The National Capital Tour - final category 1 stage race this year - was always expected to be a key race in 2013. And if that's true, Neil Van der Ploeg (search2) definitely delivered right in time! He scored 248 points just in this race (O'Brien scored 130 as second-best) and takes the NRS-lead!

O'Brien (Budget) scored valuable points as well, but he's now already 140 points behind VdP.. could this tour be the crucial race this season? We will see: we still have the mountainous Tour of Tasmania, where O'Brien should be the top-favorite.

And don't count the sprinters like Luke Davison (Drapac) off: he's still sitting on third in the rankings and with two flat classics (including the prestigious Melbourne to Warrnambool) remaining, he can score the needed points.

Search2retain also scored big time in the team's rankings, so the team may join the battle of the very best squads, where Budget re-takes the lead with a small margin.

INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS/

Rk	Name	Team	Pts
1	Neil Van der Ploeg	search2retain p/b health.com.au	585
2	Mark O'Brien	Budget Forklifts	443
3	Luke Davison	Drapac Cycling	428
4	Jack Haig	Huon Salmon-Genesys	367
5	Adam Semple	Satalyst Giant Racing Team	330
6	Nathan Earle	Huon Salmon-Genesys	322
7	Scott Law	GPM Data#3	307
8	Bradley Hall	Satalyst Giant Racing Team	270
9	Aaron Donnelly	Huon Salmon-Genesys	236
10	Jack Beckinsale	Huon Salmon-Genesys	224
11	Karl Evans	Budget Forklifts	213
12	Ben Grenda	Oz Cycling Development Team	209
13	Matthew Clark	Charter Mason / Drapac	202
14	Paul Van der Ploeg	Satalyst Giant Racing Team	172
15	Cameron Bayly	search2retain p/b health.com.au	167
16	Michael Cupitt	Budget Forklifts	163
17	Darren Lapthorne	Drapac Cycling	122
18	Sam Rutherford	GPM Data#3	114
19	Rhys Gillett	African Wildlife Safaris	109
20	Harry Carpenter	Euride Racing	98

TEAMS RANKINGS/

Rk	Team	Pts
1	Budget Forklifts	1086
2	Huon Salmon-Genesys Wealth Advisers Pro Cycling Team	1078
3	search2retain p/b health.com.au	939
4	Drapac Cycling	901
5	Satalyst Giant Racing Team	774
6	GPM Data#3	728
7	Euride Racing	401
8	African Wildlife Safaris Cycling Team	346
9	Oz Cycling Development Team	345
10	Jayco/Apollo VIS Men’s Road Team	319
11	Charter Mason / Drapac Development Team	300
12	Pro Team Downunder	218
13	Bianchi Lotto Arbitrage	200
14	Target Trek Racing Team	135
15	Racing Kangaroos Cycling Development Program	103
16	Suzuki Bontrager	63
17	Veneziano Blefari Cycling Team	50
	Data#3 Cisco Racing Team	50
19	SUVelo Racing	45
20	Downer EDI Mining National Cycling Team	30

Tom Palmer (Drapac) in the opening timetrial..


The chasing bunch..


Cal Britten (search2) tries to hold off the chasing groups..


Mark O'Brien (Budget) trying to catch Lachlan Norris (Jayco)..


Oliver Kent-Spark (Target) with a late solo attempt..


Breakaway in Lake Burley Griffin Loop..

"Hey guys. It's been a while since I slipped the NRS-leadershirt on, so now that I managed to grab the provisional lead for the first time in 2013, I decided to give you fans some impressions from my first days in the Subaru-colors this season.

The Tour of the Murray River went just awesome for me. Taking out two stages and a couple of podiums, plus winning the GC felt simply great. I knew this would be my last chance to join the NRS-title's contention, so I delivered right in time."


Wearing the Subaru-shirt always feels great..

"As great as the flat Murray River went, the Capital Tour was always expected to be much tougher for me.. okay, to be honest: the two flat stages suited me very well, so it was a good chance to score up to 50 points with two stage-wins..

But unfortunately, I didn't feel as good as I felt in the Murray River.. the first flat stage around Burley Griffin Lake went well, but I was hoping for doing better than finishing 3rd.. but Neil (van der Ploeg) was simply outstanding in Canberra. And now his lead in the NRS-rankings looks quite comfortable.. But of course I'm hoping for some big scores in the two remaining flat classics!"

sutty68 wrote:
Nice little write up from Luke

Launceston to New Norfolk Classic (Category 3)

The NRS is heading for Tasmania, where the next two races will be held. 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.

The climbs may lead to several attacks..

..and the slightly uphill-finish may lead to surprises..

Blogging rider(s)/

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