Tour of the Murray River Stages 5-6-7

Will we see a sprinter as crowned NRS-champion this year? Brenton Jones (Avanti) is definitely on a good way to repeat what Luke Davison achieved for Team Budget back in 2012: Avanti's premium sprinter added two more stage-wins in the Murray River to win the final GC ahead of Jonathan Cantwell (Drapac) and a strong Jesse Kerrison (Budget), thus putting some pressure on the remaining title-contenders!

After his stage-win in stage four, Jones continued to gain seconds on Cantwell: while Jesse Kerrison took line honours in the Echuca to Barmah Road Race, Jones outsprinted GC-leader Cantwell and Edmondson. A first step towards yellow..

And he kept delivering: Brenton Jones took out the two final stages, both ahead of Kerrison, who found back to his shape after some problmes in the first four days. Cantwell sprinted for two 4th places, which was too less to hold off Jones. The final criterium through Yarrawonga was heavily influenced by crosswinds and saw a group of just 10 riders gaining 48 seconds on the peloton, where riders like Raphael Freienstein (Charter Mason) or Chris Jory (GPM) lost their Top-10 placings in the GC.. the very top-sprinters though avoided any drama and behind Jones, also Alex Edmondson (Euride) or Ben Grenda (Pure Tasmania) scored valuable points here. Edmondson though definitely lost some more ground on one of his biggest challengers for the NRS-crown!

Kicking off his sprint early: Kerrison in stage five..

..and holding on til the line! Jones coming close as runner up.

Avanti's train going strong towards the finish in stage six..

Final leadout Beckinsale releasing Brent Jones quite late into the sprint..

And Jones holds off Kerrison this time, already slipping into yellow as well!

Final stage through Yarrawunga: Kerrison leading the sprint again..

..but Jones finishes off the race in style for his third stage-win here!

A huge points haul for Jones will certainly see him leading the NRS comfortably!

Brenton Jones is going strong towards the NRS-title: adding 26pts to his bucket, the premium sprinter went for a huge points haul in the Murray River Tour! With now two mountainous stage-races to come (Capital Tour, Tour of Tasmania), it's up to Timmy Roe to narrow this comfortable gap as close as possible. Other contenders like Joe Cooper or Mark O'Brien seem to be too far behind to fight for the title, but are still aiming for the podium.

With the latest races all suiting those sprinters, the Top-10 are floated by the fast men: Edmondson (12pts), Kerrison (15) and Cantwell (19) did score pretty well in the Murray, too. Edmondson as the most complete sprinter of those guys may still hope to somehow go past Jones in the final part of the season.

Avanti (21pts) did actually outscore Budget (19) once again, thanks to Jones collecting 14pts through stage-placings. The Tasmanian based team is dominating the team's competition this year! Drapac (17) and Euride (17) with valuable points: Drapac going past Charter Mason onto 3rd, while Euride puts some pressure as well.

#INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS

Rk	Name	Team	Points
1	Brenton Jones	Avanti Racing Team	82
2	Alexander Edmondson	Euride Racing	58
3	Timothy Roe	Budget Forklifts	51
4	Raphael Freienstein	Charter Mason	46
5	Jonathan Cantwell	Drapac Cycling	43
6	Jesse Kerrison	Budget Forklifts	42
7	Joe Cooper	Avanti Racing Team	41
8	Neil Van der Ploeg	Avanti Racing Team	40
9	Mark O'Brien	Avanti Racing Team	39
10	Jack Haig	Avanti Racing Team	29
	Daniel Barry	Budget Forklifts	29
12	Travis Meyer	Drapac Cycling	21
13	Ben Grenda	Pure Tasmania	19
14	Jack Anderson	Drapac Cycling	17
15	Michael Vink	Budget Forklifts	15
	Oscar Stevenson	Jayco VIS - Apollo	15

#TEAM'S RANKINGS

Rk	Team	Points
1	Avanti Racing Team	184
2	Budget Forklifts	138
3	Drapac Cycling	80
4	Charter Mason Giant Racing	79
5	Euride Racing	65
6	search2retain	57
7	African Wildlife Safaris	44
8	Jayco VIS - Apollo	33
9	Satalyst Giant Racing Team	28
10	Data#3 Symantec RT	26
11	GPM Data#3	20
12	St George Skoda HP Team	12
13	Pure Tasmania & Polygon Cycling	11
14	SUVelo Racing	8
15	Suzuki Bontrager	6
	Seight Test Team	6
17	Bianchi Lotto Arbitrage	5
18	Fiets Apparel Test Team	3
	Paradice Investment	3
20	Total Rush Hyster	2
21	Cellarbrations Racing Team	1

National Capital Tour

The third edition of the National Capital Tour in and around Canberra and - again - four stages with a nice mix of different profiles:

A challenging ITT is followed by a long mountain-top-finish, even though the slopes ain't the toughest we've seen this year. Anyway, the climbers will try to gain valuable minutes/seconds here.. also the sprinters will have - most probably - two chances to shine.






Neil Van der Ploeg (search2) and Jack Haig (Huon/Avanti) took out the first two editions, which shows how unpredictable this interesting race is: Haig climbed to a dominating win last year, when he crushed the competition in the mountain stage. Van der Ploeg, on the other hand, managed to win against some way better climbers, as this climb up Corin Forest hasn't seen the biggest selections in it's two years now..

[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)
O'Brien slipped down the rankings and has now to fight back for at least the podium, which he achieved three times in the past three seasons! Not too strong in the TT, but maybe the best climber.

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/15NRS_Roe_zps457900ee.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Timothy Roe (Budget Forklifts)
Opposing to O'Brien, Budget's captain could be still a threat for NRS-leader Jones: those 30pts are quite a margin, but Roe can become dangerous in the next two stage-races. Time to shine!

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/15NRS_MeyerTr_zps4fa00757.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Travis Meyer (Drapac)
It's been quiet around Meyer since his great start into the season, but Drapac is always a force - just proven in the Murray River. Meyer, Norris or Crawford make for a stunning lineup!

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/15NRS_Cooper_zps7f5c0602.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Joe Cooper (Avanti Racing)
Of course this counts for Avanti, too: Cooper will aim for the TT and then holding on the GC-lead. Just like O'Brien, he's probably only in contention for the NRS-podium, which is still a goal.

[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)
Bevin was quite impressive in the Great South Coast, where he hang on with Roe in the final stage. He's known as an allrounder, so could be a serious GC-contender with this mix of profiles.

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Bayly_zps7babefc2.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Cameron Bayly (search2retain)
His teammate Bayly will surely be a good support - or even more? Finishing 3rd here in 2014, Bayly definitely knows how to perform especially in this rather tricky queen stage. A dark horse maybe.

National Capital Tour Recap

What a race in Canberra: in a pretty similar way like Neil Van der Ploeg two years ago, up and coming Kiwi Patrick Bevin (search2) took out the National Capital Tour by the small margin of just three seconds ahead of Timothy Roe (Budget) and Timothy Cameron (Cellarbrations)! The latter with an unlucky third, as he led the GC after the queen-stage thanks to a strong breakaway attempt.

The opening timetrial was won by Joe Cooper (Avanti) - a kinda expected, but close victory over Michael Vink (Budget). Both Bevin (21 seconds) and Roe (24) did quite well to limit the losses, while GC-contender Mark O'Brien (50) had some ground to make up.

The queen stage on second day - featuring a 10km climb up Corin Forest - was always going to be the key here: Timmy Cameron joined the early breakaway and held off the favorites after dropping his former breakaway companions midway through the race. A huge effort, winning the stage by 29 seconds on an elite group with Roe, Bevin, O'Brien and Cupitt (Budget) - a next group with Cooper finished 1'17" off Cameron! But how close the GC was: Cameron would slip into yellow with the same time as Roe and Bevin just 3 seconds off as new third. Stage-placings would become a decisive factor, as well as further bonifications in the flat stages.

And Bevin played his allround skills to perfection: while Jonathon Cantwell (Drapac) was going to win the final two stages quite easily, Bevin already took over the race-lead in the third stage, where finished as 2nd to go past Cameron/Roe by just 3 seconds!

He added another runner up behind Cantwell in the final criterium through Canberra to defend yellow. Bad luck for Cameron then, as Roe's 8th place on the day would make him go past the outsider in the final GC! Valuable points for Roe, who's still aiming for the NRS-crown.. Cooper/O'Brien completed the Top-5 ahead of Cupitt and Meyer (Drapac). A thrilling race overall!

Cooper on his way to take out the opening 17km long timetrial..

Cameron attacking the breakaway 30km before the finish..

Cupitt with a tactical move, attacking the bunch 6km to the summit..

..joined by his captain Roe, Bevin and O'Brien a few moments later!

Cameron though climbed to the biggest win for him and his team..

..with Roe and Cupitt denying Bevin/O'Brien any bonifications!

Cantwell dominating the Lake Burley Griffin road race..

..where Bevin took over the GC-lead thanks to a strong 2nd place!

Same story in the Canberra Crit: Cantwell for the win ahead of Bevin..

First GC-win for Bevin in the NRS: the first of many to come?

Timothy Roe's tough challenge to go past Brenton Jones in the rankings has started quite well: 12pts in the Capital Tour for Budget's leader and he's back in the fight with now less than twenty points. Still a way to go, of course. It will heavily depend on his performance in the upcoming Tour of Tasmania, where six tough stages may offer some valuable points.

Bevin as the biggest winner in the Capital Tour, scoring 16pts to already enter the Top-10! Also surprising 3rd Timothy Cameron (11pts) went for a strong improvement, while Mark O'Brien (6pts) and Jonathan Cantwell (6) gained some ground on the podium-spot held by Edmondson.

As for the teams, Budget Forklifts (17pts) finally gained some points on Avanti (14), which is still leading by a comfortable margin. Drapac with another good points haul to distance Charter Mason, while search2retain scored it's second best result this year.

#INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS

Rk	Name	Team	Points
1	Brenton Jones	Avanti Racing Team	82
2	Timothy Roe	Budget Forklifts	63
3	Alexander Edmondson	Euride Racing	58
4	Joe Cooper	Avanti Racing Team	51
5	Jonathan Cantwell	Drapac Cycling	49
6	Raphael Freienstein	Charter Mason	46
7	Mark O'Brien	Avanti Racing Team	45
8	Jesse Kerrison	Budget Forklifts	42
9	Neil Van der Ploeg	Avanti Racing Team	40
10	Patrick Bevin	search2retain	29
	Jack Haig	Avanti Racing Team	29
	Daniel Barry	Budget Forklifts	29
13	Travis Meyer	Drapac Cycling	26
14	Ben Grenda	Pure Tasmania	19
15	Jack Anderson	Drapac Cycling	17
	Michael Vink	Budget Forklifts	17

#TEAM'S RANKINGS

Rk	Team	Points
1	Avanti Racing Team	198
2	Budget Forklifts	155
3	Drapac Cycling	94
4	Charter Mason Giant Racing	86
5	search2retain	69
6	Euride Racing	65
7	African Wildlife Safaris	49
8	Jayco VIS - Apollo	33
9	Satalyst Giant Racing Team	32
10	Data#3 Symantec RT	29
11	GPM Data#3	21
12	St George Skoda HP Team	12
13	Pure Tasmania & Polygon Cycling	11
14	SUVelo Racing	8
15	Suzuki Bontrager	6
	Seight Test Team	6
	Cellarbrations Racing Team	6
18	Bianchi Lotto Arbitrage	5
19	Fiets Apparel Test Team	3
	Paradice Investment	3
21	Total Rush Hyster	2

Tour of Tasmania

The Tour of Tasmania is one of the toughest stage races in Australia, being part of the National Road Series for a long time now.

Kicking off with a 17km mountain timetrial up the Mount Wellington, the race continues with tricky hilly stages to conclude with a flat criterium around the Devonport Oval.. as usual in the Australian domestic cycling scene, the stages come rather short, but feature some challenging climbs plus the expected crosswinds.






Budget with some good memories on Tasmanian based Avanti's terrain: Williams/Anderson went for a 1-2 last season, beating local hero and NRS-champion Earle.. O'Brien won this this race back in 2013, so Budget and Roe may hope for this to continue. The TTT up Mt Wellington though has been replaced by an ITT. Furthermore, we will have less stages this year. So who will deliver on this brand new route?

[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)
After missing the podium in the Capital Tour, O'Brien will aim for nothing less but the GC-win here. Known as one of the best pure climbers in the NRS, the opening TT will be the key for him.

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/15NRS_Roe_zps457900ee.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Timothy Roe (Budget Forklifts)
Still 19 points behind NRS-leader Jones, but with a strong performance in Canberra. Roe is capable of repeating Budget's success here and he needs the GC-win as badly as O'Brien!

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/15NRS_Norris_zps9e83d8e4.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Lachlan Norris (Drapac)
No good news for those two, that Drapac lines up with some really good climbers as well: Norris, Lapthorne and Crawford make for a bloody dangerous team. To spoil Roe's title-contention?

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/15NRS_Dyball_zpsea228cb7.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Ben Dyball (Avanti Racing)
Avanti won't just rely on O'Brien and so a premium climber like Dyball can definitely reach out for the GC as well. Hadn't exactly a busy (or outstanding) year in the NRS though..

[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)
Coming off two great showings in the Great South Coast and Capital Tour, this Kiwi has finally made his stunning impressions in the NRS. Quickly jumped into the Top-10 and a top-favorite here!

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/15NRS_Girdlestone_zps8952e244.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Keagan Girdlestone (Charter Mason)
With Avanti, Drapac and Budget as the best teams, some outsiders like Girdlestone may fancy their chances to finish somewhere behind/beside those bug guns. A decent and promising climber.

tsmoha wrote:
Bevin actually won this Capital Tour irl last year. If i'm not mistaken.

Btw, he lost his GC-lead in Taiwan to three Iranian riders