In the time since we last checked in with Simon, he has got his season off to a flier with two podium places at the Vuelta a Andalucia and also a top-15 finish in the general classification at Paris-Nice. With those in the bag he's now looking ahead to the Ardennes classics and is hopeful of continuing his encouraging start to the campaign:

March 17 2010

It was great to finally get out there and competing in Team Sky colours and I felt the Vuelta a Andalucia went really well. It was my first race for quit some time so I was using it to get some miles back in the legs and get that race intensity you can't really replicate in training.

It was important to get some race time in with my new team-mates. We'd done a lot of training together over the previous months, but in a race situation things are totally different.

It was good to learn how the other guys liked to race together and how they approached things. I also got a couple of minor placings throughout the week, so that was an added bonus.

In between that race and Paris-Nice it was a relatively quiet period. There were only 10 days between them and in that time I also took part in the one-day Clasica de Almeria. I felt a little bit under the weather in that so the rest of my time was spent resting up and doing some light work to make sure I was fresh and ready for France.

I made my way up to the start line there a few days before the race and had a good look at the prologue route, which took place on the Sunday. We rode the circuit on the Friday and Saturday to make sure we were really familiar with it.

The prologue started things off well and I was happy with my performance. I finished within 30 seconds of Lars Boom, who was fastest on the day, and felt that was a good result as it put me pretty much where I wanted to be in the general classification.

The first stage proper was a fast and windy day and it turned out really well for the team with Greg Henderson putting in a great sprint at the end to win. I managed to stay up the front and out of trouble again with the main contenders.

It was a similar story on stages two and three. Both were frantic and windy days so, for me, it was just a matter of staying out of trouble and not losing a significant amount of time on the leaders.

Stage four was the first one that really had a bearing on the GC as it ended with a tough, hill-top finish into Mende. My team-mates looked after me really well on that stage - and all the stages leading up to it - and that gave me the opportunity to get up there as best I could.

I finished the day in 18th, less than a minute behind stage winner Alberto Contador, so I was really happy with that and it moved me into the top 20 of the GC for the first time.

The next couple of days were in the mountains. I continued to do the best I could and finished pretty close to the mark on every one. The last stage was perhaps a little disappointing as it was the only day I didn't finish in the lead group when I felt I could have.

I missed the split on the last climb up the Col d'Eze and that denied me the chance to move up a few places in the GC. I was happy with 15th position in the end though as I felt it was a fair result in terms of my condition.

Since then I've been back at home recovering. In the next few days though I'll be back on the bike and doing some training which will really focus on the Ardennes classics.

I'm riding the Criterium International before them and I'll be using that to help me build up my stamina. I've raced it a couple of times before but it's completely different this year. They've moved it from the north of France down to Corsica so obviously it's going to be a totally new challenge.

Overall, I'm really happy with how things are going with the team though. I got great support from the guys at Paris-Nice, they did everything they could to help me out, and I feel in really good shape for this time of year. I'm probably in the best condition I've ever been at this stage of the season and hopefully that'll allow me to achieve a higher level of racing in those classics. It's all shaping up really well.

(Simon has his own personal website at www.simongerrans.com and there are regular updates on there for viewers who would like to keep in touch with what he's been up to in between his blogs here on TeamSky.com.)