Mersey Valley Tour Recap

An exciting three-days-event in Tasmania would eventually see Travis Meyer (Drapac) taking the overall victory by the small margin of just 7 seconds ahead of Timmy Roe (Budget), while a surprisingly strong Daniel Fitter (Charter Mason) completed the podium ahead of four (!) Avanti-riders.

The opening 25km-timetrial proved to be crucial for Meyer and his victory later on: with top-favorite Joe Cooper (Avanti) taking the stage by 17" on Meyer and Gunman (Avanti), Meyer would have gained valuable seconds on climbers like Roe (30 seconds) or O'Brien (1.10).

The queen-stage up Cradle Mountain would then see Timmy Roe grabbing a prestigious win, finishing the stage 13" ahead of a trio with O'Brien, Fitter and Meyer. The latter fought hard to stay with this group and would slip into yellow thanks to Cooper losing 1'22" on Roe on that climb. Tough luck for the stage-winner, as he missed yellow so close.

On third and final day, a breakaway group took the line honours with Stuart Smith (search2) taking the stage and Sam Sautelle (Suzuki) jumping onto 10th in the final GC thanks to his third place on the day.. the hilly parcours saw some attacks of the GC-contenders like Roe, Michael Cupitt or Fitter, but it was Avanti pulling a smaller group back and Meyer securing his overall victory!

Meyer set a notable best time on the opening timetrial..

..and was just beaten by top-favorite Cooper, who delivered!

Brendan Canty (search2) on the move, Roe and O'Brien jumping behind..

Fitter, Roe, Meyer and O'Brien building the leading group then..

Roe attacking with less than a kilometer to go..

..for the win! His first (of many?) for Team Budget..

Roe putting some pressure on Meyer in the final stage..

..where Stu Smith (search2) took the line honours out of a breakaway..

..and Avanti keeping a group of 38 riders together, countering the attacks!

Meyer held on to yellow and wins the first NRS-race in 2015!

OZrocker wrote:
PS: Not sure if it was here or elsewhere that someone pointed out the graphics you've produced for sponsors and jerseys, but they all look fantastic

Tour de Perth Preview

The Woodside Tour De Perth, is the second event of the 2015 Subaru National Road Series (Australia’s premier road cycling series), putting Western Australia on the professional road cycling map. Last year's premier edition proved to be worth watching.

The event offers unique spectator opportunities to watch world-class international cyclists competing in Perth. Prime spectator locations include; Rottnest Island settlement on Thursday and Friday, the zig-zag in Kalamunda on Saturday and the event village on Perry Lakes Drive on Sunday.






The Tour de Perth made it's debut in 2014 and provided some action-packed racing, eventually writing up and coming Jack Haig (Huon) in it's record-book as the first winner of the race. Haig, who won't be at the start this year, took out the hilly stage around Kalamunda to slip into yellow and defending it on final day,

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/15NRS_Cooper_zps7f5c0602.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Joe Cooper (Avanti Racing)
Given the ITT will be more crucial than in the Mersey Valley Tour, Kiwi Joe Cooper may be considered as the top-favorite. He already finished 5th here last season, when teammate Haig went for the win!

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/15NRS_Roe_zps457900ee.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Timothy Roe (Budget Forklifts)
Coming off a stage-win and 2nd in GC at Mersey Valley, Roe will be a real threat here for sure. Solid in TTs and strong on hills, he brings the perfect skill setup for this stage race.

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/15NRS_MeyerTr_zps4fa00757.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Travis Meyer (Drapac)
Same goes for Meyer, who took out the opening event so close ahead of Roe. Drapac lines up with the same squad and Meyer played both his TT- and climbing skills to perfection in Tasmania.

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/15NRS_NZL2_Vink_zps26638c49.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Michael Vink (Budget Forklifts)
Another strong TT-specialist, who will like this less mountainous crucial stage on third day more than what Mersey Valley had to offer. Capable of beating compatriot Cooper in a timetrial!

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/15NRS_Dyball_zpsea228cb7.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Ben Dyball (Avanti Racing)
Coming off a rather quiet Mersey Valley Tour (though finishing 6th in GC), Dyball will aim for the overall win with teammate O'Brien not at the start this time. Or will he support Cooper only?

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/15NRS_vdPloeg_zps97b4ae0b.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Neil van der Ploeg (Avanti Racing)
Yap, Avanti once again. But the former NRS-champion deserves a mention, as he finished 2nd in GC here one year back, taking out the final stage in style. Hard to pick Avanti's first option here.

Tour de Perth Recap

Avanti Racing bounced back from missing the podium in Mersey Valley - and the team did it in style: Joe Cooper (Avanti) took out the Tour de Perth ahead of Timmy Roe (Budget) and teammate Neil van der Ploeg (Avanti) thanks to a dominating timetrial and some luck to survive the hilly stage around Kalamunda without any losses.

Let's begin with the sprinters though: the picturesque opening stage on Rottnest Island saw just 66 riders finishing in the first peloton and veteran Shannon Johnson (Charter Mason) going for line honours ahead of Will Clarke (Drapac) and Alex Wohler (Budget).. the race would continue with a timetrial around the island, which was taken by Joe Cooper, beating Vink (14 seconds) and Clarke (23) to slip into yellow.

The Kiwi faced some tough challenges on the crucial hilly loop around Kalamunda the next day though: van der Ploeg (66km before finish) and Roe (29km) put some early pressure with attacks, eventually joining a strong breakaway group with Rhys Gillett (African) or Kristian Juel (Budget).. Cooper would manage to catch up to this 10-men-group on the final climb, accompanied by Travis Meyer (Drapac)! It was a close decision, but he was given the same time as stage-winner Timmy Roe eventually!

Will Clarke would then take out the final stage with an impressive sprint (his third stage-podium in the race) and van der Ploeg would defend his podium in GC thanks to a nice 2nd place on the stage.. Roe actually tried to attack the bunch on the final lap, but could not hold on to a small gap til the finish. Still a strong showing for his second consecutive runner-up in GC and also his second stage-win in 2015.

Johnson sprints for line honours in the opening stage!

Cooper on his way to his second TT-win in the NRS this year..

Clarke (Drapac) and Roe (Budget) attacking early on third day..

..with just Roe joining a strong escaping group with teammate Juel!

Cooper and Meyer jumping behind this 10-men-group 3km to finish..

..while Roe and our former blogger Gillett fight for the stage-win..

Roe with his second stage-win in this young season!

Cooper comes in 9th with the same time, a minute ahead of the bunch!

Roe also attacking on final day..

..empty-handed, as Clarke goes for a dominating win!

Cooper celebrating his win and another strong Avanti-result!

sutty68 wrote:
I just chose the team as the one to follow