#INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS

Rk	Name	Team	Points
1	Angus Lyons	Mobius – BridgeLane	244
2	Keagan Girdlestone	Team Ultra Racing	210
3	James Whelan	Drapac EF Cycling	190
4	Michael Potter	Australian Cycling Academy	160
5	Cyrus Monk	Drapac EF Cycling	155
6	Chris Harper	Bennelong SwissWellness	155
7	Joseph Cooper	Bennelong SwissWellness	150
8	Sam Crome	Bennelong SwissWellness	120
9	Peter Livingstone	Mobius – BridgeLane	115
10	Raphael Freienstein	InForm – Make	105
11	Pat Lane	InForm – Make	80
12	Ryan Cavanagh	St. George Continental	80
13	Liam Magennis	Drapac EF Cycling	70
14	Peter Milostic	Rauland Cycling Team	60
15	Cameron Ivory	GPM Stulz	50
16	Timothy Roe	Bennelong SwissWellness	50
17	Jordan Kerby	Brisbane Continental	45
18	Michael Vink	Brisbane Continental	42
19	Nicholas Kergozou	Mobius – BridgeLane	40
20	Ian Talbot	Team Ultra Racing	35
21	Ben Dyball	St. George Continental	35
22	Michael Freiberg	Bennelong SwissWellness	35
23	Ryan Thomas	Brisbane Continental	33
24	Morgan Smith	St. George Continental	30
25	Sean Lake	Bennelong SwissWellness	30
26	Stuart Shaw	Australian Cycling Academy	30
27	Christopher Miller	Nero Racing Team	30
28	Freddy Ovett	Australian Cycling Academy	25
29	Anthony Giacoppo	Bennelong SwissWellness	20
30	Brad Evans	Mobius – BridgeLane	20
31	Oliver Martin	Brisbane Continental	20
32	Ethan Egglestone	Van D'am Racing	20
33	Nick Miller	McDonalds Downunder	15
34	Cameron Scott	Australian Cycling Academy	10
35	Ryan Standish	AMR Renault Racing	10

#TEAM RANKINGS

Rk	Team	Points
1	Bennelong SwissWellness Cycling	460
2	Drapac EF Cycling	386
3	Mobius - BridgeLane	324
4	Team Ultra Racing	235
5	Australian Cycling Academy	189
6	InForm - Make	155
7	St. George Continental Cycling	105
8	Brisbane Continental Cycling	61
9	Rauland Cycling Team	60
10	GPM Stultz	50
11	Team McDonalds Down Under	15
12	Oliver's Real Food Racing	1

Tour of the Murray River Preview

The Tour of the Murray River is a 5 day, 6 stage road tour, which starts in the North Western Victorian town of Mildura for a tough 125km road race. The tour then heads to Swan Hill for another road race. Stage 3 through to Stage 5 are all road races varying in distance. Stage 6 sees the tour finish off in Yarrawonga with a criterium overlooking the scenic Lake Mulwala.

It's a tour for the sprinters with all of the stages being pan-flat. Anyway, crosswinds and the fast crits may lead to some unexpected action, so the favorites definitely have to watch out every day. After two years with no running of the event, the tour is finally back on the NRS schedule. The sprinters and roleurs will love this fact.

2017 | No edition
2016 | No edition
2015 | Brenton Jones (Avanti Racing)
2014 | Scott Law (GPM Data#3)
2013 | Luke Davison (Drapac Cycling)

Tour of the Murray River Stages 1-2-3

Sam Welsford (Australian Cycling Academy) and Scott Sunderland (Bennelong) look set to fight for yellow against each other, as Welsford leads the GC by four seconds on Sunderland with Nicholas Kergozou (Mobius) and Cameron Scott (Australian Cycling Academy) already 31 seconds behind. Welsford took the opening stage and Sunderland the second. Scott went for line honours on third day. Two challenging days with heavy crosswinds made for some tough racing, with echelons and several big splits reducing the peloton to only a few riders left for real GC ambitiouns.

Stage one from Mildura to Robinvale had no crosswinds and Welsford, best known for his achievements on the track, proved his speed by taking the stage ahead of Sunderland and Kergozou. And up and coming Kaden Groves (St. George) sprinted to a strong 4th place, with Tristan Jones (Team Ultra Racing) finishing a respectable 7th for his team, that comes off a stellar performance in the Adelaide Tour.

Heavy crosswinds on day two then: just 26 riders were left in the leading group, when they approached the finish in Quambatoo! Mainly Bennelong and Australian Cycling Academy made for a tough race and only the strongest survived in the main group. Bennelong delivered a huge leadout for Sunderland, when Brendon Davids (3rd on the stage) opened up a 21 seconds gap on the group. Only Welsford managed to hang on, but Sunderland sprinted to an impressive stage win.

Things kept being the same on day three: the peloton went into pieces late into the stage and a small group of just 11 riders eventually opened up another 26 seconds gap on the main group. Scott with a stunning victory ahead of Kergozou and GC leader Welsford, with Sunderland sprinting to a 5th place. This duo seems to be the only real contenders for yellow, seperated by just 4 seconds with still three stages to go. If the weather conditions remain the same, we have to expect some interesting days though.

Sam Welsford outsprinting Sunderland and Kergozou to take out stage one!

Major splits on day two: ACA and Bennelong destroying the pack inside the final 5km..

Davids opened up another gap, Sunderland easily goes past Welsford..

..for line honours on stage two! A crucial gap behind Welsford and Davids then..

Webber (Phoenix Cycling) as the last escapee being caught by the peloton on day three..

The sprint from an 11-men-group would cause another gap on the already reduced bunch!

Second win for ACA, but this time, it's Cameron Scott ahead of Kergozou and Welsford..

Welsford with a narrow lead over Sunderland, who is well within striking distance!

Tour of the Murray River Stages 4-5-6

The comeback edition of the Tour of the Murray River provided some great racing and a thrilling fight for yellow between Scott Sunderland (Bennelong) and Sam Welsford (ACA). Welsford lost his GC lead after stage four, just to gain it back one day later. Entering the final stage with just a one second advantage over Sunderland, his fourth place on the stage was too less to defend yellow: Sunderland sprinted to a second place to take the final GC by two seconds on Welsford. Jordan Kerby (Brisbane) took the final stage to move up to 3rd in the final GC.

Stage four and five (two road races) had no heavy crosswinds and so no major splits in the pack this time. And up and coming 19 years old Kaden Groves (St. George) sprinted to a narrow stage win against Kerby and Sunderland, moving up to 3rd in the GC. A photo finish decision, but Groves already celebrated his first NRS victory soon after crossing the line. GC leader Welsford had to settle for 5th, with Sunderland slipping into yellow with the same time as Welsford.

The peloton struggled to catch the early break the next day and two escapees narrowly held off the sprinters until the finish: Connor Brown (Team Skoda Racing) went for line honours ahead of Jarrad Drizners (SASI), but Welsford won the bunch sprint for 3rd on the stage, gaining one second on Sunderland (4th) to reclaim the leader shirt with just one stage to go!

Heavy crosswinds in the final criterium through Yarrawonga: again some major splits and several riders struggling to follow the pace from teams like Bennelong, ACA and Brisbane. A small group of 12 riders went clear from an already reduced peloton and while Kerby outsprinted Sunderland to take the stage, Welsford could just sprint for 4th: Sunderland moving up to 1st in the GC by two seconds! A few more changes inside the GC's Top-10, with Groves losing 43 seconds as part of the main group - dropping to 8th (for still a respectable result) in the final GC. A great edition of the race, with crosswinds obviously making for some entertaining days here.

Keagan Girdlestone tried to break clear, but couldn't make it into the breakaway group on stage four..

Groves, Sunderland and Kerby fighting for line honours eventually..

Sunderland and Kerby came really close, a tight decision between the day's best three sprinters..

..but Groves already knew, that he had won stage four! Sunderland's 2nd place gave him yellow for one day..

..while Brown celebrates a breakaway victory for his New Zealand based Team Skoda Racing team..

..former race leader Welsford slipped back into yellow thanks to a 3rd place on stage five!

No luck on the final day though: Kerby takes the stage ahead of Sunderland, Welsford has to settle for a 4th place on the stage..

..and so it's Scott Sunderland, who wins the comeback edition of the Murray River! The first GC win for Bennelong this season.

Grafton to Inverell Preview

The Grafton to Inverell Cycle Classic is a 228km cycling road race conducted on a point to point course between the towns of Grafton and Inverell in northern New South Wales. The race predominantly follows the Gwydir Highway over some challenging terrain that includes the climb of the Gibraltar Range, an 18km ascent from the Clarence Valley to the New England Highlands.

The race has become an iconic event on the National cycling calendar and has the reputation as the toughest one day cycling race in Australia. The previous race winners were:

2017 | Patrick Shaw (Avanti Isowhey)
2016 | Kristian Juel (Budget Forklifts)
2015 | Ben Dyball (Avanti Racing)
2014 | Robbie Hucker (Drapac Cycling)
2013 | Jack Haig (Huon Salmon - Genesys)

Grafton to Inverell Recap

Cyrus Monk (Drapac EF) proved his strength by winning the National Road Series' toughest classic: the 227km challenge from Grafton to Inverell (including an 18km ascent up the famous Gibraltar Range). A magnificent solo attack on the final climb of the day as the crucial move, with Pat Lane (InForm) as the strongest chaser crossing the line as 2nd ahead of Chris Harper (Bennelong), who led a 4-men-group with two of his teammates and Ben Dyball (St. George) across the line. A great day for Team Ultra Racing, who could celebrate a pretty strong 7th for veteran guest rider Karl Evans (a former Team Budget Forklifts professional).

How the race did unfold: an early breakaway with five riders got caught right before the final short climb of the day - with about 15km remaining. A strong Karl Evans initiated the first crucial attacks, when he rode past the early break with Monk, Lane and Michael Freiberg (Bennelong) right at his wheel. Dyball, Harper and Brendon Davids (Bennelong) would follow just a few moments later, but Monk broke clear on the climb, establishing a 30 seconds gap quickly.

Lane as the strongest in the chasing group then, desperately trying to bridge across Monk. Just when it looked like he could, Monk grew his gap with another stunning acceleration. The up and coming allrounder (who already rode as a trainee on World Tour level) finished the race 27 seconds ahead of Lane. Both should be stunned by their results here.

In the chasing group, the Bennelong trio couldn't narrow the gap to Monk/Lane, but they managed to drop Evans on their way into the fast finish in Inverell. Dyball however showed his class, when he sprinted to a 4th place behind Harper - with Davids as 5th and Freiberg as 6th completing a still impressive result for Bennelong. Evans would lose quite some time on the final kilometres, but he held off the next bigger group for a great result. Keagan Girdlestone (Team Ultra Racing) finished a respectable 49th in the toughest race he rode since his comeback.

Evans, Monk, Harper and Lane as the first favorites to attack with 14.5km to go..

Monk clearly the strongest, going clear with a notable gap just a few moments later!

Lane jumping behind and Evans struggles to keep Bennelong's pace still on the final climb of the day..

Lane fought hard to bridge across the solo leader, but he couldn't close the gap..

A big win for Monk in this prestigious one day classic!

Davids setting the pace for Harper/Freiberg, Dyball hangs on, Evans got dropped..

Harper sprints to 3rd, Dyball does well against the Bennelong trio as 4th on the day!

A great 7th place for Team Ultra Racing and their guest rider Karl Evans!

jandal7 wrote:
Wow what a performance from Monk Certainly one to watch if he can perform like that in such a tough classic.

#INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS

Rk	Name	Team	Points
1	Scott Sunderland	Bennelong SwissWellness	280
2	Cyrus Monk	Drapac EF Cycling	280
3	Angus Lyons	Mobius - BridgeLane	244
4	Chris Harper	Bennelong SwissWellness	230
5	Jordan Kerby	Brisbane Continental	220
6	Sam Welsford	Australian Cycling Academy	220
7	Keagan Girdlestone	Team Ultra Racing	210
8	James Whelan	Drapac EF Cycling	200
9	Pat Lane	InForm - Make	181
10	Nicholas Kergozou	Mobius - BridgeLane	170
11	Joseph Cooper	Bennelong SwissWellness	165
12	Michael Potter	Australian Cycling Academy	160
13	Michael Freiberg	Bennelong SwissWellness	140
14	Cameron Scott	Australian Cycling Academy	125
15	Sam Crome	Bennelong SwissWellness	120
16	Peter Livingstone	Mobius - BridgeLane	115
17	Raphael Freienstein	InForm - Make	107
18	Oliver Kent-Spark	Drapac EF Cycling	95
19	Brendon Davids	Bennelong SwissWellness	95
20	Ben Dyball	St. George Continental	95
21	Kaden Groves	St. George Continental	80
22	Ryan Cavanagh	St. George Continental	80
23	Liam Magennis	Drapac EF Cycling	78
24	Daniel Fitter	Australian Cycling Academy	74
25	Ryan Thomas	Brisbane Continental	73
26	Peter Milostic	Rauland Cycling Team	60
27	Sean Lake	Bennelong SwissWellness	55
28	Timothy Roe	Bennelong SwissWellness	50
29	Cameron Ivory	GPM Stulz	50
30	Toby Orchard	Australian Cycling Academy	48
31	Michael Vink	Brisbane Continental	47
32	Ian Talbot	Team Ultra Racing	35
33	Karl Evans	Team Ultra Racing	35
34	Morgan Smith	St. George Continental	30
35	Connor Brown	Team Skoda Racing	30

#TEAM RANKINGS

Rk	Team	Points
1	Bennelong SwissWellness Cycling	920
2	Drapac EF Cycling	640
3	Australian Cycling Academy	507
4	Mobius - BridgeLane	429
5	Team Ultra Racing	270
6	InForm - Make	258
7	Brisbane Continental Cycling	236
8	St. George Continental Cycling	215
9	Rauland Cycling Team	60
10	GPM Stultz	50
11	Team McDonalds Down Under	15
12	Oliver's Real Food Racing	1

Tour of Toowoomba Preview

The FKG Tour of Toowoomba is again be part of the Subaru National Road Series after being cancelled last season: May 21th to 24th and is the only NRS Teams event to be staged in Queensland. It will comprise of three gruelling road stages, the challenging short Individual Time Trial and the inner city Criterium.

The 2018 FKG Tour of Toowoomba – bigger, better and faster.

Mark O'Brien is the record winner of this event with three consecutive victories between 2012 and 2014. Jack Bobridge took the last edition two years ago, but none of the previous winners will be at the start this year:

2017 | Race cancelled
2016 | Jack Bobridge (Budget Forklifts)
2015 | Brenton Jones (Avanti Racing)
2014 | Scott Law (GPM Data#3)
2013 | Luke Davison (Drapac Cycling)