The detail in this story is outstanding. Always a favourite despite not commenting every time. Talbot should easily move up in GC with some smart riding. Less than 20" to Cooper in 8th
@valv: Almost spot on, I guess at least about Evan and his GC lead..
@hoyle: Thanks for the kind words! Always appreciate positive feedback from other well known and forum-greats story writers
@Tami: Talbot indeed doing well here! Given the competition, he definitely performed on a good level for our team's standards!
National Capital Tour Stages 3-4
MAWDITT GAINS CRUCIAL SECONDS FOR THE OVERALL VICTORY
Mobius - BridgeLane missed out on it's second consecutive victory at the National Capital Tour, as Lionel Mawditt (InForm) went past Alexander Evans (Mobius) by just 3 seconds for the overall victory. Mawditt gained 12 seconds on Evans in the challenging hilly stage through Canberra. Sam Crome (Bennelong) gained seconds as well, but has to settle for 3rd and the final podium spot in the GC. Ian Talbot (Team Ultra Racing) with a good race to finish 11th in the GC.
A brand new stage three, featuring two late climbs up the Black Mountain and Mount Ainslie, would see plenty of action on the final climb close to a fast finish down to Canberra's Anzac Parade: Crome as the first favorite to attack, but he couldn't go clear. Opposing to Freddy Ovett (ACA), who went clear close to the hilltop, establishing a small gap on an 8-men-group, that distanced the peloton by a few seconds: GC leader Evans part of the group, just like Mawditt and other GC contenders like Joe Cooper, Cameron Bayly (Bennelong, James Whelan (Drapac), Brad Evans, Angus Lyons (Mobius) and Oliver Martin (Brisbane). Evans, however, struggled to follow the group's pace on the final kilometre, eventually losing a few crucial seconds against Mawditt.
Ovett though maintained a notable gap for a stunning solo victory, moving up to 7th in the GC. Bayly finished 2nd on the day, just ahead of Whelan and his teammate Crome. Team Ultra Racing had Talbot as their best finisher, keeping his GC spot easily. Keagan Girdlestone though lost ten spots on this challenging course.
The final criterium at the Stromlo Forest Park Criterium course went to the sprinters: while the early breakaway looked promising for quite a while, Anthony Giacoppo (Bennelong) would eventually sprint for line honours ahead of Brad Evans and Theodore Yates (Drapac). Giacoppo's first stage-win of the season. No more GC changes and so Mawditt retained the yellow leader shirt to celebrate his first NRS race victory.
Ovett going clear from the peloton at the top of Mount Ainslie..
The chasing group, led by James Whelan, trying to close the gap to Ovett..
Karl Evans supporting his captain Ian Talbot to limit the losses on this day..
Ovett holds off the chasing group to take a great stage victory in Canberra!
Bayly sprints for 2nd, GC leader Evans loses 12 seconds on Mawditt, who slips into yellow that way!
The early breakaway group enters the final lap of the Stromlo Park criterium with a promising gap on the chasing peloton..
..but the sprinters deliver: Giacoppo celebrates his first stage win this year!
Mawditt on the top of the GC podium, denying the Mobius team it's second consecutive victory of the National Capital Tour.
@sutty: Yes, at least he seems to be a gifted climber!
10 of 15 races done and at this point, we should already have a clear picture, of who's left to fight for the NRS crown this year: Jordan Kerby (Brisbane) the obvious favorite at this point, leading the individual's ranking after his two consecutive race wins in the King Valley and Otway Tour. Despite scoring no points in the mountainous National Capital Tour, he keeps the series lead by still the same margin on Sam Welsford (ACA).
Joseph Cooper and Chris Harper (Bennelong) couldn't score big time at the Capital Tour and they will both need to win at least one of the remaining stage races to close the 200pts gap on Kerby. The mountainous profiles of Tasmania should favor Harper, but of course still anything can happen in the remaining five events.
Cyrus Monk (Drapac) sitting on 5th, keeping himself in the title contention. Sam Crome (Bennelong) and James Whelan (Drapac) entering the Top-10, Alex Evans (Mobius) and Lionel Mawditt (InForm) with the biggest jumps thanks to their strong performances in the Capital Tour.
Bennelong SwissWellness still with a comfortable gap in the team's ranking: Drapac EF yet defending the runner-up spot, but ACA is not far behind as 3rd. Mobius and InForm narrowed the gap to Brisbane thanks to their bbig scores in the Capital Tour.
After a year hiatus in 2016, this event returned to the National Road Series in 2017 and has shaped up to be the best Gippsland tour in the event's acclaimed history. Described as a 'Jewel in the Crown' of Australia's domestic road cycling calendar, the five day race will attract the best Australian teams and the cream of Australia's elite domestic male cyclists. With a prestigious list of past winners such as Will Walker and Nathan Haas - The Australian Paper Tour of Gippsland is a pinnacle steppingstone for those ambitious riders hoping to forge a career in the professional cycling arena.
Scott Sunderland (Bennelong) is back to his old strength, taking out stage three and leading the provisional GC with two stages to come: former NRS leader Sam Welsford (ACA) underlines his promising ambitiouns to fight for the series crown - winning a windy and highly selective opening stage to sit on 2nd place in the GC. Anthony Giacoppo (Bennelong) sprinted to line honours on second day, currently on 3rd in the GC. Team Ultra Racing did well to survive some major splits in the opening stage: Ian Talbot (13th) and Keagan Girdlestone (14th) look set to fight for a Top-15 result until the end.
Girdlestone looked strong in the opening criterium through Traralgon: heavy crosswinds up to 60kmh made for a tough race and with only 10km remaining, the peloton was reduced to just 35 riders. Girdlestone made for a high pace by trying to go clear at this point - empty handed, but he made the crucial splits that way. ACA once again proved it's sprint power, when Welsford would take the stage ahead of his teammate Leigh Howard, who is having his first appearance in the NRS these day. Liam White (Drapac) completed the podium and several possible GC contenders/puncheurs eventually lost more than a minute on a 29-men leading group.
The Paynesville to Metung Road Race had less challenging weather conditions: an early break got caught in time and opposing to the opener, Bennelong dominated the bunch sprint. Giacoppo sprinted to his second stage-win this season, his teammate Sunderland made it an 1-2 for Bennelong. Welsford a strong 3rd ahead of Raphael Freienstein (InForm) and Howard.
Some major splits on third day though: the main group being reduced to about 50 riders and Sunderland kept going strong to take the stage ahead of Freienstein and Theodore Yates (Drapac). Welsford with problems on this day, but he's still in a great position to attack NRS leader Jordan Kerby (Brisbane), who's solid as 7th in the GC so far though.
Girdlestone trying to break clear from the bunch in the opening crit..
Major splits with just 29 riders in the leading group: Drapac, ACA and Team Ultra setting a high pace in order to distance the dropped groups. Succesfully!
1-2 for ACA, as Welsford takes the opener ahead of Howard and White!
Giacoppo, Sunderland and Welsford approaching stage two's finish line..
1-2 for Bennelong, as Giacoppo takes the stage ahead of Sunderland and Welsford!
Bennelong and InForm going strong on day three, with major splits in the pack - yet again!
Sunderland takes the stage ahead of Freienstein, a crucial victory..
..as he not only celebrates the stage, but also leads the GC with two stages to come: a hilly stage four as the key stage for particularly the sprinters now.
@valverde: Yap, next stage saw some gaps last year. Unfortunately it wasn't that selective this time though..
@Tami: Our position looked promising, yes! Let's see, what we did then..
Tour of Gippsland Stages 4-5
THE SPRINTERS HANG ON AND SUNDERLAND TAKES THE GC
Scott Sunderland (Bennelong) might not have expected to win the Tour of Gippsland this year, but he just did it: thanks to a less selective hilly stage from Wonthaggi to Inverloch and his runner-up in the final criterium, Sunderland succesfully defended the leader shirt against Leigh Howard and Sam Welsford (ACA). Howard proved his strength and took the race concluding criterium through Traralgon.
The key stage to Inverloch didn't lead to real problems for the sprinters this year: with Bennelong obviously not really interested in making it a selection race, a big group entered the flat finish eventually. Oliver Kent-Spark (Drapac) took the still challenging stage ahead of Brendon Davids (Bennelong) and a very strong Liam White (Drapac). A missed opportunity for the best puncheurs here, as they needed to gain back over a minute to fight for worthy GC positions. A good day for the sprinters though, as they will certainly enjoy the rather unexpected points haul from this race.
In the final Traralgon criterium (a partly hilly, partly flat course), the peloton once again delivered a bunch sprint decision: Howard sprinted for line honours ahead of Sunderland and Chris Harper (Bennelong), who still missed out on big key points in his fight for the individual NRS crown. A great race for Ian Talbot (Team Ultra) as 10th in the final GC: the young Kiwi collected a valuable bonification in the "queen" stage, when he tried to attack the peloton on the final climb of the day. Keagan Girdlestone added a minor GC result as still a solid 19th.
Ian Talbot and Cyrus Monk (Drapac) trying to go clear with 23km to go in the hilly stage from Wonthaggi to Inverloch. An empty-handed attempt, as Bennelong kept the things together..
Drapac stronger in the bunch sprint though: White ahead of Kent-Spark..
Kent-Spark with a narrow victory over Brendon Davids and White as 3rd..
Finally celebrating his win on the podium a few moments later!
Howard vs Harper on the final metres in the Traralgon criterium..
And Howard with his first stage-win in his first NRS race!
A great GC victory for Scott Sunderland, who had such a disappointing mid-season particularly at the Great South Coast Tour.
He's doing good things recently! An interesting talent for sure.
Sam Welsford (ACA) keeps to impress in his second NRS year (after riding just a few races with JML Racing last season) and the track specialist reclaimes the individual rankings lead thanks a stage-win and his 3rd place in the final GC at the Tour of Gippsland. Jordan Kerby (Brisbane) collected points as well, but drops to 2nd with now only four races to come (of which three will be one day classics). The leading duo with quite a gap on Chris Harper (Bennelong) as 3rd. He will definitely need to take out the Tour of Tasmania to keep himself in contention for the NRS crown somehow.
It will be tough for Bennelong though: three classics means less points (125 pts for a victory, opposing to 200pts for a GC victory in a stage race). And - which is good news for Welsford and also Kerby - the next two races will be flat classics: the famous Melbourne to Warrnambool and the comeback edition of the Goulburn to Citi classic. The latter as clearly the less challenging of the two events.
Scott Sunderland as another possible contender for Bennelong, as he moved up to 5th after his Gippsland success. The series lead looks out of reach though, as he can't really reach Welsford's 900pts anymore. The same may go for Joseph Cooper, who probably won't be amongst the best climbers in the final two events of the season. The veteran Kiwi should still fight for his third consecutive podium in the NRS now.
As for the team's competition, Bennelong has more or less sealed the deal (yet again): 310pts scored in Gippsland and so the team is already more than 1000pts (!) ahead of Drapac EF as 2nd. A strong performance for Australian Cycling Academy (279pts) as well, now putting some real pressure on Drapac. Brisbane keeps it's 4th place ahead of Mobius and InForm, which will battle for the final Top-5 spot. Team Ultra Racing still doing quite well as 8th, which should be pretty much secured - unless Oliver's Real Food Racing delivers big in the classics (which could happen, of course).
at least about Evan and his GC lead.. 
