[img-r]https://imageshack.com/a/img825/4272/4itf.png[/img-r]What's this story about/ It's neither a team nor a one-rider story. It's a Series story. While the focus will be on specific teams or riders though.
Heading for 2015/ And here we go again, yet entering the third year of covering the action in Australia's premium cycling series. Some notable changes (like defending champion Earle stepping up to World Tour level) will make for an interesting new "look" of the domestic cycling scene.. and await some more "bonus stuff" around Australia's cycling scene.. and we're going to have a focus on New Zealand as well. Oceania, here we come!

Database/ Custom
Difficulty/ I will run the Series like the MG: as a reporter only
Stages/ made by me
Shirts/ made by miggi133 (90%), aidanvn13, FroomeDog99 and me

Info/ Some may know that I started running this story with PCM12. You'll find all links in this new thread though.

National Road Series - Honour Roll

Victoria Road Series - Honour Roll

Calder Stewart Elite Series - Honour Roll

Date	Event	Pre	Winner
7.1.	Australia Timetrial NC	o	Hepburn
9.1.	Australia Criterium NC	o	Tobin
11.1.	Australia Road NC	o	Gerrans
10.1.	New Zealand Timetrial NC	o	Christie
12.1.	New Zealand Road NC	o	Bauer
28.1.	Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road	o	Anderson
29.1.	New Zealand Cycle Classic	o	Dyball
5.2.	Herald Sun Tour	o	Gerrans
12.3.	Oceania Championships ITT	o	C Meyer
14.3.	Oceania Championships RR	o	C Meyer
21.3.	Le Race	o	Williamson
21.4.	Mersey Valley Tour	o	T Meyer
2.5.	Tour de Perth	o	Cooper
9.5.	Tour of Toowoomba	o	N vd Ploeg
24.5.	Adelaide Tour	o	Anderson
20.6.	North West Tour	o	Haig
31.7.	Tour of Gippsland	o	Freienstein
10.8.	Tour of Geelong	o	Jones
18.8.	Tour of the Great South Coast	o	Stevenson
3.9.	Tour of the Murray River	o	Jones
20.9.	National Capital Tour	o	Bevin
29.9.	Tour of Tasmania	o	O'Brien
12.10.	Melbourne to Warrnambool	o	Edmondson
20.10.	Launceston to New Norfolk	o	O'Brien
26.10.	Grafton to Inverell	o	Dyball
3.11.	Tour of Southland	o	cancelled
tba	Elite Series NZL
	Round 1	o	Barry
	Round 2	o	Barry
	Round 3	o	Horgan
	Round 4	o	Horgan
	Round 5	o	Evans
	Round 6.1	x	x
	Round 6.2	o	Zenovich
tba	Victorian Road Series
	Mt Baw Baw Classic	o	Katsounis
	Sam Miranda Road Race	x	Kent-Spark
	Stratford to Dargo	x	Canty
	Tour of Bright	x	Clark

indicates NRS-events
indicates UCI events
indicates New Zealand events
indicates other Australian/Oceanian events
o indicates "link available"
x indicates "not"

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/001_Mini_African_zps839086f2.png[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]AFRICAN WILDLIFE SAFARIS
#Rhys Gillett, Nathan Elliott, Tyler Spurrell, Jason Spencer
This young team made some steps forward in the past season and looks set for joining the mix for the Top-5 this year. Elliott and Spencer will add some depth!

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/001_Mini_Avanti_zpsf4ede230.png[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]AVANTI RACING TEAM
#Mark O'Brien, Jack Haig, Joe Cooper, Anthony Giacoppo
Losing defending champion Earle won't stop this team from continuing it's way to be Australia's best domestic team. Couple of stars added, several still on the roster.

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/001_Mini_Budget_zps2b4100da.png[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]BUDGET FORKLIFTS
#Tim Roe, Sam Horgan, Jesse Kerrison, Alex Wohler
Aiming to claim the team's title they won back in 2013, Budget landed a coup by giving Roe a chance to bounce back from his injuries. Kerrison up and coming sprinter!

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/001_Mini_Charter_zps17b6c83d.png[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]CHARTER MASON GIANT RACING
#Keagan Girdlestone, Shannon Johnson, Raphael Freinstein
Formerly Drapac's development team, Charter Mason goes "solo" this year. South African born Kiwi Girdlestone could be a force, just like sprint-aces Johnson/Freinstein.

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/001_Mini_Data3_zps380a4901.png[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]DATA#3 SYMANTEC
#James Szollosi, Fraser Gough, Ben Carman
After two years with less notable results, GPM's former development added some talent and may become a dark horse for the Top-10. Watch out for Kiwi-talent Gough!

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/001_Mini_Drapac_zps75cf7611.png[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]DRAPAC CYCLING
#Wes Sulzberger, Jonathan Cantwell, Rob Hucker, Travis Meyer
Drapac just got a ProContinental, which may prevent the team from finally grabbing the NRS's team title.. may not race all events, but their talent is huge!

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/001_Mini_Euride_zpsa3d0a045.png[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]EURIDE RACING
#Alex Edmondson, Harry Carpenter, Glenn O'Shea
O'Brien left this talented team after just one season, so Euride may focus on less climbing again. Edmondson has yet to break through, Carpenter will ride U23s in Europe.

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/001_Mini_GPM_zps3f118320.png[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]GPM - DATA#3
#Chris Jory, Daniel Bonello, Caleb Jones
Jory will be a force in those late season one day classics, but the team lacks some outstanding stage racers and sprinters. Still some depth to race a solid season.

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/001_Mini_Satalyst_zpse14e90e1.png[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]SATALYST GIANT RACING
#Pat Shaw, Theo Yates, Joel Strachan, Matthew Marshall
Like African Wildlife's (which claimed continental status this year), Satalyst is one of those Aussie teams to grow with every year. Lost Paul van der Ploeg though.

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/001_Mini_search2_zps6e0b4b68.png[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]SEARCH2RETAIN
#Patrick Bevin, Brendan Canty, Alistair Donohoe, Cam Bayly
Lost 2013 champion Neil vdPloeg, but the team was impressive the past two years.. added two up and coming climbers with Bevin and Canty. Nice depth as well.

#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

POINTS ALLOCATION

GC - Tour Events	Place	Individuals	Teams
	1st	12	12
	2nd	10	10
	3rd	8	8
	4th	7	7
	5th	6	6
	6th	5	5
	7th	4	4
	8th	3	3
	9th	2	2
	10th	1	1
Stages - Tour Events	Place	Individuals	Teams
	1st	3	3
	2nd	2	2
	3rd	1	1
GC - One Day Classics	Place	Individuals	Teams
	1st	9	9
	2nd	7	7
	3rd	5	5
	4th	4	4
	5th	3	3
	6th	2	2
	7th	1	1

Season highlights 2015 - New Zealand Cycle Classic
Season highlights 2015 - Mersey Valley & Tour de Perth
Season highlights 2015 - Toowoomba & Adelaide Tour
Season highlights 2015 - North West & Gippsland

- The original story-thread to be found here
- I will update the first 5 posts with updates after every event, such like schedule/results, the updated rankings or links to rider-blogs
- for those we've not yet followed the story, feel free to check previous reports in the old thread and the story-preview
- I will start the new thread with the newest rankings and some highlight-screens (later today)

Nathan Earle, Neil Van der Ploeg, Mark O'Brien and Bernd Sulzberger on the chase..


A breakaway in season's opener - Mersey Valley Tour


Another breakaway in Mersey Valley Tour..


O'Brien (Budget) and Earle (Huon) - two of the best climbers!


Neil Van der Ploeg in a Roubaix-style finish in Herald Sun Tour


Drapac leading a chase..


Matt Clark (Charter Mason) and Jai Crawford (Huon) trying to escape..


Matt Clark (in old shirt) going solo uphill!


Budget's Jesse Kerrison winning one of the NRS' several crits!

Ian Butler wrote:
Oh, and for the people joining in now, a quick summary: Earle is the greatest in the series

The first Category 1-event in Gippsland obviously mixed up the individual rankings: NRS-leader O'Brien lost minutes on a windy and rainy day, so even though he scored some minor points, he was expected to give away the provisional crown.. young gun and rising star Jack Haig once again proved that he's a reliable co-leader for Huon, finishing on podium and taking the NRS-lead!

Also former NRS-leader Semple finished inside the Top-10, keeping contact with Haig, who's teammate Earle also scored valuable points as 5th.. Karl Evans is definitely the big winner here, as he jumped onto 5th thanks to his win.

The top-sprinters Law and Davison, as well as Grenda, came closer to the NRS' Top-10, so don't count the current champion Davison off. The flat classics are still to come.

INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS/

Rk	Name	Team	Pts
1	Jack Haig	Huon Salmon-Genesys	277
2	Adam Semple	Satalyst Giant Racing Team	256
3	Mark O'Brien	Budget Forklifts	228
4	Nathan Earle	Huon Salmon-Genesys	225
5	Karl Evans	Budget Forklifts	213
6	Aaron Donnelly	Huon Salmon-Genesys	177
7	Neil Van der Ploeg	search2retain p/b health.com.au	160
	Bradley Hall	Satalyst Giant Racing Team	160
9	Paul Van der Ploeg	Satalyst Giant Racing Team	157
10	Michael Cupitt	Budget Forklifts	148
11	Sam Rutherford	GPM Data#3	114
12	Scott Law	GPM Data#3	105
13	Matthew Clark	Charter Mason / Drapac	104
14	Darren Lapthorne	Drapac Cycling	86
15	Luke Davison	Drapac Cycling	85
16	Ben Grenda	Oz Cycling Development Team	83
17	Eric Sheppard	search2retain p/b health.com.au	77
18	Cameron Bayly	search2retain p/b health.com.au	71
19	Harry Carpenter	Euride Racing	63
20	Marc Williams	Budget Forklifts	50

TEAMS RANKINGS/

Rk	Team	Pts
1	Budget Forklifts	688
2	Huon Salmon-Genesys Wealth Advisers Pro Cycling Team	619
3	Satalyst Giant Racing Team	501
4	search2retain p/b health.com.au	496
5	Drapac Cycling	393
6	GPM Data#3	390
7	Jayco/Apollo VIS Men’s Road Team	199
8	Euride Racing	191
9	Charter Mason / Drapac Development Team	165
	Pro Team Downunder	165
11	African Wildlife Safaris Cycling Team	146
12	Oz Cycling Development Team	145
13	Target Trek Racing Team	95
14	Bianchi Lotto Arbitrage	75
15	Racing Kangaroos Cycling Development Program	63
16	Suzuki Bontrager	38
17	Veneziano Blefari Cycling Team	30
	Data#3 Cisco Racing Team	30
19	Downer EDI Mining National Cycling Team	25
	SUVelo Racing	25

miggi133 wrote:
Thanks for that little bit of publicity

Tour of the Great South Coast (Category 2)

The inagural Tour of the Great South Coast was first held in 2012 and was an enormous success. Conducted in Victoria's rugged and spectacular south-west region, the 5-day tour attracted more than 150 competitors from all Australian states & territories, New Caledonia and New Zealand.

Although conducted in periodic inclement weather, riders and team managers heaped praise on the course which took in Portland, Nelson, Heywood, Casterton, Port Fairy, Koroit, Peterborough & Camperdown.

The 94.2km stage from Heywood to Casterton, although conducted in driving rain, was lauded as one of the highlights of the 2012 Subaru National Road Series. Caribou is planning to expand the course in 2013, to include more manicupalities.


+ 4 flat crits

The opening hilly circuit in and around Mount Gambier..

..and the finishing hilly circuit around Camperdown.

Blogging rider(s)/

Jack Haig (Huon-Genesys)

tsmoah wrote:
Credit where credit is due

miggi133 wrote:
What about the Rhys Gillet Blog? Afterall, he did win a Stage...



Keeping me happy so that I will agree to produce more shirts... Well played, good sir! Well Played...

Tour of the Great South Coast (Preview #2)

Adam Semple (Satalyst)/ Had not the best race in Gippsland, but a less tough route here in Great South Coast may suit him better. Especially as his team did well in races like that earlier this season.

Nathan Earle (Huon-Genesys)/ Back in shape? A stage-win and 5th overall in Gippsland indicates that he's still in business. The question is, wether he will now work for NRS-leader Haig or go on his own?

Paul Van der Ploeg (Satalyst)/ Winner of the National Herald Sun Tour, with a similar mix of rather easy hilly and flat stages. He's definitely one of the riders, who look like a perfect fit here, just like his brother..

Neil Van der Ploeg (search2retain)/ ..who also scored high in mixed stage-profiles like that. Given that he hilly stages won't be as selective as others we've seen before, last year's 3rd here will be a real threat!

Jack Haig (Huon-Genesys)/ Well, our blogger is one of the most talented stage-racers in the NRS, that's certain. The new NRS-leader will be top-motivated and he's one of the most consistent riders so far.

Luke Davison (Drapac)/ it took defending NRS-champion Davison 9 stages to take out the first win in Gippsland, but he was strong nevertheless. Expect him to score a win here, too.

Ben Grenda (Oz Cycling)/ Stage-winner in Gippsland, who struggled on the last days though. Anyway, one of the most consistent sprinters so far.

Scott Law (GPM Data#3)/ Two stage-wins in Gippsland, proving that he's as strong as Davison when in shape. Also his team GPM had a power-train in the flat stages, with Caleb Jones as another very good sprinter in the field.

Jack Beckinsale (Huon-Genesys)/ Has shown himself in a couple of flat stages so far. The young gun is just waiting for his first win this year. Will it happen here?

Jesse Kerrison (Budget)/ Another young gun, who's almost as fast as the best. Kerrison was a bit off place in Gippsland though, but took out a stage in North Western Tour. Will he back in shape?