Adelaide Tour Preview

The Adelaide Tour will be held in 2015 from April 3-6. The four stage event is part of the Subaru National Road Series (NRS). It's the only South Australian event on the schedule.

Last year's TTT has been removed from the schedule and we have one more road race and another crit/Kermesse here, making for four stages. Even though all of them are rated as flat, there are at least three tricky ones, which feature either uphill finishes or a climb close to the finish.






Alex Wohler took out the 2014-edition thanks to a gutsy attack on the tricky Woodside Road Race (third stage this year), where he held off the bunch by 17 seconds and brought home a narrow GC-win. Without the TTT this year, we may see a more mixed GC: both sprinters and roleurs/puncheurs do have a shot at the win, as the last two years proved.

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Jones_B_zps4bfcbeed.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Brenton Jones (Avanti Racing)
The team looks set to defend it's already comfortable lead in the team's rankings: Jones may lead an extraordinary strong sprint-squad, with also Haig and O'Brien as possible GC-threats!

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/15NRS_Cantwell_zps650c8cce.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Jonathan Cantwell (Drapac Cycling)
Drapac is back in NRS-action and lines up with a strong squad, too: Cantwell for the sprints and several great allrounders like Anderson, Sulzberger, Norris or Lapthorne will have high ambitions!

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/15NRS_Edmondson_zpsaf4c88fd.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Alex Edmondson (Euride Racing)
Got Zabel'd on final stage last year, but this is always the biggest race for Euride being the local team here. South Australian based Edmondson has the perfect skill-setup and should be a favorite.

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/15NRS_KentSpark_zpse50545d7.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Oliver Kent-Spark (search2)
Same goes for strong finishing Kent-Spark, who also can climb those tricky ascends very well. He's the expected all-in-option for search2 here and should be considered a real threat.

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/15NRS_Freinstein_zpsa0ad5bbe.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Raphael Freienstein (Charter Mason)
The German is hoping to make some impact in his first season Down Under and is expected to be amongst the best sprinters in the series. Capable of surviving tougher profiles, too.

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/15NRS_Kerrison_zps4f6c8b04.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Jesse Kerrison (Budget Forklifts)
Has yet to improve on tougher profiles, but he's one of the upcoming sprinters in Australia. Budget also lines up with several promising roleurs, even though Wohler will miss this race this year.

Adelaide Tour Stages 1_2

Brenton Jones (Avanti) and Raphael Freienstein (Charter Mason) took line honours in the two first stages, with the letter taking over the GC-lead from Jones thanks to more bonus seconds so far. Just 17 riders seem to remain in contention for the GC though, a mix of sprinters and puncheurs!

The opening road race from Angaston to Campbelltown proved to be a nice addition to this event, as the "Black Mountain" close to the finish made for an interesting race: Jack Haig (Avanti) was the main reason for the peloton losing contact to a 17-men-group, which would eventually hold off the pack by 41 seconds! The premium sprinters did a good job though and managed to stay in this elite group.

Brenton Jones would beat Freienstein in a close sprint to line, while Daniel Barry (Budget) was caught a few hundred metres before finish after a late attack. Top-sprinter Jon Cantwell (Drapac) completed the podium ahead of Mark O'Brien (Avanti), who grabbed a bonus second that way. NRS-leader Tim Roe (Budget) worked hard for his team and finished in the same group, too.

On second day, a tricky criterium through Adelaide was won by Raphael Freienstein, beating local hero Alex Edmondson (Euride) and again Cantwell to take over yellow from Jones (5th in that stage). With two flat, but again tricky stages to come, the narrow GC-gaps, as well as the mix of sprinters and puncheurs should make for an interesting race!

Drapac and Charter Mason pulled back a 3-men-break 20km before finish..

Haig leading the bunch on the challenging climb "Black Mountain"..

..with 17 riders dropping the bunch! Roe leading this group..

Barry went for a late attack..

..but Jones and Freienstein would battle for line honours..

Jones celebrating a close win on a tough day!

Freienstein bounced back on second day, taking the GC-lead as well!

Adelaide Tour Stages 3_4

The Adelaide Tour once again proved to be entertaining, as Jack Anderson (Drapac) took out the overall win by just a second on Mark O'Brien (Avanti), while local favorite Alex Edmondson (Euride) completed the podium ahead of Daniel Barry (Budget) and double stage-winner Brenton Jones (Avanti)!

The third day appeared to be crucial for the GC as it was once again ridden fast and made for some thrill and drama, too: when Jack Anderson launched his winning move 10km to the line, a hectical race would cause a crash at the front of the bunch, where NRS-leader Timmy Roe (Bugdet) hit the turf to see any GC-hopes fade away: as well as Oliver Kent-Spark (search2) and Tommy Nankervis (Budget)!

Budget would try to bounce back quickly, when Daniel Barry and Brodie Talbot - accompanied by Alex Edmondson - went after Mark O'Brien, who attacked the bunch a few moments later than Anderson did.. at this point, it became clear, that it wouldn't be a day for pure sprinters! Anderson held off O'Brien to take yellow and both finished with a notable gap on the chasing group and the peloton.

With just one second of advantage on O'Brien, the GC-win wasn't yet sealed for Anderson though. But opposing to the opening stage, O'Brien missed out on more bonifications as 17th, while teammate Brenton Jones stormed to his second stage-win in this race! Overall, a great tour for Avanti. And some tough luck for Roe, who will now see O'Brien coming close in the NRS rankings.

Anderson and O'Brien attacking the bunch 10km before finish!

Roe hitting the turf just a few seconds later..

..while Anderson fights to hold off solo-chasing O'Brien..

..who narrows the gap on the challenging finishing stretch..

..too miss out on the stage and GC-lead by a small margin!

Kent-Spark (search2) and Szollosi (Data#3) went clear in the final crit..

..where Jones takes out his second stage quite dominating!

Anderson celebrating Drapac's second GC-victory in this young season!