Launceston to New Norfolk Classic

The NRS is heading for Tasmania again. Formerly the Launceston to Hobart Classic, this event has a long history – nearly 80 years since its inception.

After Departing Launceston, the classic follows a course through Pateena, Longford, Cressy, Poatina, Arthur's Lake, St. Patrick's Plains, Steppes, Bothwell, Berridale, Hollow Tree, Rosegarland, Gretna, Hayes and Lawitta before finishing in New Norfolk.

At 208kms, taking in a Category One hill climb to rival most European climbs, it is no wonder the event is getting known as the "Hell of the South". The profile surely suits the puncheurs most, so anything but a selective race would be quite surprising.






Tasmanian based Nathan Earle (Huon) started his NRS-title mission here, when kicking off the Launceston/Tour of Tasmania double with an important victory. A highly contested sprint of a 7-men-group saw Earle edging out Walker close to the line. Both will miss on the startlist this year, so who will follow on the 2014 NRS champion?

[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)
4th in the NRS (62pts - 5pts off the podium)
Top-5 last year and now aiming for his fourth consecutive podium in the NRS rankings. With Edmondson (3rd) not racing, the chance is given.

[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)
2nd in the NRS (70pts - 12pts behind Jones)
12 points in two hilly classics.. a tough challenge, but it's achievable. Roe definitely needs to podium both of the final events though!

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Anderson_zps7a324a36.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Jack Anderson (Free Rider)
Drapac will skip this two final events, but Anderson (who finished 3rd here in 2014) will take part as a free rider anyway. Definitely a force in such a tough one day race, so expect him to be in the mix.

[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)
The chances for the former NRS-leader to make the podium are slim, but if the Kiwi delivers big time in this final events, he could actually go past Edmondson. Two victories needed 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)
Bevin has been one of the most outstanding riders in the past few weeks and will surely aim for some more notable results now. If only he had ridden a full season, he probably would have fought for the NRS crown.

Launceston to New Norfolk Classic

Australia's strongest domestic team delivered big time on home soil: Mark O'Brien and Neil Van der Ploeg (Avanti) went for an 1-2 in New Norfolk, denying Timothy Roe (Budget) some valuable points in his mission to attack NRS-leader Brenton Jones. Opposing to the past editions, the race came down to a rather large group's bunch sprint for line honours.

Some early pressure on the top-teams made for an interesting race, as a group of 14 riders went for the break of the day. Most notable names were riders like Rhys Pollock (Charter Mason), Scott Sunderland (ProTeam Down Under) and Australian Crit Champion Angus Tobin (search2). This escaping group built up an 8-minutes-gap at it's peak.

Teams like Avanti, search2retain and Budget would lead the usual chase, pulling the group back with 20km and just one short climb to go. A first attack by Mark O'Brien was empty-handed and instead, early escapees Peter English managed to hold on to gap!

Sean Lake (African Wildlife) was the most aggressive rider in the final part of the race, but he couldn't establish a gap on the 47-men-bunch, which went strong towards a bunch sprint. English fought til the end, but couldn't hang on with O'Brien/VdP and Roe/Williams, who finished ahead of him. O'Brien with a strong sprint, while Roe closely missed out on two more points here. Anyway, he's narrowing the 12-points-deficit on Jones to 7 points that way!

The early break with Peter English setting the agenda..

Avanti and search2 trying to pull the breakaway back right in time..

Sean Lake attacking the bunch about 20km before finish: empty-handed!

English fighting to hold off the nearing main group of favorites..

..which brought back Lake close to New Norfolk! No further attacks..

English struggling to hold off O'Brien and Van der Ploeg..

O'Brien going strong with Roe fighting for the runner-up!

O'Brien winning with Van der Ploeg lunging in for a close 2nd then!

#FINAL RESULTS

1	Mark O'Brien	Avanti Racing Team	5h38'50
2	Neil Van der Ploeg	Avanti Racing Team	+ 6
3	Timothy Roe	Budget Forklifts	s.t.
4	Marc Williams	Budget Forklifts	+ 10
5	Peter English	Satalyst Giant Racing	+ 16
6	Michael Cupitt	Budget Forklifts	+ 20
7	Nick Yallouris	St George Skoda	s.t.
8	Oliver Kent-Spark	search2retain	+ 23
9	Sean Lake	African Wildlife Safaris	s.t.
10	Jack Anderson	Park Trent Team	s.t.

sutty68 wrote:
Hmmmmmm, what do we have to do to beat these guys

With just one race to come, it's still possible for Timmy Roe to go for the NRS crown: 7 points on Jones, so he will at least have to finish 2nd (for a tied lead - but less wins) or 1st (for the crown)! It would be his first GC- or classic-win this year and the timing couldn't be better then.

O'Brien's victory in Tasmania made him go past Edmondson to go on third place. He's looking to set to finish on the NRS podium for the fourth time and could even go past Roe in the final event. But also Edmondson will race the Grafton to Inverell classic, so he's still in this fight. The hilly profile may suit O'Brien more though.

No news for the teams: Avanti will be the well deserved winner in the team's competition. A huge season they had.

#INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS

Rk	Name	Team	Points
1	Brenton Jones	Avanti Racing Team	82
2	Timothy Roe	Budget Forklifts	75
3	Mark O'Brien	Avanti Racing Team	71
4	Alexander Edmondson	Euride Racing	67
5	Jonathan Cantwell	Drapac Cycling	56
6	Neil Van der Ploeg	Avanti Racing Team	52
7	Joe Cooper	Avanti Racing Team	51
8	Raphael Freienstein	Charter Mason	46
	Jesse Kerrison	Budget Forklifts	46
10	Patrick Bevin	search2retain	39
11	Jack Haig	Avanti Racing Team	29
	Daniel Barry	Budget Forklifts	29
13	Travis Meyer	Drapac Cycling	26
14	Michael Cupitt	Budget Forklifts	20
15	Ben Grenda	Pure Tasmania	19

#TEAM'S RANKINGS

Rk	Team	Points
1	Avanti Racing Team	236
2	Budget Forklifts	177
3	Drapac Cycling	109
4	Charter Mason Giant Racing	90
5	search2retain	82
6	Euride Racing	71
7	African Wildlife Safaris	59
8	Data#3 Symantec RT	38
9	Satalyst Giant Racing Team	35
10	GPM Data#3	34
11	Jayco VIS - Apollo	33
12	SUVelo Racing	15
13	Pure Tasmania & Polygon Cycling	14
14	St George Skoda HP Team	12
15	Suzuki Bontrager	10
16	Seight Test Team	9
17	Veneziano Blefari	6
	Cellarbrations Racing Team	6
19	Bianchi Lotto Arbitrage	5
20	Fiets Apparel Test Team	3
	Paradice Investment	3
22	Total Rush Hyster	2

tsmoha wrote:


Win

TheManxMissile wrote:
Avanti Need i say more?

Grafton to Inverell

The Grafton to Inverell Cycle Classic is a 228km road race conducted on a point to point course between the towns of Grafton and Inverell in northern New South Wales. The 2015 event is the 56th edition of a race that has enjoyed a long and successful history.

The course has remained the same over the years with the exception of the last two events which have added a deviation off the Gwydir Highway through the township of Elsmore to include one more final climb before the finish in Inverell.

This has proved very successful and consolidated the reputation of the Grafton to Inverell as the toughest one day cycling event in Australia.






Robbie Hucker (Drapac) finished off a stunning season with a huge victory to go past Mark O'Brien in the final NRS rankings for the runner up behind Nathan Earle. A strong solo ride over the final 12km made him earn the biggest victory in his career.

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/15NRS_JonesBre_zps5dbc10a7.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Brenton Jones (Avanti Racing)
1st in the NRS (82pts)
Obivously not expected to score points in the Grafton, but with his 7-points-lead ob Roe, the sprinter has a big plus in this thrilling battle for the NRS crown!

[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)
2nd in the NRS (75pts)
7 points.. Roe needs to finish at least 2nd (for a tie) and 1st (for the crown)! He looked strong in the latest classic, but will fear Avanati's strong men to steal points..

[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)
3rd in the NRS (71pts)
O'Brien certainly one of those, as he won the Launceston classic quite dominating. He still has a chance to attack Roe for the runner up.

[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]Alexander Edmondson (Euride Racing)
4th in the NRS (67pts)
Edmondson back in action and with a small chance to re-claim the podium spot. He will hope for a less selective race, but can be a real threat thanks to his speed..

Grafton to Inverell

The National Road Series 2015 concluded with yet another Avanti victory - and that in two ways: while Ben Dyball (Avanti) rode to his biggest win this year, Timothy Roe (Budget) missed out on the needed victory/runner-up to see Brenton Jones (Avanti) claiming the NRS individual's title! Jones becomes the first sprinter to grab the NRS crown since Luke Davison won the trophy back in 2012!

How the race unfolded: an early break of three riders was joined by three more riders halfway through the race - with Miles Scotson (Euride) as the most notable name. The up and coming TT-specialist might have went for a tactical move to help his teammate Alex Edmondson later in the race.. Opposing to the previous race, those escapees did not stand a chance against the chasing bunch, where Team Budget worked hard to keep Roe's ambitions alive.

And so it came to the awaited showdown, as the big guns attacked on the final climb 15km before finish: Timmy Roe as the first to launch his move, quickly followed by group with Mark O'Brien, Ben Dyball, Oliver Kent-Spark and Sean Lake! Also Edmondson managed to join them, still aiming for the final podium spot in the individual rankings..

Avanti with the tactical advantage on Budget: with two riders in this 7-men-group, the team did well to play it all for Brenton Jones there. Dyball would launch a promising move about 8km before finish then. With also Kent-Spark and O'Brien on the attack, Roe was under pressure (reminder: he at least needed the 2nd place here).. while Dyball impressively rode to an indisputed victory, Kent-Spark spoiled Roe's chances by holding off group Roe/O'Brien by more than a minute eventually! Roe had nothing more to give and had to settle for 6th, while O'Brien completed the podium to hold off Edmondson in the NRS rankings!

Scotson (Euride) as part of the 6-men-breakaway group..

Team Budget going all-in for Roe and keeping the race under control..

Roe attacking into the last climb of the day, O'Brien to follow!

More riders such as Dyball, Anderson and Kent-Spark joining the duo..

Also Edmondson managed to hang on, still aiming to beat O'Brien here..

Dyball soloing away from this elite group, Kent-Spark jumping behind!

Roe trying to catch up with Kent-Spark and O'Brien with 5km to go..

Dyball celebrating a prestigious victory 24" ahead of Kent-Spark..

O'Brien with a narrow 3rd ahead of Sean Lake and Edmondson then!

#FINAL RESULTS

1	Ben Dyball	Avanti Racing Team	6h06'36
2	Oliver Kent-Spark	search2retain	+ 24
3	Mark O'Brien	Avanti Racing Team	+ 1'22
4	Sean Lake	African Wildlife Safaris	s.t.
5	Alexander Edmondson	Euride Racing	s.t.
6	Timothy Roe	Budget Forklifts	s.t.
7	Jack Anderson	Park Trent Team	+ 1'28
8	Jay Dutton	St George Skoda	+ 3'47
9	Alex Wohler	Budget Forklifts	+ 6'12
10	Mitchell Lovelock-Fay	Avanti Racing Team	s.t.

The Avanti Racing Team (formerly known as Huon Salmon/Genesys) repeated both their individual's and team's titles from last year: while Brenton Jones is the new crowned NRS-champion (following on Nathan Earle), his team dominated the team's competition to finish comfortably ahead of Team Budget again.

Despite two sprinter-friendly one day races being cut from the schedule (Shipwreck Coast, Goulburn to Citi), we do have the first sprinter taking the individual's title since Luke Davison won the NRS back in 2012. Jones scored points in only five races, but went for huge points hauls in the Victorian winter stage-races: including overall victories in the Tour of Geelong and Tour of the Murray River, Avanti's new premium sprinter added valuable stage-wins and a high GC-placing in the Tour of the Great South Coast. A huge month for him, who took over the leader's role from Anthony Giacoppo (10th in the NRS in 2014) in an impressive way.

Coming back from two years with injuries, Timothy Roe (Budget) missed out on the NRS crown by just 5 points. Still a great way to bounce back from several setbacks, Budget's captain held off Mark O'Brien (Avanti) by one point eventually. The Victoria based climber podium's the NRS for the fourth time in a row, yet still missing out on the overall victory! A next attempt next year?

Alex Edmondson (Euride) had his breakthrough year to finish as 4th overall. Looking like a serious contender for a long time, he couldn't answer on O'Brien's strong late season. Cantwell, former NRS-champion Van der Ploeg, long leading Cooper, Freienstein, Kerrison and Bevin complete the Top-10. Another impressive year from Van der Ploeg, while Bevin is definitely someone to watch out for.

Avanti not only with five riders inside the individual's Top-11 (though Jack Haig did miss the entire second half of the season), but also took the team's competition by more than 50 points on Team Budget. Drapac, though skipping several races, third-best team again, while Charter Mason had a pretty strong season and narrowly held off search2retain by one point. Euride and African Wildlife Safaris with some notable results, too.



INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS/

Rk	Name	Team	Points
1	Brenton Jones	Avanti Racing Team	82
2	Timothy Roe	Budget Forklifts	77
3	Mark O'Brien	Avanti Racing Team	76
4	Alexander Edmondson	Euride Racing	70
5	Jonathan Cantwell	Drapac Cycling	56
6	Neil Van der Ploeg	Avanti Racing Team	52
7	Joe Cooper	Avanti Racing Team	51
8	Raphael Freienstein	Charter Mason	46
	Jesse Kerrison	Budget Forklifts	46
10	Patrick Bevin	search2retain	39

TEAM RANKINGS/

Rk	Team	Points
1	Avanti Racing Team	245
2	Budget Forklifts	182
3	Drapac Cycling	109
4	Charter Mason Giant Racing	90
5	search2retain	89
6	Euride Racing	74
7	African Wildlife Safaris	63
8	Data#3 Symantec RT	39
9	Satalyst Giant Racing Team	35
10	GPM Data#3	34