The Oz Cycling Project is back for more! After a rather disappointing debut season 2012, which saw the team finishing 29th (and last) in Continental Division, the management is proud to announce, that this project is ready to take the next step in 2013 and the new found Pro Continental Tour. Check out the team's new HQ, the new shirt (made by laidbackmarc), the history section and the first news of the new cycling year!
List of sponsors/
Main/ National Australia Bank (nab)
Co/ South Australia. A brilliant blend. Jayco Orica
WIN Tour Down Under FAILED (20th, Ford) TOP 5 Down Under Classic FAILED (7th, Cooke) TOP 5 Herald Sun Tour ACHIEVED (4th, Bobridge) STAGE-WIN Tour of Southland FAILED (2nd Stage 3, Laidler) TEAM STANDINGS TOP 5 Asia FAILED (8th)
Oz Cycling Project's biggest achievements
Tour de Delhi (Ford), Nedbank Cycle Classic (Bobridge), Wellington Stage 4 (Lewis), Ras de Cymru TTT, Tour of Japan Stage 7 (Bennett), Tour de l'Avenir Stage 6 (Bennett)
1st Tour of Wellington Stage 4
13th Tour of Swaziland GC
14th Nedbank Cycle Classic
BADEN COOKE
2nd Mumbai Cyclothon I 7th Down Under Classic (HC)
5th Mumbai Cyclothon II 3rd Herald Sun Tour Stage 1 3rd Tour of Southland Stage 5 3rd Tour de Pologne Stage 3
4th Tour de Pologne Stage 1
4th Herald Sun Tour Stage 2
5th Tour of Southland Stage 8
5th Tour of the Czech Republic Stage 2
6th Tour of Qatar Stage 3 (ProTour)
6th Tour Down Under Stage 1
5th Herald Sun Tour Points Classification
SIMON CLARKE
5th Tour de Delhi
10th Mumbai Cyclothon II
5th Tour of Colorado Stage 6
JONATHON CLARKE
15th Down Under Classic (HC)
WILLIAM FORD
1st FBD Eire Tour GC (ProTour) 1st Tour de Delhi 3rd Tour of Taiwan GC 1st Young Rider FBD Eire Tour 3rd FBD Eire Tour Stage 5 (ProTour)
20th Tour Down Under GC
15th Herald Sun Tour GC
2nd Young Rider Herald Sun Tour
2nd Young Rider Tour of Taiwan
3rd Young Rider Tour Down Under
5th Tour of Taiwan Stages 1, 5
18th Isle of Man TT
JACK BOBRIDGE
1st Nedbank Cycle Classic 4th Herald Sun Tour GC 6th Overall Tour of Czech Republic
6th Isle of Man TT 1st Young Rider Herald Sun Tour 1st Young Rider Tour of Czech Republic 1st Young Rider Tour of Japan 1st Young Rider Tour de Beauce 2nd Giro del Capo Stage 6 (24th Overall, 5th Young)
16th Overall Tour de Beauce
18th Overall Tour of Japan
21st Tour Down Under GC
5th Tour of Japan Stage 1
4th Young Rider Tour Down Under
ADRIAN LAIDLER
2nd Tour of Southland Stage 3 3rd Corsica International Stage 2 3rd Tour of Taiwan Stage 1
14th Isle of Man TT
4th Ras de Cymru Stage 1
GEORGE BENNETT
1st Tour de l'Avenir Stage 6 1st Tour of Japan Stage 7
6th Overall Tour de l'Avenir 3rd Tour of Wellington Stage 5
4th Tour de San Luis Stage 2
5th Tour de Beauce Stage 6
6th Vuelta a Guatemala Stage 4
MARK RENSHAW
22nd Mumbai Cyclothon II
26th Down Under Classic (HC)
MICHAEL MATTHEWS
1st KoM Tour Down Under (shared with Pineau /Focused) 3rd Tour de Langkawi Stage 10
16th Mumbai Cyclothon II
2x 4th; 8th Vuelta a Guatemala (Stage 2, 4, 1)
AHMAD HAIDAR ANUAWAR
5th; 6th Stages Tour de San Luis (Stage 1, 3)
5th; 7th; 9th Tour de Langkawi (Stage 6, 1, 9)
AARON GATE
2nd Tour of South Africa Stage 3
6th Tour of the Battenkill
2nd KoM Tour of Swaziland
MICHAEL VINK
4th Tour de Langkawi Stage 7
5th Tour de Beauce Stage 2
LUKE DURBRIDGE
3rd U23 World Championships ITT
5th Tour de Langkawi Stage 9
Today Jack Bobridge's seasons officially ended: for a moment, it looked like he could end his first season with Oz Cycling Project as Australia's new road-champion. But his solo-attack was empty-handed, as he got caught close to the finish and saw Mitch Docker taking the title. Oz's new (?) captain finished 4th in both RR and ITT..
Facing a rumour, that Bobridge may leave Oz Cycling in 2013, Oz's manager T.S. Moha spoke to the local media today: "It's apparent, that we will have to look for the best solution, for both Jack and our team. And one year in ProTour for Bobo may become true, as soon as we see a chance, that will work well."
Rumours are afloat, that Bobridge met Festina's manager. T.S. Moha: "It's no secret, that we are in good terms with Team Festina, yes. But it's too early to comment on unverified stories like this one."
We've already mentioned, that Jack Bobridge may "sneak" into ProTour as a loanee next year, but there's some more "news" surrounding Oz Cycling Project these days:
Mitch Docker/ It's no secret, that Oz Cycling has followed Docker's performances during the whole season. And with his latest victory within Australia's RR-championships, he definitely proved his speed once again. There's rumours that manager T.S. Moha smiled while reading this from Cyclevox's website: However, he went quiet when questioned about a move to the ProTour, or a chance to replace Baden Cooke over in Australia's favourite team, he merely offered a grin, and said "we'll see."
Simon Gerrans/ Oz's good friend - and manager of (now) Simple Red Bull - Smowz expressed his interest in signing Bobridge on loan, while Aussie veteran Gerrans could be on his way to OZC. It's one of a few possible deals for Bobridge, but definitely an interesting one. T.S. Moha: "Gerrans did well last season, we've noticed that. It's worth thinking of, but his age may be a question."
Matthew Goss/ "Well, one can dream, right?" (T.S. Moha)
Baden Cooke/ He has been seen drinking some beers with Graem Brown lately, but he had to face a barrage of criticism over the last few months, so maybe it's just his way to let out his frustation. Cooke's future is still a question, as he won't get faster. On the other hand: he won't become more expensive (60,000€ wage in 2012) and his leadership may be a plus.
Oz presents new shirt - and manager comments on rumours
On yesterday's presentation of Oz Cycling's new shirt (which had been revealed a couple of weeks ago - see pictures below), manager T.S. Moha exposed some possible transfer-plans for his team: "As said before, it's all up in the air, as we don't know, how things will change til transfer-season." But anyway, Oz Cycling has already evinced their interest in riders like Wes Sulzberger, Mitch Docker, Simon Gerrans, Gianpaolo Caruso or Michael Ford. At least three of them will be highly questionable (Caruso, Ford, Docker) and the team won't be able to recruit all of the new riders by transfers. So there's also some rumours on riders, who may become free agents (for different reasons):
Mark Cavendish, Pieter Weening and Giovanni Visconti may be the more prominent names on Oz's list. All of them would indicate the new strategy of Oz Cycling's management to not only search for Aussies as the team's leaders. The Scandinavian Jussi Veikkanen and Brian Vandborg featured on the list of rumours, too.
Our Australian focus will remain though But we can't just only wait for all good Aussies being available So keeping an eye on other non-Aussie riders seems like a good idea to me.
Westley Gough is New Zealand's champion! Will he stay now?
Westley Gough claimed New Zealand's road-title and made himself more interesting for Oz Cycling to renew his contract. The 25 years old Kiwi was one of several riders, who are expected to leave the team in 2013. Other names on the list seem to be riders like Mark Renshaw, Simon Clarke, Mark Jamieson or Gough's compatriot Aaron Gate. Gough now increased both his chance to stay with the team or - if he doesn't want to - his chance to find a new one. If he stays with Oz Cycling, this will be his shirt next season:
There have already been some rumours around Oz Cycling's current riders and the team's manager TS Moha already said, that everything can happen within the next weeks. But.. a roster plan appeared, which may show the team's preferences for the upcoming transfer season. You better don't expect this list to be the final outcome of the renewals, as there's still some questions: Baden Cooke? Will he stay as a mentor or leave in shame? Renshaw (already titled as Vantomme-sque) is expected to leave, as his contract is huge.
With a couple of new team's interested in both Australian and New Zealand-market, there's also a new chance for some riders to force a transfer (or loan): Oz's Malaysian Othman and Anuawar are rumoured to be interested in riding for Sauber-Petronas. Kiwi Michael Vink is linked to the New Zealand-focussed new CT-team Cadbury, while Simon Clarke already said, that he's ready to take a leader's role in a CT's team.
Several riders are expected to leave the team without signing a new contract, but it's still not decided, how many of the current squad won't get a second chance here.
Reports coming out of Malaysia suggest Ahmad Haidar Anuawar would like to sign with Sauber Petronas next year and ride on a team that has some focus on Malaysia.
In other news Muhamad Othman is apparantly on the radar of the same team with them wanting to prise him away from Oz Cycling.
Luke Durbridge, Oz Cylcing's biggest timetrial-talent, didn't appear as "available" on the recently revealed list, which featured Oz Cycling's roster-plan for 2013. But now Durbridge, 3rd in U23's Timetrial-world championships this year, spreads some rumours about himself leaving the team on loan..
"It's worth consideration. I know our team is heading a tough season, but in order to help Oz Cycling best (and soon as) possible, I may take the chance to push my level in ProTour.
Our fans may be concerned about Jack (Bobridge) and me leaving the team for one year, yes. But riding with and against the best of the world will help us to advance our Project here.
Nothing's decided by now. It's just a thought. We know, that there are some ProTour-teams interested in Jack.. if there's interest in me as well, my team may listen to offers, that's all I can say."
Oz Cycling Project announced it's sponsor goals for 2013, a pathbreaking season for the team. Finishing the debut-season as Cont-League's worst, while achieving only one out of five sponsor goals, Oz Cycling's manager TS Moha knows, that it won't be easy to find the right goals for 2013: "We can't aim too high, obviously. Jack [Bobridge] is likely to leave us for this season, so our success depends 100% on the transfers, as we need a whole new bunch of leaders."
WIN
Gisborne GP (C1)
TOP5
Tour of Beijing (HC)
TOP5
Tour Down Under (C1)
TOP10
Down Under Classic (HC)
TOP5
Asia Tour Team Standings
Once again, Oz Cycling will try to finish within the Top-5 in Asian rankings, a goal the team failed close last year: "We need to prove our strength, especially in Asian market."
Asian market? Speaking of China? Oz Cycling's first-ever sponsor goal outside of Australia/New Zealand will be Tour of Beijing. A few weeks ago, rumours came up, that Oz Cycling may search for a chinese co-sponsor in 2014: "Those are non-certifiable rumours. It's Oz, 100%!"
It's Oz. And if something's Oz, there has to be the goal to succeed in Australia: this year, OZC will aim for a Top-10 in Down Under Classic and a Top-5 in Tour Down Under. With Baden Cooke not having his old class anymore, it seems that the team will again try to sign a top-class sprinter..
The team's only win-goal this year will be the new Gisborne GP (New Zealand): "An interesting race. Our fan-base in New Zealand grew with our upcoming team-leader George Bennett showing some promising racing in 2012". Oz Cycling now has to find the riders to achieve these goals.. no easy action, but "achievable" (if you ask TS Moha).
Really like your goals. Gisborne GP could be very interesting. Have tested it 3-4 times since creating it and it looks promising in especially for an Asian tour race.
Just by looking on your goals I guess you keep a similar focus as last season.
@Bjartne: Thanks! Looking forward to meet you, too!
@roturn: Thanks. Gisborne definitely looks interesting, yes. I guess we can expect a thrilling race, I've always been of fan of your stages in case of gameplay.
And yes, our focus will be similar to last season, even though we will try to do better in transfer season this time But Oz will never become a mountain-team, so expect us to aim for good sprinters and hilly classic-riders.
Oz Cycling finished renewals - Cooke stays, Renshaw's gone
"We kept the riders we wanted to keep.. that's good news", said Oz Cycling Project's manager TS Moha on a press-conference in Sydney today, where he announced the riders, who will stay with the team (at least until transfer season).
Baden Cooke will stay with Oz for one more year: "He will be the leader for our young talents and he accepted this new role. Baden had a tough year, but he did well enough in some races. And don't forget that he was not 'overpaid' like someone else..."
Someone else.. well.. Mark Renshaw is the most prominent rider to leave the team: "His wage demand was too high.. we didn't expect anything else, so no surprise here."
"We're pretty satisfied with our situation after the renewals", said Oz's manager TS Moha a few days ago. With a list of the new wages being revealed, it's pretty obvious, why he said so.
Bobridge is now the team's best-paid rider, while talent George Bennett had to take a wage-cut (he's still a well-paid talent, though).
It's still unclear, wether riders like Bobridge or Durbridge (or Bennett as well) will be loaned out in 2013, but there's a decent amount of cap-space left for Oz Cycling Project anyway.
Busy in transfers - Oz signs world champion Michael Rogers
Oz Cycling Project is busy in transfers with several riders leaving the team via trade or loan and a couple of new names joining the small roster in return.
Most prominent addition is current TT-world champion Michael Rogers. The veteran will be one of the leaders, who will have to help Oz Cycling keep away from where the team finished last year. Local hero Rogers will replace loaned-out Jack Bobridge (Simply Red Bull) as the team's captain: "The timetrial-competition in PCT is heavy this year, but Michael will perform on high level.. and he may survive some mountains in stage-races, too."
Another veteran from Australia, who signed with the team, is Matthew Lloyd. Acquired via transfer from Meiji-Fuji, Lloyd will give Oz Cycling a shot in hilly races, where the team was nowhere to be seen last season.
National Australia Bank (nab)
King Lok Cheung
Félix Emilio Besada
Libin Chen
Roman Kilun
Gisborne GP (C1)
But we can't just only wait for all good Aussies being available 
So keeping an eye on other non-Aussie riders seems like a good idea to me.
Muradjan Khalmuratov
