TRIATHLON - Surprise win ignites Olympic dream for party-boy Greer

Lee Greer reckons that, as a party venue, Belgrade in Serbia was a bit shaky.
But considering he had just banked his first ITU European Cup win there that day, it didn't really matter. Belgrade was soon the best party town around, especially for a 22-year-old from Dargaville.
Now he is back in New Zealand, Greer hopes to create a few more reasons to celebrate when he attacks the national Contact Cup Triathlon series before heading back for another taste of the big time in Europe next year.
In the meantime Greer is still dining out on his unexpected win in Serbia, a performance that has suddenly alerted Triathlon NZ selectors. Another positive season in Europe may even see Greer emerging from a pack of Kiwi triathletes keen to follow in the footsteps of Olympic medallists Hamish Carter and Bevan Docherty.
His win was preceded with a podium finish at the Auch Triathlon in Toulouse, France, and has boosted his confidence as he eyes the next step in his career.
"It was good timing to get a result like that (in Serbia), it was my last race before heading home and I decided to party a bit afterwards," Greer said.
"They both feel like huge results but I still feel like I have got a lot of work to do to get to the top though. I want to get into the New Zealand series, put my head down and bang out some big miles and then suss-out going back to a French club and doing the European circuit again next year," he said.
But while Greer is emerging as a man to watch, he still has yet to lose his rural charm, as evidenced when he considered stopping to help his main rival in Serbia.
In hindsight Greer reckons "it was never going to happen" but at the time Greer was battling for the lead with fellow Kiwi Graham O'Grady. The pair had been riding at such a punishing pace that Greer thought he was going to blow out, so when O'Grady punctured Greer said he was tempted to stop and hand his rival his wheel.
"I was actually thinking of stopping and giving Graham my wheel as I thought he could win and I would probably slowly fade back through the field as I was in the hurt box," Greer said at the time.
"Something then clicked and I started to feel really good and I started drilling some long turns on the front into the head wind."
Greer not only didn't "fade back" but he opened up on the final run leg to bank his victory against a quality field that included double Olympian Russian Igor Sysoev.
The next step for Greer is to try to win favour with the Triathlon NZ selectors.
"I have got to get a world ranking low enough to get a start in a world cup race. I can probably get a start in the New Zealand world cup race [in New Plymouth] but I can probably get another start if I can have another couple of good results in Europe," he said.