@jandal: Certainly a great start for the Kiwis into the NRS 2018 Obviously, Girdlestone's GC victory in Adelaide has to stand out. Didn't see that coming and we definitely did benefit from that crash late into S2 - and of course the lack of bonifications here (used a real xml file for this, as used back in the real 2015 edition)!
@Aquarius: Cool to see you stopping by! And thanks for the kind words on the lay-out. That's always nice to read.. Girdlestone definitely was one of the most talented riders on this level. I won't share the stats for this story, but he certainly ain't amongst the very best after his crash and his one year break. A great daily form and smart tactics helped him to achieve this awesome GC win. We should not expect too many victories, but it should be a nice challenge to get notable results with this guy.
Two of fifteen events are done and so it's time for a first rankings update. Angus Lyons (Mobius) took the Tour de Perth and added a minor GC result (17th) at the Adelaide Tour (with a stage runner-up, too). That's enough for him to defend the lead in the individual rankings. Tough luck for Tour de Perth stage-winner Chris Harper (Bennelong), as he crashed in the opening stage of the Adelaide Tour - thus leaving him without a chance to fight for a notable GC result.
The biggest story in the NRS so far: Keagan Girdlestone's impressive comeback. After a solid performance in Perth, Girdlestone rode to a stunning third place in Adelaide's queen stage and would then go and take the overall victory thanks to some solid stage results on the further three days. This lifts him up to a provisional 2nd in the NRS rankings. Truly amazing for the talented climber.
With the Tour of the Murray River as the next event, the sprinters are likely to attack Lyons' lead though: Raphael Freienstein as the best scoring sprinter so far, as he managed a strong 5th in the GC of the Adelaide Tour. The competition in the Murray River tour should be fierce though.
Bennelong Swisswellness leading the team's rankings as usual, but Drapac EF scored big time in Adelaide. Mobius doing fine thanks to a stunning Perth performance and also Team Ultra Racing is enjoying a great start into it's first NRS season with Talbot (10th in Perth) and Girdlestone (1st in Adelaide) scoring big points. Opposing to Brisbane Continental Cycling, which had some fine stage results (that do not count for the team's rankings), but lacking the top GC results so far. Still a long way to go though.
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.
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [PT] Xero Racing
Thanks, guys! What looks like a boring race on paper, actually made for some great gameplay!
@sutty: Yeah!
@jandal: Double yeah!
@Tamijo: Thanks, mate. Quite happy with my idea as well
Tour of the Murray River Stages 1-2-3
WINDS, ECHELONS, SPLITS AND A DUO FIGHTING FOR THE GC
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!
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.
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:
Not his favorite terrain, sutty but he did indeed well at the Murray River.
Grafton to Inverell Recap
MONK WITH A STUNNING SOLO VICTORY AHEAD OF LANE AND HARPER
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!
Wow what a performance from Monk Certainly one to watch if he can perform like that in such a tough classic.
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [PT] Xero Racing
jandal7 wrote:
Wow what a performance from Monk Certainly one to watch if he can perform like that in such a tough classic.
He certainly is Thanks for stopping by!
After four of fifteen events, we have a tied lead in the individual's ranking: Cyrus Monk (Drapac EF, picture above) rode to a stunning victory in the Grafton to Inverell classic and leads the NRS together with Scott Sunderland (Bennelong), who moved into the series lead thanks to his performance in the Tour of the Murray River. Former NRS leader Angus Lyons couldn't score points in Inverell, but he remains a strong 3rd in the rankings.
Chris Harper (Bennelong) moving up to 4th ahead of Jordan Kerby, Sam Welsford and Keagan Girdlestone. Pat Lane (InForm) moving inside the Top-10 thanks to his runner-up in Inverell. Obviously anything can happen from this point, but it's pretty clear, that Bennelong has several options for their fifth consecutive individual title. But - and that's obvious as well - there's some fierce competition with talented riders like Monk, Lyons, Whelan, Welsford or veteran riders like Kerby.
In the team competition, Bennelong keeps to impress with some great scoring through depth: a great result at the Murray River was followed by a 3-5-6 in Inverell, thus outscoring Drapac EF by 10pts in this classic. It's still possible to attack Bennelong with only one or two big races, but it will be a tough challenge for Drapac, Australian Cycling Academy or Mobius. Team Ultra Racing with a pretty strong debut season, currently sitting on 5th with InForm, Brisbane and St. George as their most dangerous contenders.
Kergozou best of the Kiwis so far but Cooper is lurking, hope to see him shine soon. Also love the great start from the EF-Drapac talents
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [PT] Xero Racing
Girdlestone still ok in the overall riders ranking, but the teams is lacking results since Adelaide Tour, moods must be in a downward spiral in the team bus, time to up the pace a little
Thanks for stopping by, guys. May comment on your posts later
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:
Obviously, Girdlestone's GC victory in Adelaide has to stand out. Didn't see that coming and we definitely did benefit from that crash late into S2 - and of course the lack of bonifications here (used a real xml file for this, as used back in the real 2015 edition)!
Certainly one to watch if he can perform like that in such a tough classic.
