Haha, I would expect Rudy to set some higher goals. I think he has it in him to win a real race this season, with a little luck

Anyway, I'll try to get the Hobart race up here in a matter of hours. Stay tuned

And the Hobart Sunny Classic has been concluded. A strong race from some guys who were a little more behind earlier this season.

Another solid perfor.mance by Matt, hes demonstrating that he really aims to be in the top spots allround the season

Nice report Ian - In particular liked the mid race time gaps situation and also the fact the race was won by a differing early attacking tactic.

Food for thought certainly going into the world cup race.

Glad you liked it. I tried to keep your feedback in mind, therefor the mid race time differences

And, yeah, in cyclo-cross you can win a race like that, too, it's the first time we see it this season, but it won't be the last time


And must say I enjoy Cook's distance from the other British riders. He's a whole other thing and makes it clear

So, Melbourne preview up tonight and tomorrow the race? Will be a great end to the "early rush" then.

I'll do my best
Though I'd do the race report tomorrow evening, I think. Giving people time to 1. react to this race and 2. react to the preview.

After that, things will slow down a bit. Though next week I'll still have enough time to keep up 1 update a day. Weeks after that will vary!

@Shonak: prepare for a UCI statement regarding the race in the Game Thread.

Melbourne Preview is available here!

You still have time to react to today's race and/or the preview until tomorrow night, now. I will do the race then and officially finish the "past-paced" start of this game. After that, it'll slow down gradually (first still 1 post a day to slowly several posts per week).

Good luck to all riders tomorrow!

I will eventually get around to an update from Mikel and Max... but at this rate i'll be so many races behind i'm gonna need an extension to 5 posts per day

As previously announced, tomorrow I end the "early rush" of this game and will slow down gradually
It's never to late to hear from the riders. These two fast races actually make sense because they're two weekend races on Saturday and Sunday and I report on them on a Saturday and ... a Sunday

Just take your time
And if you feel constricted after this fast rush with your post. You may have a very special permission to use those 5 posts you're looking for

You can see the Melbourne Beach Race here!

Sorry for not talking much about the back ground. But if I want to keep this story going and especially with my eyes on future seasons, I think I'll have a tough time trying to make every report so long. So I might shorten reports in the future, depending on the action/importance of the races. Hope that's okay.

Enjoy, Coca-Cola Trophy is next and then we've started all three competitions!

Hopefully that's Sylvain's largest world cup challenge over. It's ironic that I made the course.

Thanks Ian another good report for me. It's been an outstanding start and a breath of fresh air here on pcm daily. Keep up the great work.

Thanks for the kind words Smowz!

@trekbmc: Think before you create stages next

I didn't think Sylvain would be a rider actually competing for a trophy.

Mario finished a race!

What the fuck happened to Carlisle?

Oh Damn. I can't believe I forget to include a rider. I don't know how that happened. He must've been deleted from the list of riders to include in every race somehow

Sorry about that. Now's a bit too late to include, so I guess he was a non-starter. Fix it with role-playing (illness, lost in Melbourne, whatever )

Sorry once again. These things can happen, maybe I tried to get the report out too soon today. Will slow down if only for my health from now on

I'm stunned of how Matt completed 6 laps whilst being still a bit drunk
I hope that hell learn the lesson after a looooong night as yesterday's was

Oh ffs. That's pretty dumb imo, in his best chance to win, and it affects his whole season. Anyway, mistakes happen, we're all human. I know what to do.