Mt Baw Baw Alpine Ressort Classic (Mountain, 102km)

The new NRS season is nearing and which race could be a better "warm up" than the Baw Baw Classic?

The opening event of the Victoria State Road Series features one of the toughest climbs in Australia and we will see some of the very best NRS-climbers today: fout-time Baw Baw-winner Earle (Huon), O'Brien (Euride), Clark (Drapac) or Williams (Budget) should be today's favorites.


A breakaway group of 5 riders set the agenda early in the day, building a 3-minutes-gap halfway through the race:

Mueller (Austal)
Pearson (Orbea)
Lee (Jayco Composite)
Munro (Park Trent)
Strachan (Target Trek)

So Strachan as the only NRS-rider and Munro as last year's 5th in the Baw Baw Classic are the most notable names!


But of course it's a race that deserves a battle between the very best!

We're already 11km before finish and Mark O'Brien (Euride) attacks surprisingly early, we haven't even entered the Baw Baw!


Defending champion Nathan Earle (Huon) quickly jumps behind and the action is on!

In the meantime, the early break went into pieces, with Munro (leading by 30" on O'Brien) and Mueller (soon to be caught) remaining in the lead.


7km to go and the riders entered the brutal climb up the Baw Baw:

Munro holds on to his solo-lead, 40" ahead of O'Brien and Earle!

Another 39" behind, 31 riders remain in the peloton, with Drapac, Budget and Charter Mason trying to narrow the gap.


Drapac will be happy to see Matthew Clark (who joined the team after riding for Drapac's development team Charter Mason) catching up to group O'Brien/Earle!

With 4km remaining, early escapee Munro is caught and dropped and a new leading group with the three top-favorites is built!


That's what the fans wanted to see (well, most of): O'Brien, Clark and Earle showing their skills on this brutal steep sectors!


The three keep shadowing each other though, at least it seems so. With only 1km remaining, no one really tried (or could) to attack. The chasing group won't stand a chance to narrow the gap:

E1 (3)/

O'Brien
Earle
Clark

E2 (8)/

Davis, Dyball (Huon)
Prete, Williams (Budget)
Spencer, Katsonis (Charter Mason)
Marshall (Satalyst)
Gillett (African Wildlife) at 0.50


With the finish line approaching, O'Brien finally manages to create a small gap!

He "simply" keeps his pace and neither Clark (who tries to counter) nor Earle can't follow..


Mark O'Brien takes out the Mt Baw Baw Classic 2014! An impressive ride, attacking 11km before finish and keeping his "diesel" the whole climb!

Matthew Clark finishes 2nd ahead of Nathan Earle, who couldn't make the "hattrick" and fifth win here. Anyway, he managed to compete with two of the best climbers in the NRS.

1'04" behind O'Brien, Huon's duo Davis/Dyball completes the Top-5 and our blogger Rhys Gillett (who's aiming for the VRS-title after finishing third last year) rounds up the Top-10.

We may expect some of those names at the startlist for the mountainous first NRS-event this year - the Mersey Valley Tour.

baia wrote:
Eeerrrgghh... huuuummm.. aaarrgh.. was this my prediction?

Mersey Valley Tour

The Mersey Valley tour is run around the hills and valleys behind Devonport and Ulverstone situated on the north-west coast of Tasmania. The event races to the gateway of one of Australia's premier holiday destinations, Cradle Mountain.

Rated as one of the hardest tours on the NRS calendar it comprises three stages. Stage one is a flat, very fast time trial along the Forth Valley. Stage two is on the afternoon of the same day, running from Forth to a mountain top finish in Moina, with the final fivw kilometre climb averaging 8%. Stage three starts in Sheffield, the town of Murals, one of Tasmania's must-see tourist hot spots. It comprises three laps of an incredibly tough circuit with two big bergs. The second hill, with a gradient of 11%, will test everyone (especially if it happens to get windy).

Come on down and see what Tassie has to offer.






Adam Semple (Satalyst) won the 2013 opening event, thanks to an impressive solo attack in the final stage! Semple was 40" in arrears prior to the final stage and attacked a strong group of favorites with race-leader Earle or O'Brien 5km before finish, eventually gaining a minute to win the GC!

More impressions from 2013/

Adam Semple leading a chasing group..

Tasmanian based Earle took out the queen stage..

..but had to chase Semple after his solo-move on final day!

Mersey Valley Tour (Preview #2)

Evans (Budget), Hucker (Drapac), Marshall (Satalyst), Bayly (search2), Spencer (Charter)

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Earle_zpscccbc98e.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Nathan Earle (Huon Salmon - Genesys)
Key stats/ MO 72, HI 75, TT 70
Tasmanian rider Earle is aiming for the win on "home soil" after losing this honours on the final day in 2013! Will he finally win a stage-race after failing to do so last season?

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_OBrien_zpsd0ff84f7.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Mark O'Brien (Euride Racing)
Key stats/ MO 74, HI 72, TT 68
O'Brien proved his climbing skills in the pre-season event Mt Baw Baw. He finished 3rd here in Tasmania last season and should be considered a top-favorite again!

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Clark_zps49aa474c.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Matthew Clark (Drapac)
Key stats/ MO 73, HI 70, TT 68
Clark is maybe one of the most thrilling prospects in the NRS and already amongst the best climbers. If he delivers like he did on the Baw Baw, he's a real threat here!

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Cupitt_zpsc4e56da6.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Michael Cupitt (Budget Forklifts)
Key stats/ MO 72, HI 71, TT 68
Cupitt leads an expected strong squad, which needs to find out how to repeat last year's success without O'Brien. Known as a great climber, he's aiming for the win!

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Anderson_zps7a324a36.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Jack Anderson (Budget Forklifts)
Key stats/ MO 69, HI 74, TT 70
Will be interesting to see, if Budget goes for the better climber (Cupitt) or allrounder (Anderson). The latter had an outstanding start into 2014 and looks like a contender!

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Haig_zps8d12cd78.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Jack Haig (Huon Salmon - Genesys)
Key stats/ MO 70, HI 73, TT 72
Haig, 3rd in the NRS last year and better than teammate Earle, was quite impressive in (almost) every race last season. If he rocks the ITT, he may lead the team!

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_NeilVanderPloeg_zps9f1165f0.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Neil Van der Ploeg (search2retain)
Key stats/ MO 65, HI 71, TT 72
Defending NRS-champion Van der Ploeg may not be the best climber, but he delivered in several stage races last year. His big plus may be the opening ITT.

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Semple_zps6a7c539a.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Adam Semple (Satalyst Giant)
Key stats/ MO 67, HI 73, TT 67
Defending race winner Semple will be amongst the favorites. His tactics in last year's edition were simply perfect and so he knows how to race the Mersey!

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Clements_zps063236f6.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Alex Clements (Pure Tasmania)
Key stats/ MO 71, HI 68, TT 69
Like Earle, former Huon teammate Clements is top-motivated here in Tasmania! The second stage should suit the climber, who is expected to lead the new team.

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Talbot_zpsfa2480a6.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Brodie Talbot (Racing Kangaroos)
"I'm totally excited to kick off the new NRS-season. The Mersey Valley is without any question one of the toughest races, but I'm hoping for a quite succesful start into 2014. I couldn't race it last year, so time to get it started!"