Mark O'Brien is in the lead now, thanks to an outstanding victory in the Gippsland, collecting 15 points to put the pressure on Earle for his appearance in the Great South Coast Tour! O'Brien, better known as the best climber in the NRS, proved that he's amongst the very best on short climbs as well.

Will Walker scored his first 10 points this season and Haig scored 8 points.. maybe too less for his ambitions to challenge O'Brien, as it's already a 19-points-gap! Hucker joins the mix for at least the NRS-podium contention, while Anderson failed to score for more valuable points.. same goes for Neil Van der Ploeg, as Sheppard scored a decent GC-result for search2 this time.

And now for the team's competition: Anderson's 9th place in GC hasn't been the only bad news for Budget, which also scored minor points (4) in the team's classification! Also Huon couldn't score big time (9), but extended it's lead.. biggest winners: Drapac (17), Euride (15) and also search2retain (12). It's a very close Top-5 now, which is good news for the NRS!

INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS/

Rk	Name	Team	Points
1	Mark O'Brien	Euride Racing	47
2	Nathan Earle	Huon Salmon - Genesys	35
3	Jack Haig	Huon Salmon - Genesys	29
4	Robbie Hucker	Drapac Cycling	26
5	Neil Van der Ploeg	search2retain	24
6	Jack Anderson	Budget Forklifts	22
7	Stuart Smith	search2retain	20
8	Adam Semple	Satalyst Giant Racing	18
	Joe Cooper	Huon Salmon - Genesys	18
10	Darren Lapthorne	Drapac Cycling	16
11	Alex Wohler	Budget Forklifts	15
	Cameron Bayly	search2retain	15
13	Lachlan Norris	Jayco - Honey Shotz	14
14	Michael Cupitt	Budget Forklifts	13
15	Alexander Edmondson	Euride Racing	12
	Aaron Donnelly	Huon Salmon - Genesys	12

TEAM RANKINGS/

Rk	Team	Points
1	Huon Salmon - Genesys	81
2	Budget Forklifts	68
3	Euride Racing	67
4	Drapac Cycling	63
5	search2retain	60
6	Jayco - Honey Shotz	45
7	Satalyst Giant Racing	30
	GPM Data#3	30
9	Target Trek Racing Team	20
10	Charter Mason / Drapac DT	14
11	Pro Team Downunder	12
12	African Wildlife Safaris	11
13	Downer EDI Mining	10
14	Pure Tasmania & Polygon Cycling	9
15	Subway Cycling Team	8
	Racing Kangaroos	8
	Suzuki Bontrager	8
18	St George Skoda HP Team	3
	Bianchi Lotto Arbitrage	3
	SUVelo Racing	3
21	Veneziano Blefari	2
22	Data#3 Cisco Racing Team	2

sutty68 wrote:
Come on Budget, lets step it up a little

The Philip Island GP Circuit and the pack chasing..


The sprinters come down the finishing stretch in San Remo!


Jordan Davies (Skoda) and Nathan Elliott (Target) climbing in Moe..


A group of favorites trying to hang on Moe's tough climb..


A breakaway descending..


Three riders attacking the bunch halfway through the stage..


Robbie Hucker (Drapac) sprinting ahead of the bunch.. for the win!


The peloton chasing with an iconic landscape in the back..


The early escaping group in the final stage to Metung..

sutty68 wrote:
Once again some nice pics that have been taken

Tour of Geelong

The first of two stage-races for the sprinters and therefore a key-race for the fast men like Luke Davison, who couldn't yet deliver, Anthony Giacoppo or also Neil Van der Ploeg: taking out a couple of stages plus a great GC-finish in Geelong will be crucial for those guys.

The Tour of Geelong is back on the NRS-schedule for the first time since 2011 and this year, the race in Victoria features five flat stages.. three crits (with some minor difficulties) and two road races - with the second stage being the most challenging - will give the sprinters the opportunity to score points.


+ 3 Crits


Nathan Haas took out the last edition of the Geelong Tour back in 2011.. he would later also take the overall NRS-title, so that may be a good omen for the top-sprinters, who still may hope to join the mix for the title-contention this year!

The finishing stretch in You Yangs is the most challenging of all here..

Tour of Geelong (Preview #2)

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Davison_zpsbb12ebee.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Luke Davison (Drapac)
Key stats/ SPR 76, ACC 75
Davison has yet to find back to his well known speed. The NRS champion from 2012 and 4th in 2013 hasn't done anything special so far this year. Now it's time!

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Giacoppo_zps69b0f719.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Anthony Giacoppo (Huon Salmon)
Key stats/ SPR 75, ACC 75
Giacoppo - 2nd in the NRS two years ago - isn't back in old strength either (both him and Davison scored 5 points so far).. anyway, expect him to be go for the win.

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Kerrison_zpsa2c09e8c.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Jesse Kerrison (Budget Forklifts)
Key stats/ SPR 75, ACC 73
Kerrison, maybe one of the hottest prospects in Australia, has yet to prove that he's already at the same level as the older guys. He has the speed, that's for sure.

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Law_zpsbebe052a.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Scott Law (GPM Data#3)
Key stats/ SPR 74, ACC 76
Has shown his good shape in the recently held Gippsland Tour, where he took out the second stage in style. And he was strong in 2013, too, so a favorite here.

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Grenda_zps726db1e6.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Ben Grenda (Pure Tasmania)
Key stats/ SPR 74, ACC 73
Another one of those quite fast men behind the expected top-favorites Davison and Giacoppo.. his leadout Aaron Jones won in stage in Gippsland, by the way.

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Johnson_zps88666973.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Shannon Johnson (Charter Mason)
Key stats/ SPR 74, ACC 74
Johnson may be the dark horse here. The veteran is expected to be one of the fastest sprinters in the NRS this year, but couldn't yet deliver - as many others.

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Gill_zps27104a4f.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Russell Gill (Euride)
Key stats/ SPR 73, ACC 75
It's not yet said, wether Gill or Edmondson will lead Euride in Geelong. Both have the skills and Euride could become a real threat in this flat stage-race..

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Johnston_zps2df586e9.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Brendan Johnston (Suzuki Bontrager)
Key stats/ SPR 72, ACC 73
While not being a top-favorite, Johnston definitely knows how to sprint: his 3rd place in the Melbourne to Warrnambool last year was quite impressive!

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Strachan_zps9ec823ee.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Joel Strachan (Target Trek)
Key stats/ SPR 72, ACC 72
While Strachan may favor the tougher one day classics, he's also worth a mention here. Not as fast as most of the top-sprinters, but great on the flat - a plus.

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_PaulVanderPloeg_zpsde09d6c7.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Paul Van der Ploeg (Satalyst)
Key stats/ SPR 71
Paul Van der Ploeg finally showd his skills in Gippsland, where he finished three stages on the podium, while missing a win. Will he do better now in Geelong?

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Beckinsale_zps8d15fe7b.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Jack Beckinsale (Huon Salmon)
"That's going to be an awesome sprint-festival! Of course the Murray River Tour with it's 7 stages will be slightly better for us fast guys, but the area around Geelong is a great place to be and we will work for Giacoppo to win!"

Tour of Gippsland (Day 1&2, flat crit + RR)

The Tour of Geelong - the first chance for the top-sprinters to go for a great GC-result! The tour kicks off with a flat crit in North Shore, followed by the first of two road races: a 77km stage to You Yangs, with a quite tricky uphill finish.

STAGE 1 - NORTH SHORE CRITERIUM/


It's the expected bunch sprint finish in the opening crit, but it has been a tough race here due to heavy crosswinds (60-65kmh):

more than 40 riders got dropped - most notable names are Kerrison (Budget, due to a crash though), Carpenter (Euride) and Copp (ProTeam DU)! Bad news for Kerrison in particular, as he had hoped for a good GC-result here in Geelong.

At the front of the sprint, Grenda (Tasmania) accelerated with an impressive speed, followed by Giacoppo (Huon) with already two bike lengths in arrears.


But both Giacoppo and also Davison (Drapac) catch up to Grenda with still a few hundred metres to go! The rest of the bunch is already too far behind to join the mix.


Luke Davison takes it in style! A dominating win, ahead of crit-specialist Giacoppo and Grenda! A nice way to start this tour, where he hopes for the overall victory as well.

Johnston (Suzuki) and Law (GPM) complete the Top-5, so most of the top-sprinters delivered. Bad luck for Kerrison, who loses more than five minutes due to his crash late in the race!

STAGE 2 - LARA TO YOU YANGS ROAD RACE/


Again tough wind in the second and maybe most challenging stage of the whole tour! And again the peloton splits into pieces, with only 57 riders managing to stay in the first bunch!

Most notable rider being dropped this time: Scott Law! So another sprinter loses minutes and may already be chanceless in the GC!

We're already in the uphill sprint-finish now: Donnelly (Huon), Wholer (Budget) and also race-leader Davison lead the bunch..


And Donnelly takes it! He finishes ahead of Wohler and Johnston, who overtook Davison close to the line.. still bonus seconds for Davison, that may be important.


At least for now it means the race-lead for Luke Davison!

The top-sprinter leads by 1" on Donnelly and 3" on both Wohler and Giacoppo.

Giacoppo, Johnston and Grenda seem to be the most dangerous sprinters behind Davison, while Law and Kerrison may only focus on stage-wins now.