I've always loved reading stories on PCM.daily and i've finally decided to write one myself. It's my first story so i'll hopefully be learning some new skills over the journey. If you have any tips/suggestions along the way i'd love to hear of them.
Anyway onto the story...
Hi, I'm Jack Bobridge. I ride for Garmin - Transitions. I was born on 13 July 1989 in Adelaide, South Australia. Many of you would of heard of my name last year when I won the U-23 Time Trial World Championship in Mendrisio.
Prior to the Time Trial victory most of my success had come on the track. My first notable acheivement came in 2006 when I was part of the winning Team Pursuit team at the Junior World Championships. I defended the title a year later, also winning the Australian Madison Championship in the same year. 2009 was a fantastic year for me; I was crowned Australian Individual Pursuit Champion and won two silver medals at the WC. My biggest professional victory however came in 2010 when I won the Team Pursuit at the WC* along with Rohan Dennis, Michael Hepburn and my Garmin team-mate Cam Meyer. The feeling standing on the podium next to some of my closest mates was simply amazing.
*I know that doesn't really make sense given it happened in March and it's still only January in the story, but for the sake of the story let's pretend it has already happened.
At the end of last season I turned Professional, signing a two year contract with Garmin.
After great success on the track in the past, i'd really like to make a name for myself on the road. Like most other cyclists, my no. 1 goal is to ride the Tour de France, however that's not a realistic expectation this year as i'm still only 20 years old.
My biggest target this season is the World Championships being held in the Southern Hemisphere for the first time ever, in my home country of Australia. Defending my TT title from last year is very important to me, but I also hope I can show enough throughout the year to win selection in the Australian senior squad. Other big races for me are the Tour Down Under and Herald Sun Tour.
And maybe, just maybe I can spring a suprise and win the National Championships in just a few days.
Anyway, here are my stats:
The stats for the whole Garmin squad can be found here
I'm using the PCM Daily DB and have made a few minor adjustments
Hope you enjoy... Edited by Porte on 04-08-2010 12:11
My schedule is pretty straight forward, National Championships and then the Tour Down Under.
6/01
Australian National Championships (ITT)
10/1
Australian National Championships
19/1 - 24/1
Santos Tour Down Under
I will be joined in the NC by my fellow Aussie team mates Cam Meyer, Travis Meyer, Matty Wilson and Trent Lowe. I really hope that between the five of us we can come away with the title.
The Tour Down Under is a very special race for me as it's ridden in and around my hometown of Adelaide. Last year I attacked a lot, which earnt me 4th place in the KoM classification and famously brought Lance Armstrong to publicly state just how impressed he was with me. I hope to attack just as much this year.
*I'm very sorry, I had posted up picture for this stage, but then I stupidly deleted them from Photobucket and from my computer, not realising that it would remove them from here. I didn't save the race replay, so i'm very sorry but there won't be any photos for this stage. At least now I won't make this mistake in the future.
The route is a pretty flat one, with no real climbs to mention.
This is a title i'd love to win one day, after winning the U-23 title last year. But I don't see myself as one of the contenders this year, given i'm up against the likes of Rogers, Evans and Porte.
I was one of the first to start which I quite liked doing as it meant I might be able to look up and see my name high up on the leaderboard for a while.
I clocked the fastest time at both check-points, before fading near the end. But I still managed to take the lead and hold it for quite some time.
Mick Rogers was the first of the big names to start. At both check-points he was a bit slower than me. However he didn't fade as much over the last few kilometers. As he crossed the finish line I looked up the the leaderboard expecting to see my time smashed. Instead, to my amazement I saw that we were seperated by 0 seconds. He'd clocked the same time as me! But obviously his time was slightly faster than mine as he went to the top, relegating me to second.
I was slightly dissapointed at possibly coming so close to winning the title. But there was nothing more I could do, i'd given it my all.
Richie Porte, another of the big favourites was slighly dissapointing only managing 7th position.
The pre-race favourite, Cadel Evans, was one of the last to start. At the first check-point he beat my time by 3 seconds, but at the second check-point the times were reversed, I led him by 3 seconds. (Not that it really mattered to me, as I had already been beaten)
But Evans showed his superiority over the last few kilometers, setting a blistering speed and smashing Rogers time by a whopping 40 seconds.
Cadel Evans is the Australian Time Trial Champion for 2010!
I was rapt with my own performance finishing on the podium in 3rd position. It's given me a lot of confidence ahead of the road race.
The results didn't export properly so i'll just post a screenshot.
Next up: Australian National Championships (RR)
Edited by Porte on 31-07-2010 06:04
Barely a metre of flat road today, up and down all day. 16 laps of a short circuit. It suits attackers and climbers, but also those who are good on the downhill.
Obviously winning this race would be a dream come true for me. But I might not have the skill this early in my career to acheive this. Still my third place a few days ago has given a great confidence that I can mix it with some of the best australian riders.
Both Cam and Travis Meyer tried to get away early on in the race, but neither managed to gain a significant gap on the peleton.
I tried an attack with about 60km to go, but was brought back into the pack by a hard working HTC - Columbia squad, obviously trying to set something up for their man Mick Rogers.
With 20 km to go I tried again, this time getting a small gap on the field, but this time I managed to hold this lead for a few km's.
Then the big attacks began. Trent Lowe followed them and soon caught up to me at the front of the race. The other attackers drifted back into the peleton, but Trent and I still held a small lead under 20 seconds with more than one lap to go.
We reached the bottom of the final climb and that's when the serious attacks started. Simon Gerrans was first to go, most of the other big favourites responded.
The top of the climb couldn't have come soon enough, as the newly formed favourites group led by World Champion Cadel Evans was nearly apon us.
But the windy downhill to the finish managed to break up their chase. Although Evans was just behind us in the hunt for victory. It wouls come down to us three.
A few seconds later it became clear that Evans wouldn't catch us and we'd take a 1-2 victory. But the question was, who would win? Would Trent give the victory to me? Would I give it to him?
We decided at that point that we'd fight for the victory between between the two of us. Each man for himself. Unfortunately for me, Trent is a better desender and at that point was leading me by a few metres, it would be very hard to overtake him, even with my better sprint skill.
But I put up a good fight and starting closing the gap. Could I do it?
No I couldn't. Trent Lowe takes the victory!
Trent Lowe is the Australian National Champion for 2010.
After the race I had mixed feelings, I was rapt for Trent, I know how hard he's worked for this. But at the same time I was gutted at having just missed out. It was probably just a bad luck that he was relaying at the front at the time we made the decision to fight for it between ourselves. Oh well, at least i've made my mark on the Australian Championships this year by finishing on the podium in both events.
Next up: Santos Tour Down Under
Edited by Porte on 31-07-2010 04:30
Well after months of training and hard work, my first season as a professional is about to get underway. And I couldn't think of a better place to start than in my home town of Adelaide at the Tour down Under. I've got one objective for this race: to attack, and attack and attck some more until my legs fall off.
Our seven man team selected for the race is as follows:
Jack Bobridge
Cameron Meyer
Travis Meyer
Matthew Wilson
Trent Lowe
Julian Dean
Ryder Hesjedal
Me and the four other Aussies in our squad will be joined my Kiwi Julian Dean and Canadian Ryder Hejedal. Dean will be our main sprinter, while Hejedal will see what he can do in the GC. Matt Wilson will do what he can do put Julian in a position for a stage victory. The rest of us will attack and help out wherever needed.
Stage 1
Clare - Tununda 140.4 kms
Today is Cam Meyer's chance to attack. We'll try and get him into the breakaway before hopefully setting Dean up for a victory. I'll just sit in the peleton today and enjoy the atmosphere.
Sorry I forgot to look at the race replay today, so no photos for the stage.
But in short, a large breakaway of 21 riders, including Cam, got away early. But Astana and HTC - Columbia wanted a mass sprint today. They rode really hard at the front of the peleton, giving the break no chance.
The break's advantage was kept under 4 minutes for the entire stage.
Julian found a nice position in the train and was looking good with 8 km to go. But at that moment a crass ocuured at the back of the field. Whilst not too many riders were involved, it created a bit of confusion at the front and suddenly I found myself up in the first 10 or so riders with about 5 km to go.
I couldn't pass up the opportunity to have a crack at a victory, so I had a go. As we passed under the 1km to go banner, me and Julian were leading the sprint. But Cavendish was just too fast for Julian, speeding to victory. Danilo Napolitano took second, Julian grabbed third. Tom Boonen beat me on the line to claim 5th place on the stage, meaning I took a great 6th place.
I was rapt with that result. A great start to the season.
Next up: Santos Tour Down Under Stage 2
Edited by Porte on 04-08-2010 01:47
Hi all, since all our sponsors for the season have been finalised, I thought i'd introduce you to them. Here they are:
Some big names!
And here are our key races and goals:
Some challenging objectives there. Christian Vande Velde will have to tackle both the Giro and Tour. Ryeder Hesjedal will see what he can do in Liege - Bastogne - Liege and GP Ouest France - Plouay. Johan Van Summeren and Martijn Maaskant will target Pais - Roubaix. We'll see what we do at Giro di Lombardia when we get there.Edited by Porte on 04-08-2010 02:05
dakey11 wrote:
Loving this story keep it coming . GO JUMPING JACK his gonna be a super rider in a few years
Thanks. I was a bit dissapointed that I couldn't get the RR title with him, in hindsight I probably should have slowed Lowe down to give him the victory, but I guess it makes the story a bit more challenging and nteresting.
yer when i used garmin i attacked with lowe early on and he did caught so i had to slow him down to get travis meyer the win i always try n get the TT champs for bobby but hardly works because either rodgers or evans gets up gets a bit annoying but thats cycling lol .
Thanks, well it's my fault for making the last three goals hard. But I figure, I might as well have a shot at winning 90,000 by winning rather than only getting 12,000 or whatever by making the top 10.
This is a very special stage for me as it starts in Gawler, just north of my home in Evanston. I hope to attack a alot today and hopefully make the day's breakaway. A pretty flat stage, but a short, steep climb two thirds of the way in has the potential to take eliminate a few sprinters with terrible foorm or climbing skill from the final sprint.
I escaped early to make sure I took the first intermidiate sprint, just incase the points come in handy in later stages. Obviously no other riders had countered me as I found out a few minutes later that I held a 2 minute advantage of the peleton.
A few riders attacked and attempted to bridge the gap, but with them nearly 2 minutes advantage I wasn't about to sit up and wait for them. I'd have to ride this solo!
I kept on going, the other breakaway riders chasing me came close to catching me a few times, but each time I pulled away from them.
Still going...
I took maximum points on the only climb of the day. This climb was really steep, with percentages of over 14%. The peleton was gaining ground though.
The other breakaway riders were caught soon after, but I was still holding over a 2 minute lead. However the peleton were determined to make this a day for the sprinters.
My marathon 100 km solo ride finally ended under 20 km from the finish. I recieved many pats on the back from other riders as I slipt right through the peleton and straight out the back. I could take a deep breath, grab a bottle of water and ride the last 15 km at a more leisurely pace on my own.
We quickly turned our attention to Julian and the approaching mass sprint.
We managed to set up a train with Travis Meyer leading Matt Wilson, with Dean following his wheel.
With 5 km to go we were in a fantastic position.
We started the sprint in the lead. But with fantastic sprinters such as Steegmans, Rojas and Cavendish following our train, it was only going to be a matter of time before they came out of Julian's wheel and around us.
Julian and Matty still put in a great performance and weren't out of the hunt...
But Steegmans was too good today, taking the victory infront of Rojas and a fast finishing Mark Cavendish. Julian and Matt grabbed 4th and 5th respectively.
A few minutes later, whith spectors started to file out of the stands and the podium presentation about to begin, I crossed the finish line.
A fantastic day for me, riding solo out in front for over 100 km is not something many professional cyclists can claim to have done. I've definately put my name on the map
Next Up: Santos Tour Down Under Stage 3
Edited by Porte on 31-07-2010 10:52
A pretty tough finish to today's stage. I'll just sit in the pack and try and hang on at the finish.
Julian Dean got to wear the points jersey today, as the current leader Mark Cavendish was in the leaders Ochre Jersey.
We sent Cameron Meyer into the breakaway today.
He collected maximum points at both sprints and the one hill. But the break was reeled back in by the time we hit the hills near the finish.
Julian was forced to join Katusha's train as most of us were too tired to set him up ourselves.
Unfortunately his position in the train was a little bit too far near the front.
But Ryder Hesjedal wasn't feeling tired...
With 5 km to go he decided to test his legs and attack. The peleton did not respond and he quickly built up a 30 second gap. Could he hang on for the victory?
Yes he could! He even managed to increase his lead to 40 seconds and took Garmin - Transitions' first Pro Tour victory of the season as well as taking the overall lead race.
Julian Dean was beaten to the line by Pippo Pozzato, but still managed to claim third place on the stage and along with Cam Meyer, draw level with Cavendish at the top of points classification. However Cavendish would wear the jersey toomorrow on a countback as a result of his stage 1 victory. Due to taking maximum points on the only climb of the day, Cam Meyer has taken the lead in the KoM classification.
We'll have our work cut out defending Ryder's Ochre Jersey today. But we'd still like to get someone in the break if possible though.
Travis Meyer managed to get in the day's breakaway. One reason for putting him in the break was to defend his brother Cameron's lead in the KoM classification. He did this, taking maximium points over the only climb of the day.
Luckily for us, the sprinters teams seemed happy enough to lead the chase today, so we didn't do any work. Why waste the energy?
About 90 km into the stage Juan Antonio Flecha attacked out of the peleton, he sped right past the leading group. Travis was the only one to follow him. The remaining breakaway riders were caught by the main field soon after.
The two leaders didn't gain any significant advantage and were reeled in by the peleton, but not before they'd collected points at the two intermediate sprints.
With about 8 km to go all the main sprinters, except our man Julian Dean, had managed to organise themselves into one big long train. However Julian was finding it very difficult to latch onto the back of this train.
So he asked me and Matty Wilson to lead him out. I did a great job bringing the three of us to the front of the peleton. This caused a lot of confusion in the sprinters train, they lost a lot of speed and started droping back. Some sprinters tries to jump across to our train, but we were already a fair way ahead.
I started the sprint...
We were too good today, Julian and Matty taking a fantastic 1-2, our second win in as many days.
I was ecstatic, i'd set up my first ever train at professional level and it was a winning one. I also managed to croos the line in 7th place.
A fantastic day for us, we've now taken the lead in every classification except the young riders standings, after Julians win moved him into the outright lead in the points classification.
Well today is the queen stage. The peleton start in bfore making their way to Willunga Hill, where they will complete 2 laps of the Willunga Hill circuit. Today's an opportunity for a GC contender to try and escape and make up some time on our race leader, Ryder Hesjedal. But the climb might not be steep enough to create gaps in the peleton and the stronger sprinters might contest for the victory.
Today was also the day where the KoM jersey would be decided. Cam Meyer held the lead here. But after his earlier efforts in the race, he didn't feel up to getting in the break. So I was let of the leash today, I needed to make sure I was in the break to defend Cam's jersey on the first climb.
After a few failed attempts, a breakaway finally formed and made sure I didn't miss out.
Again, as happened yesterday, the other teams seemed quite happy to do the work on the front to reel the break in. They made sure the lead never reached over 3 minutes.
The break was still in the lead when we reached Willunga Hill for the first time. I made sure I got got some points, coming over the top second. I doing so I created a gap back the the other breakaway riders. Soon they, along with the rider who was first across the climb, were caught by the peleton.
But I kept on going and remained out in front long enough to take maximum points on the second dlimb of Willunga Hill.
Back in the peleton Hesjedal was feeling really good and was dying to make an attack, he probably could have attacked and rode solo to victory. However he was in the race lead and knew better. He just had to follow any attacks.
I was caught shortly after the summit.
Julian Dean found a nice position behind Tom Boonen. But then a few more trains were created , causing a bit of confusion and suddenly Julian had dropped a fair way back and wasn't in such a nice position anymore.
Matt Wilson saw this and was quick to help out, remarkably bringing Julian up to the front by the time the sprint started.
Matty (centre) was amazing and was leading the sprint as we passed under the 1 km to go banner. Julian was coming up fast on his left (our right) and Romain Feillu on the other sider. Could he hang on? Or could Julian take it?
No. neither could take the win. Feillu timed his sprint perfectly, passing Matty in the final 100 metres. A terrific effort by our team.
But the best news of the day was that the peleton had finished with the same time, which meant that barring any complete disaster Ryder would win the Overall!
As we were heading back to the team bus, a race director came up from behind me and told me I was needed at the podium presentation for the KoM jersey.
We'd been so focused on defending all our jersey's that I hadn't realised that by taking so many KoM points during the stage i'd actually passed Cam and taken the lead in the category. I was rapt! With no points on offer in toomorrow's final stage, as long as a finished the race i'd win my first ever classification as a pro. I'd also moved up to 3rd in the points classification. It was a fantastic day.
The final stage of the 2010 Santos Tour Down Under will take us around the Adelaide City Council Circuit a few times. There really shouldn't be any significant change to the GC, although time bonunses for the first three riders across the finish line could result in a minor reshufle to some lower positions.
*Sorry no race picture today, I accidently skipped the race replay.
Today was full of attacks. They were going left, right and centre. But the peleton was determined to make it a day for the sprinters and didn't let any breaks gain a significant gap.
Travis Meyer got away numerous times throughout the stage, but a breakaway never really formed and each time he was brought back into the peleton.
I sat happily in the middle of the peleton, enjoying wearing the KoM leaders jersey.
Both Julian and Matty weren't feeling to good today, but they still tried to see what they could do.
Danilo Napolitano took the victory.
Julian managed 5th, while Matty grabbed 8th place. I happened to be near the front of the peleton when the sprint started and as a result I took 7th, my third top 10 finish of the tour.
Ryder secured overall victory. Julian took second and made a fantastic 1-2 for the team, while Matty nabbed 5th to put the icing on the cake. Cam Meyer was a bit unlucky today, falling out of the top 10 despite finishing with the same time as 8th place.
Mark Cavendish could only manage 3rd on today's stage and as a result Julian had won the Points Classification. I finished 4th as a result of picking up points at intermediate sprints when I was in breakaways.
Points
1
Julian Dean
Garmin - Transitions
24
2
Mark Cavendish
Team HTC - Columbia
20
3
Danilo Napolitano
Team Katusha
14
4
Jack Bobridge
Garmin - Transitions
14
I stepped onto the podium as KoM winner and was greeted with the biggest cheer of all from my home fans.
KoM
1
Jack Bobridge
Garmin - Transitions
44
2
Cameron Meyer
Garmin - Transitions
28
3
Mauro Finetto
Liquigas - Doimo
28
After taking 11th place overall, Cam took 3rd place in the Young Rider standings.
Not suprisingly we also came out on top in the Teams Classification.
Not quite sure how they came up with these team results, 2nd and 3rd place seem a little strange. But that doesn't matter, the important thing is that we won.
Teams
1
Garmin - Transitions
56h34'05
2
Androni Giocattoli - Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni
+ 40
3
Team Milram
+ 40
Well what a fantastic tour for us. GC, 2 stages, Points, KoM and the Teams Classification. I couldn't have wished for a better start.
Now i'll spend a few days back at home, before meeting with the team to decide my upcoming schedule.
Yeah I know. My Aussie riders as well as Dean were in pretty good form as I made them peak early for the TDU.
I actually won just the one mass sprint finish, but I guess I was just more consistent than the other sprinters who all seemed to have an off day.
The start list was quite strange, the only big name riders there were all sprinters. I think Hesjedal might have been the only rider with above 74 in hills
Edited by Porte on 12-08-2010 12:32
At least now I won't make this mistake in the future.
