Joe Cooper leads the individual's rankings prior to the longest stage race (Great South Coast) on the schedule, now with the same points as Alex Edmondson, who had two extraordinary races most recently! Timmy Roe and Brenton Jones share a tied third with just 3pts down, with O'Brien and also Freienstein still in a great position, too.

Jones (24pts in Geelong), Freienstein (27pts in Gippsland) and Edmondson (31pts in those two events) were the big winners of the last two sprinters' races and with the even more flat Tour of Murray River still to come, it's clear, that sprinters may stand a chance to fight for the overall this year. Cooper, O'Brien and former NRS-leader Roe of course are the most promising stage racers at this point.

As for the team's rankings, not too much has changed since our last update: Avanti keeps going strong towards repeating it's title from last season. The Tasmanian based squad scored 34pts in the last two events, while Budget (33pts) couldn't make up some ground. Still a strong showing by the team.

#INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS

Rk	Name	Team	Points
1	Joe Cooper	Avanti Racing Team	41
	Alexander Edmondson	Euride Racing	41
3	Timothy Roe	Budget Forklifts	38
	Brenton Jones	Avanti Racing Team	38
5	Mark O'Brien	Avanti Racing Team	37
	Raphael Freienstein	Charter Mason	37
7	Jack Haig	Avanti Racing Team	29
8	Neil Van der Ploeg	Avanti Racing Team	28
9	Daniel Barry	Budget Forklifts	27
10	Jonathan Cantwell	Drapac Cycling	24
11	Jesse Kerrison	Budget Forklifts	21
	Travis Meyer	Drapac Cycling	21
13	Jack Anderson	Drapac Cycling	17
14	Stuart Smith	search2retain	14
15	Michael Vink	Budget Forklifts	12
	Will Clarke	Drapac Cycling	12

#TEAM'S RANKINGS

Rk	Team	Points
1	Avanti Racing Team	133
2	Budget Forklifts	100
3	Charter Mason Giant Racing	63
	Drapac Cycling	63
5	African Wildlife Safaris	42
6	search2retain	41
7	Euride Racing	39
8	Data#3 Symantec RT	22
9	Satalyst Giant Racing Team	21
10	Jayco VIS - Apollo	18
11	GPM Data#3	12
	St George Skoda HP Team	12
13	SUVelo Racing	8
14	Pure Tasmania & Polygon Cycling	7
15	Bianchi Lotto Arbitrage	5
	Suzuki Bontrager	5
17	Seight Test Team	3
	Paradice Investment	3
19	Cellarbrations Racing Team	1
	Fiets Apparel Test Team	1

Tour of the Great South Coast

The Tour of the Great South Coast was first held in 2012 and was an enormous success. Conducted in Victoria's rugged and spectacular south-west region, the 5-day tour attracted more than 150 competitors from all Australian states & territories, New Caledonia and New Zealand.

And the past two year's edition were a success, too, thanks to a thrilling final stage and exciting days of racing in general. While the stages weren't as selective as some might have hoped for, the battle for bonus seconds proved to be interesting in both editions. Thus making breakaways quite dangerous, as seen last year.


+ 4 flat crits




Thomas Hamilton (Jayco) surprisingly took out the GC thanks to a breakaway on final day. A group of top-favorites like Walker or Earle came close, but failed to catch the last two early escapees, who then would go for a 1-2 in the final GC as well. The Great South Coast used to see a tight GC til the final stage!

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Jones_B_zps4bfcbeed.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Brenton Jones (Avanti Racing)
Jones is coming off a huge win in Geelong, collecting a huge amount of points to storm onto the podium in the NRS. With now two sprinter-friendly races to come, he's a real threat for the lead!

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/15NRS_Edmondson_zpsaf4c88fd.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Alex Edmondson (Euride Racing)
Tied NRS-leader Edmondson had a pretty good Geelong, too. He will fancy his chances here, since the trickier hilly stages will suit him better than Jones. Will he kick Cooper off the NRS-lead?

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/15NRS_vdPloeg_zps97b4ae0b.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Neil Van der Ploeg (Avanti Racing)
Just like Edmondson, also Van der Ploeg will try to play his allround skills to perfection here. Enjoying another solid season as 8th in the rankings, the former NRS-champion is a contender.

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/15NRS_Freinstein_zpsa0ad5bbe.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Raphael Freienstein (Charter Mason)
After winning the Gippsland Tour in a dominating manner, Freienstein came back to earth in Geelong, where he couldn't score a single point. Still just 4pts off the NRS-lead and dangerous for sure.

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/15NRS_Kerrison_zps4f6c8b04.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Jesse Kerrison (Budget Forklifts)
It's still not his big year, but slowly getting in shape. Kerrison will fear those hilly stages, but will certainly aim for a couple of those flat stages at least. Budget with a strong leadout.

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/15NRS_Bevin_zps3131917a.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Patrick Bevin (search2retain)
Has yet to make an impression in the NRS after his first few starts this winter. The Kiwi has to be considered a top-favorite for a race, where the puncheurs will fight for the GC instead of sprinters..

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/15NRS_OBrien_zps4070731d.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Mark O'Brien (Avanti Racing)
Avanti lining up with a sprinter-team, but with O'Brien and Lovelock, they of course are well prepared for the tougher stages. 5th in the NRS rankings, O'Brien will go for crucial points!

clamel wrote:
YES finally the boys are back in the saddle, and what a surprise winner.
Young Thomas Hamilton probably could get back in form better than the old veterans.
Nice to see a team as Jayco (from nice old Victoria) get a win.

Tour of the Great South Coast Stages 1-2-3-4-5

Brenton Jones (Avanti) keeps impressing after his huge Tour of Geelong: the premium sprinter definitely with a huge chance to take the provisional NRS-lead, as he's currently topping the GC in the Great South Coast thanks to one stage-win and a couple of podiums!

The two hilly stages weren't selective at all, except of Neil Van der Ploeg (Avanti) gaining 11 seconds on the bunch in the Mt Gambier road race. This makes it a still open GC with bonifications becoming a crucial element. Will the final stage again be the most decisive for the final GC?

Avanti looks set for any possible scenario, grabbing three stages with three different riders - Taylor Gunman took his first victory for the team this season. Also NRS-contender Mark O'Brien looked strong on first day, where Budget kicked off the tour with a huge sprint finish by Michael Vink.. KoM-leading Gerald Evans (Tasmania) taking benefit from bonifications as provisional 3rd in the GC!

Vink with a huge finish for line honours in the opening crit!

Van der Ploeg launching his winning move in Mt Gambier 11km before finish..

..holding off solo-chasing Carman and the bunch by 11 seconds!

Kerrison in between Avanti's Beckinsale and Jones, approaching the line..

..but coming short on Jones, who grabs Avanti's second win in a row..

Evans growing his KoM-lead and climbing to 3rd in the GC..

..while Gunman completes the triple for Avanti in a dominating way!

Nelson attacking a 2-men-break in the Port Fairy Crit..

..fooling the top-teams for a great victory in this fifth stage!

Jones leading the GC by a small margin, aiming for the NRS-lead now!