"Howdy! I'm Harry, Harry Pott.. nah, Carpenter. The guys from Peloton Cafe asked me write a blog for the Tour of Tasmania and so I did. Well, a bit late maybe, but hey, I had something to celebrate!


The opening TTT up the Mt Wellington was simply amazing..

"I'm riding for Euride Racing, some of you may know. We had a pretty good start into the season, but we knew Tasmania would be hard because of the opening TTT. We lost some minutes, so I decided to ride aggressive from the second day on!


Me and my solo-attempt on second day..

"And I did! Things went quite well and I managed to collect a nice (and crucial) amount of KoM-points there. Unfortunately I couldn't hold off the favorites on the final 15km, but it was worth a try!

I also was part of a breakaway in the final day, where I still was wearing my KoM-shirt! And yes, no one was able to attack my points and so - believe it or not - I'm the King of Tassie's mountains! Well, honestly, we all know Mark O'Brien was the strongest climber down there, but credit where credit is due, right?! Hope to see ya in the final events of the year!"


Me and my KoM-shirt: a nice marriage, isn't it?

Ian Butler wrote:
Van der Ploeg almost solely responsible for his team being 3th on the rankings

Shipwreck Coast Classic (Category 3)

The 115km Shipwreck Coast Classic starts in Warrnambool and takes in the Great Ocean Road to Port Campbell before swinging back inland and finishing at Allansford.

It's definitely a profile made for sprinters, as the short climbs probably won't make a big difference in the end. But heavy crosswinds can make for an unpredictable race. Like last year, where Floris Goesinnen (Drapac) managed to win this race and the Warrnambool classic!

The Great Ocean Road provides some beautiful views..

Who will be the first in Allansford?

Blogging rider(s)/

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Van der Ploeg looked totally focussed today.. will he succeed?

Neil Van der Ploeg (search2retain), current NRS-leader, has the big chance to go for his biggest achievement of his career: if he finishes 8th (13 points) in the upcoming Shipwreck Coast Cycling Classic - a 117km flat road race - he will ensure his first NRS-title!

"It's too exciting to think of it too often", VdP told the local press earlier today: "It's weird, you know. I had a pretty good start into the season, but the last couple of races were simply perfect for me. I didn't expect me to be able to fight for the title, to be honest!"

Van der Ploeg, leading the National Road Series by 169 points on 2nd-placed Mark O'Brien, now faces the maybe biggest challenge this year: "It's funny, cause it's the first time that I HAVE TO score x points in order to win something big like that! I've had tougher races than short flat classic, but there' some pressure: scoring 12 points in two races doesn't sound hard, but it FEELS so.."

Shipwreck Coast Classic (flat classic, 117km)

The penultimate race of the season and it's most probably the last chance for the sprinters to shine: a flat and rather short race, featuring parts of the iconic Great Ocean Road!

Kicking off in Warrnambool, where Jack Anderson (Budget) celebrated his biggest win only 24 hours ago, the classic provides beautiful views and maybe crucial crosswinds. Last year, Floris Goesinnen (Drapac) managed to win both Shipwreck and Warrnambool with late attacks!


We're already reaching the second half of the race (61km to go) and the first breakaway attempts have been pulled back.

And now it's a 13-men-group trying to escape! Most notables names are Talbot (Kangaroos) and Carpenter (Euride)..


No breakaway has been allowed to create a gap more than minute and also this large group struggled to establish a comfortable gap!

Just as they were pulled back, several more riders kept attacking and so we have two new breakaway groups with 37km remaining:

5 riders (including Carpenter) and another
6 riders (with Szollosi, Windsor or Jake Sutherland) is only 25" behind!

For the first time, the bunch seems to allow a bigger gap: 1'30"!


The two groups build an 11-men-break, which leads by 2'10" with 29km to go! Do they stand a realistic chance?

Five more riders (Talbot, again) tried to jump behind, but couldn't narrow the gap..


But the peloton started to chase hard only a few moments later! With 14km remaining, the gap is down to 40" and we see another move:

Jack Anderson (Budget) jumps out of the bunch! He obviously tries to repeat yesterday's victory with a similar solo-attempt!


But this time, the pack was well prepared and Anderson did not stand a chance! Both him and the bigger breakaway group are caught 7km before finish!

But Budget Forklifts is to be seen on the attack again:

Alex Wohler soloes away from the peloton with the 5km-mark approaching! Can HE repeat Anderson's big win in Warrnambool?


One thing is for sure: Wohler does have a chance! The bunch - led by Drapac, GPM and also SuVelo - chases hard, but Wohler holds on to a 20"-gap with only 2km remaining!


Wohler fights hard to hold off the bunch and he's still maintaining a gap with the finish-line approaching..


Yes! Budget Forklifts obviously had the perfect tactic - again!

Alex Wohler celebrates another win for the team, the second in two days and the third in a row! Last season, Drapac managed to grab this double-win, this time it's the guys in yellow..


7" later, top-favorite Luke Davison (Drapac) sprints for 2nd, ahead of Scott Law (GPM)! So the sprinting peloton came close, but too late..


Look who crosses the line as 4th: Neil Van der Ploeg, the man in the NRS-leader shirt!

He lungs in for his most important fourth place of his career - the fourth place, that will secure his first NRS-title ever! A fantastic second half of the season he had - he's definitely a well-deserved champion!