National Capital Tour Stages 1-2

That's a damn good start for Patrick Bevin (Avanti) and his mission to defend the Capital Tour's title: the Kiwi took out both the prologue and the mountain stage up Corin Forest, leading the GC by half a minute on Adam Bull (Subaru Albion) and almost a minute on Nick Katsonis (Charter Mason)! Team Budget's NRS contender Jack Bobridge did pretty well, too, currently sitting on 5th in the GC.

But things didn't start too well for Bobridge, who had aimed for the hilly prologue: Bevin crushed the competition and went to win the timetrial ahead of his teammates Joe Cooper and Matt Clark! Bobridge finished narrowly behind Clark as 4th on the day.

He played it pretty smart in his less beloved mountain climb then: while a group with Bevin, Katsonis, Bull and Mark O'Brien (Avanti) went clear inside the final 4kms, Bobridge didn't bother to follow and kept pacing towards a decent 5th place on the stage. He finished a few seconds ahead of a next smaller group with Rob Hucker (Pat's Veg), Sam Crome (Charter) and Nathan Elliott (Navitas). Bevin though looks set to take the overall here.

New NRS-leader Bevin was a class of his own in the Googong ITT!

Bobridge narrowly missed the podium as 4th on the day..

Katsonis trying to drop Bull, Bevin and O'Brien with 4km to go..

Bobridge at the front of the first chasing group then..

Bevin launching his sprint with Katsonis and Bull struggling to counter..

..and the Kiwi takes his second stage in two days!

Bobridge dropping group Crome/Hucker to finish 5th up Corin Forest!

Bevin leading the GC with two more stages to come..

National Capital Tour Stages 3-4

Despite losing a few seconds on third day, Patrick Bevin (Avanti) defended his race-lead til the end and takes out the National Capital Tour for the second time in a row. Surely a key result for his goal to win the NRS this year. Adam Bull (Subaru Albion) a strong 2nd ahead of Mark O'Brien (Avanti), who could go past Nick Katsonis (Charter Mason) to complete the podium!

The third day would be the another key stage, featuring a short uphill finish by Stromlo Forest Park. While James Cummings (African Wildlife) survived the early break to win the stage solo, Jack Bobridge (Budget) rode aggressively to finish 2nd on the day and gain about 20 seconds on Bevin - just like eight more riders like O'Brien, Bull or Hucker. The GC's 3rd Katsonis finished in the bunch and dropped off the podium that way.

Team Budget would again go stage-hunting on the final criterium circuit, but Scott Sunderland got beaten by Lachlan Holliday (Data#3) to miss out on the stage-win he was aiming for. Still a nice result in this race, that definitely should see Avanti Racing extend the lead in the team's classification.

Cummings attacking the 10-men-break with 8km remaining..

Bobridge flying past an 8-men-chasing group close to the kite..

Cummings takes the Canberra Road Race solo!

Bobridge sprints for a nice 2nd place on the day..

The breakaway on the Stromlo Forest Park Criterium Circuit..

Budget launching the sprint with Sundo, Bobridge and Witmitz..

..but Holliday went past Sunderland to take the stage easily!

Two stage-wins and the GC: will Bevin win the NRS 2016?

Tour of Tasmania Preview

Arguably the jewel in the Subaru National Road Series crown, the six-day Tour runs October 6-11 and will feature two new stages and the introduction of a prologue.

Bookended by exciting new locations at the Baskerville Raceway (Hobart) and Symmons Plains Raceway (Launceston), the 120km Strathgordon to New Norfolk Road Race will challenge the riders from the get go on stage one. It is a case of old meets new with the decisive stages two and four being old favourites, while stage three sees the return of a classic that history buffs would know well.

Tasmanian terrain is renowned for being the toughest and past winners of the Tour of Tasmania include the legendary Cadel Evans, Richie Porte, Nathan Haas, Bernard Sulzberger, Cameron Meyer, and more recently Mark O'Brien:

2015 | Mark O'Brien (Avanti)
2014 | Mark Williams (Budget Forklifts)
2013 | Mark O'Brien (Budget Forklifts)

Patrick Bevin	Mark O'Brien	Jack Bobridge
Joseph Cooper	Sam Crome	Brodie Talbot
Robbie Hucker	Ben Hill	Michael Schweizer
Guy Kalma	Wes Sulzberger	Sean Lake

Pat Bevin extended his lead in the NRS to 20pts and looked in best shape in the National Capital Tour. Jack Bobridge did quite well, too, though and this less mountainous profiles here should suit him better. If he wants to keep a theoritical chance to win the NRS, he needs to deliver big time in Tasmania.

The competition is fierce: two-time race winner O'Brien, Cooper or Dyball add some ridicilous depth to Avanti's roster, while other contenders like Crome/Hill, Schweizer/Lake, Kalma or local hero Wes Sulzberger are amongst the most promising riders as well. Plenty of talent in other teams, too.

Team Budget lines up with some strong support, too: Anderson, Talbot and O'Shea certainly provide some man power, while Scott Sunderland once again will aim for the flat stages. One thing is certain: Bobridge needs to score stage-podiums in order to make as many points as possible!

Tour of Tasmania Stages 1-2-3

Patrick Bevin (Avanti) leaves no questions, whether he would be capable of securing the NRS title already here or not. The upcoming Kiwi leads the GC after three from six stages thanks to a thrilling stage-win on the toughest stage so far. Sean Lake (African Wildlife) and Bevin's only remaining title contender Jack Bobridge (Budget) sit on the podium with only a few seconds off the lead.

The opening prologue on the Baskerville Raceway Circuit went pretty much as expected: Joe Cooper (Avanti) added yet another timetrial victory to his palmares, while Jack Bobridge came in as close 2nd ahead of Bevin. A tiny little point gained for Bobridge..

A challenging, but partly flat road race to New Norfolk saw a group of 65 riders challenging for line honours after Glenn O'Shea (Budget) rode at the front for a long time in the break. Comebacker Robbie Hucker (Pat's Veg) took out the bunch sprint ahead of Guy Kalma (OTOC) - both Bevin and Bobridge missed out on bonifications and so the day's 3rd Sean Lake moved up to 1st in the GC!

Heavy winds and a tough parcours from Ulverstone to Penguin would then make for the hardest stage so far: Team Budget went to destroy the peloton on the last real climb 30km before finish and eventually a 3-men-group was built at the front - Bobridge, Bevin, O'Brien! The trio established a notable gap, but a chasing group with 15-25 riders managed to almost reel them in at the finish. Bevin countered a late move from Bobridge, taking the stage and the GC-lead! Bobridge lunged in for 2nd on the stage.

We got used to see Joe Cooper winning a timetrial in the NRS!

We're delighted to see Robbie Hucker doing so well for Pat's Veg!

Budget and Avanti pacing hard on stage three's toughest climb..

The chasing group narrowing the gap on Bevin, O'Brien and Bobridge..

Bobridge trying to drop Bevin with the chasers coming closer..

Bevin did counter and the chasing group closed the gap eventually..

And Bevin beats Bobridge to celebrate a valuable victory!

The Kiwi is leading the GC with still three stages to come..

Tour of Tasmania Stages 4-5-6

Patrick Bevin might have sealed his NRS title, but Jack Bobridge (Budget) gave him a huge fight here in Tasmania: adding two more podiums in some fast stages, Bobridge moved up to 1st in the GC in stage four and defended it til the end! Pat Bevin (Avanti) finished as runner-up ahead of Sean Lake and a strong Michael Schweizer (African Wildlife).

Team Budget kept trying to make also the flat days as hard as possible: the East Devonport to George Town stage on fourth day still went to a bunch sprint decision. Budget looked strong, but Michael Schweizer beat Scott Sunderland and Jack Bobridge, who slipped into yellow thanks to that stage-podium.

The hilly stage to Grindelwald was hard to control and so Jayden Copp (Charter Mason) took line honours from the break of the day. A small group with Bobridge, O'Brien and Schweizer attacked on the short final climb close to a fast finish, which almost brought Pat Bevin into troubles! The former race-leader fought hard to finish with the same time as Bobridge and a 10-men-group though.

Heavy crosswinds made the concluding crit race on Symmons Plains Raceway a tough stage: Budget and African Wildlife caused some major splits in the pack, but the first 40 riders were all given the same time eventually. Michael Schweizer went to take his second stage-win, while Sunderland and Bobridge once again finished 2nd and 3rd! Unlucky Sunderland slowly turns into a 2underland. Still a pretty succesfull race for Team Budget on Avanti's "home" ground.

Schweizer-Sundo-Bobridge #partone!

A group with O'Brien, Bobridge and Schweizer attacking by Grindelwald!

Jayden Copp takes the stage ahead of Darcy Woolley..

Group Bobridge almost gapped Bevin, but the Kiwi made it back..

Budget and AWS causing some major splits with their tough pace!

A three-men sprint for line honours on Symmons Plains..

Schweizer-Sundo-Bobridge #parttwo!

A prestigious overall victory for Jack Bobridge in Tasmania!

#INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS

Rk	Name	Team	Points
1	Patrick Bevin	Avanti Racing Team	83
2	Jack Bobridge	Budget Forklifts	67
3	Joseph Cooper	Avanti Racing Team	37
4	Scott Sunderland	Budget Forklifts	34
5	Michael Schweizer	African Wildlife Safaris	33
6	Ben Hill	Charter Mason Giant	28
7	Sam Crome	Charter Mason Giant	25
	Sean Lake	African Wildlife Safaris	25
9	Raphael Freienstein	Charter Mason Giant	24
	Brad Evans	Pat's Veg Cycling	24
11	Adam Bull	Subaru Albion	19
12	Patrick Shaw	Avanti Racing Team	16
	Guy Kalma	OTOC Vault Racing	16
14	Brendan Canty	Budget Forklifts	15
	Keagan Girdlestone	Charter Mason Giant	15
	Jackson Law	Subaru NSWIS	15
	Sam Horgan	Budget Forklifts	15
18	Mark O'Brien	Avanti Racing Team	14
19	Matthew Clark	Avanti Racing Team	13
	Daniel Fitter	Charter Mason Giant	13
	Nick Katsonis	Charter Mason Giant	13
22	Jack Anderson	Budget Forklifts	12
	Ben Dyball	Avanti Racing Team	12
24	Brodie Talbot	Budget Forklifts	10
25	Robbie Hucker	Pat's Veg Cycling	9
	Michael Cupitt	Data#3 Symantec	9

#TEAM RANKINGS

Rk	Team	Points
1	Avanti Racing Team	131
2	Team Budget Forklifts	120
3	Charter Mason Giant Racing	112
4	African Wildlife Safaris Cycling Team	87
5	Navitas Satalyst Racing team	42
6	search2retain-health.com.au	30
7	OTOC Vault Racing	25
8	Pat's Veg Cycling	22
9	SASI/Callidus Cycling Team	21
10	Data#3 Symantec p/b Scody	20
11	Team Scody Downunder	16
12	Subaru Albion Development Team	15
13	Wormall Civil CCS Cycling Team	11
14	GPM Stulz	9
	Phoenix Cycling Collective	9

Melbourne to Warrnambool Preview

The Subaru National Road Series edges closer to its thrilling climax when the 101st Melbourne to Warrnambool classic takes its 279km journey on October 17.

The Melbourne to Warrnambool Cycling Classic is an iconic Victorian sporting event which is the second oldest one day cycling event in the world and the longest one day race in the Southern hemisphere.

It used to be a race for the strongmen or sprinters, where heavy crosswinds of course the brutal distance can make for several kinds of scenerios for the race to unfold. Last year, the race came down to a bunch sprint, where Alex Edmondson took the primes:

2015 | Alex Edmondson (Euride/SASI)
2014 | Aaron Donnelly (Huon Salmon - Genesys)
2013 | Jack Anderson (Budget Forklifts)

Alex Edmondson	Oliver Kent-Spark	Sean Lake
Patrick Bevin	Neil Van der Ploeg	Jack Bobridge
Joseph Cooper	Raphael Freienstein	Jack Anderson
Robbie Hucker	Alder Martz	Sam Horgan

We're proud to welcome defending race champion Alex Edmondson back racing in the NRS. The up and coming sprinter enjoyed a succesfull year in Europe, but looks forward to repeat his huge success from last season here. Also 2014 winner Aaron Donnelly (Avanti) and 2013 winner Jack Anderson (Budget) are at the start again.

It's probably going to be a fight between the best sprinters and roleurs here: Schweizer, Freienstein, Sunderland, Bevin should be amongst the fastest - classic specialists like Van der Ploeg, Anderson, Bobridge or Kent-Spark and Lake can go for late attacks.

Team Budget looks to get another victory after Anderson's win three years ago. While Sunderland will be quite a question mark thanks to the race distance, we're optimistic with guys like Bobridge, Horgan, Nankervis and Anderson.

Melbourne to Warrnambool Recap

2013 NRS champion Neil Van der Ploeg (Avanti) rode to one of the biggest victories in his career, as he took out a brutal Melbourne to Warrnambool Classic by more than a minute on Oliver Kent-Spark (search2) and almost two minutes on last year's winner Alex Edmondson (SASI). Team Budget had Jack Bobridge finishing 7th as best of the team.

Heavy crosswinds up to 70kmh would make for some extra challenge in addition to the 279km length of the race. The break of the day had no chance, when Alder Martz (search2) was the first favorite to launch his attack from 45km outside the finish. The US boy established a 30"-gap on the more and more reduced bunch, where Budget and Charter Mason set the pace then.

17km before finish, Martz's teammate Kent-Spark would go clear from the bunch, too! Soon followed by Van der Ploeg, who easily overtook both Martz and Kent-Spark about 11km before finish! The first chasing bunch would go into pieces with just 12 riders left in the final ten kilometres: Jack Anderson (Budget) tried, but Alex Edmondson actually managed to break clear from this first group then. Too late to catch up to Van der Ploeg and Kent-Spark though.

Bobridge kept things quiet til the final 4km, but his efforts to drop the last few companions were empty-handed: he had to settle for a still notable 7th place, when Darcy Woolley (African Wildlife), Robbie Hucker (Pat's Veg) and Michael Troy (GPM) had more power left in the sprint to the line. Jack Anderson came in 9th, Sam Horgan with a decent 11th place.

Budget and Charter Mason chasing solo attacker Alder Martz..

Kent-Spark jumping behind his teammate with 17km remaining!

Van der Ploeg going past Spark, dropping Sean Lake before..

Edmondson countering a late move from Anderson..

Bobridge leading one of the first chasing groups..

Van der Ploeg celebrating his impressive solo victory!

Bobridge couldn't sprint for a Top-5 finish eventually..

Van der Ploeg adding another race to his impressive palmares!

Grafton to Inverell Preview

The Grafton to Inverell Cycle Classic is a 228km cycling road race conducted on a point to point course between the towns of Grafton and Inverell in northern New South Wales. The race predominantly follows the Gwydir Highway over some challenging terrain that includes the climb of the Gibraltar Range, an 18km ascent from the Clarence Valley to the New England Highlands.

The race has become an iconic event on the National cycling calendar and has the reputation as the toughest one day cycling race in Australia. The previous race winners were:

2015 | Ben Dyball (Avanti)
2014 | Robbie Hucker (Drapac Cycling)
2013 | Jack Haig (Huon Salmon - Genesys)

Patrick Bevin	Mark O'Brien	Jack Bobridge
Joseph Cooper	Ben Hill	Jack Anderson
Robbie Hucker	Sam Crome	Brodie Talbot
Guy Kalma	Keagan Girdlestone	Sean Lake

The final event in the NRS 2016 and with the Grafton to Inverell classic being one of the toughest on the schedule, it's of course a race the big guns would love to write in their palmares: Bevin, O'Brien, Bobridge or former race winner Hucker should be amongst the top-favorites here.

Cooper (37pts in the NRS) may still fear Michael Schweizer (33pts) to go past him for the final podium spot, so that's also an interesting question here. Avanti already took the Melbourne to Warrnambool, will they strike again here?

Team Budget with several options like Bobridge, Anderson, Talbot or Horgan in particular. Definitely one of the three strongest lineups here, so it's our goal to control the race on the crucial sectors.

Grafton to Inverell Recap

After missing out on a Top-5 result in Melbourne to Warrnambool, Team Budget bounced back in style here: Kristian Juel and Jack Anderson completed a huge 1-2 for their team, while only Paul Van der Ploeg (Charter Mason) prevented Budget from going 1-2-3 with also Sam Horgan amongst the very best as 4th! This result brings back memories from 2012, where Michael Cupitt and Peter Herzig went one-two in Inverell, too!

Team Budget pretty much controlled the race in it's final third of the 227km: on the last climb, the last escapee Lucas Laxale (Mobius Future) got caught and while the top-favorites seemed to keep shadowing each other, Kristian Juel launched an attack with 12km left! He apparently had great legs today and did benefit from the still rather big first group allowing him to establish a minutes-gap quickly.

A surprisingly quiet race overall, as we didn't see much action in this crucial sector. Juel went to take this prestigious classic by more than a minute on the first bunch. Jack Anderson did sense the passive "atmosphere" and broke clear from the chasing group with less than 2km left. He held on to a small gap and completed the double, while Van der Ploeg's speed denied Horgan the final podium spot. Pat Shaw and new NRS champion Pat Bevin (Avanti) completed the points-scoring Top-6 ahead of Jack Bobridge, who made it an even more huge race for Team Budget.

It took quite a while for this trio with Laxale to go clear..

Budget brought them all back close to the last climb of the day..

..where Juel was the first serious contender to attack the pack!

He held on to a minute-gap and went for his biggest win so far!

Anderson didn't wait for the bunch sprint then..

..and made it one-two for Team Budget here!

The bunch sprint is won by Paul Van der Ploeg for the podium..

Kristian Juel wins the final NRS race of the season - well done!