades of competing on the bike.

He has been team director with CSC-Saxo Bank team and then worked with top Australian riders such as Richie Porte as the coach of the Australian national road team and New South Wales Institute of Sport.

He lives in New South Wales’ southern highlands with his wife Sharni and two kids, and is often based in France while fulfilling his coaching duties during the European season.