Launceston to New Norfolk (hilly classic)

Welcome to Tasmania and the Launceston to New Norfolk Classic! A tough race and maybe one of the most challenging profiles in the NRS. The biggest names of the series are ready to grab some points here, so let the show begin!


A first breakaway attempt has already been pulled back, so we're already on today's toughest climb - with still 160km remaining, though.

Team Kenya received yet another wildcard for this race and Ekiru (Kenya) is the next rider who tries to go clear!


Ekiru was the only one to give it a try! The Kenyan therefore has a tough day ahead - breaking away solo for more than 150km!

It ain't a surprise, that the peloton looks in total control of this solo-attempt and with now only 39km to go, the gap is down to a minute..

..we've also the first major split in the bunch, also thanks to quite heavy crosswinds (40km/h). The pace is now set by Huon and search2retain and it starts raining as well! Tough conditions!


22km remaining and the peloton enters today's last of four tough climbs: solo-esapees Ekiru is still in the lead, but now the top-favorites make their moves!

Clark (Charter) kicked as first, followed by
Neil Van der Ploeg (search2)
Earle (Huon) and
Hall (Satalyst)!

The group quickly establishes a 30-seconds gap on the bunch..


..where more riders join this first serious attempt:

Semple (Satalyst)
Cupitt (Budget) and
Rudolph (Drapac)

catch up to group VdP/Earle quickly and also solo-escapee Ekiru is soon to be caught!


Some more big names now try to catch up, too:

Norris (Jayco)
Donnelly (Huon)
Sulzberger (Drapac) and
O'Brien (Budget)!

The latter - 2nd in the NRS - desperately needs to score high points here, especially as NRS-leader Van der Ploeg looks still in shape!


Back to the front, where the group of 7 favorites already overtook solo-escapee Ekiru..

..Van der Ploeg goes again with 17km remaining! He attacks the leading group on the last descent and tries to go solo!


And due to the brutal pace, group O'Brien struggles to narrow the gap! With now 13km to go, the group sees the gap to the first chasing group Earle/Semple even growing:

E1/

Van der Ploeg 13km remaining

E2/

Earle
Cupitt
Clark
Semple
Hall
Rudolph at 0.40

E3/

Ekiru at 1.04

E4/

O'Brien
Norris
Sulzberger
Donnelly at 1.52

The peloton with riders like Haig (Huon), Lapthorne (Drapac) or Paul van der Ploeg (Satalyst) is five minutes behind and sits up now..


NRS-leader Van der Ploeg keeps pacing hard and manages to hold off the chasing group!

With now 10km to go, Earle (Huon) attacks this group and tries to narrow the gap: 36" for VdP on solo-chaser Earle!


But it's looking really good for Van der Ploeg as he enters the finish-town New Norfolk:

only 3km to go and Earle (+ 0.52) couldn't narrow the gap.. also Cupitt (Budget) attacked the first chasing group, but he's already more than two minutes behind!


What a win for Van der Ploeg! The NRS-leader proves that he's in top-shape at the moment and will even grow his comfortable lead in the rankings!

Earle finishes 2nd more than minute behind and Cupitt lost almost three minutes as 3rd! A dominating solo-effort by Van der Ploeg this was.

Completing the Top-10: Clark, Rudolph, Satalyst's duo Hall/Semple and also early escapee Ekiru grabs some great points as 8th! An awesome day for Team Kenya.

O'Brien only scores minor points as 9th (ahead of Donnelly): he's losing valuable points on his mission to win the NRS this year!

Facing the toughest climb of the day..


..and climbing it..


The peloton on the chase..


..with the "Great Lake" in the background..


A nasty fall by Ben Dyball (Huon) on slick roads..


..same crash, different view..


The peloton descending as it starts raining..

Have we seen a preliminary decision in the individual rankings? Well, one thing is for sure: Neil Van der Ploeg delivered right in time and with his recent two huge wins in Canberra and New Norfolk, he made a big step towards his first NRS-title!

But it ain't over yet: both O'Brien and Davison seem to be the only remaining contenders, trailing by already 200 points though. O'Brien has still two realistic chances left (Tour of Tasmania - Category 2, and Grafton to Inverell Classic - Cat 1), so he can score big time.. also Davison has two flat classics remaining (Shipwreck - Cat 3, and Warrnambool - Cat 1), but he would need VdP failing to score any points.

For the team's rankings it remains close: Huon is back on top, but Budget ain't far behind. The mountainous Tour of Tasmania will suit those two teams quite well, so it's likely that the team's title will go to one of them.

INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS/

Rk	Name	Team	Pts
1	Neil Van der Ploeg	search2retain p/b health.com.au	635
2	Mark O'Brien	Budget Forklifts	453
3	Luke Davison	Drapac Cycling	428
4	Jack Haig	Huon Salmon-Genesys	367
5	Nathan Earle	Huon Salmon-Genesys	357
6	Adam Semple	Satalyst Giant Racing Team	347
7	Scott Law	GPM Data#3	307
8	Bradley Hall	Satalyst Giant Racing Team	290
9	Aaron Donnelly	Huon Salmon-Genesys	243
10	Matthew Clark	Charter Mason / Drapac	229
11	Jack Beckinsale	Huon Salmon-Genesys	224
12	Karl Evans	Budget Forklifts	213
13	Ben Grenda	Oz Cycling Development Team	209
14	Michael Cupitt	Budget Forklifts	193
15	Paul Van der Ploeg	Satalyst Giant Racing Team	172
16	Cameron Bayly	search2retain p/b health.com.au	167
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	Huon Salmon-Genesys Wealth Advisers Pro Cycling Team	1298
2	Budget Forklifts	1266
3	search2retain p/b health.com.au	1059
4	Drapac Cycling	1041
5	Satalyst Giant Racing Team	934
6	GPM Data#3	768
7	Euride Racing	411
8	Charter Mason / Drapac Development Team	400
9	Jayco/Apollo VIS Men’s Road Team	379
10	African Wildlife Safaris Cycling Team	366
11	Oz Cycling Development Team	355
12	Pro Team Downunder	228
13	Bianchi Lotto Arbitrage	210
14	Target Trek Racing Team	145
15	Racing Kangaroos Cycling Development Program	113
16	Suzuki Bontrager	73
17	Veneziano Blefari Cycling Team	60
18	SUVelo Racing	55
19	Data#3 Cisco Racing Team	50
20	Downer EDI Mining National Cycling Team	40

baia wrote:
It looks indeed good for Ploeg but IF Search2retain decides to do something?....

Tour of Tasmania (Category 2)

The Caterpillar Underground Mining Tour of Tasmania will be held from October 2-7, consisting of eight stages over six days.

The 480.4km journey begins in the state’s capital, Hobart, on Tuesday, October 2, starting with a grand parade of riders from Constitution Dock to Cascade Brewery, and culminating with a Kermese in Devonport, which offers views of Bass Strait.

The two mountain-stages - including a tough TTT up the Mt Wellington - will be the tour's highlights and of course those are expected to be the crucial days. So will the climbers like Norris or O'Brien repeat last year's success?


+ 2 flat crits

The opening TTT features 17km up the Mt Wellington..

..a tough climb and a chance to gain minutes!

The tour concludes with a tough Kermesse in Devonport!

Blogging rider(s)/

Harry Carpenter (Euride)