After we successfuly finished ITT competitions, RR races are on schedule. Both of them are on programme on the same day, so it will be hard to get reports from both of them, but we'll try to do that somehow.




The route for this race is very,very hilly, as you can see from the screenshot above. Calvin and we decided that the best way to try getting some noticable result is actually an early attack and that is going to be our tactic for this race.

The favourites are pretty much the same as they were for ITT race, but with Gerrans as an addition this time.




Once again, the New Zealand route is way more flat than Australian one. As we have 2 riders here, we decided to send one of them in the breakaway and the one was decided on pretty strange way, by playing a game. At the end, Jesse Sergent is going into breakaway today for us, while Roulston will wait for his chance in peloton.

Henderson and Bauer are favourites in this race, besides Roulston.

See ya soon, DS of Trek FR

Yep, great start of the season for us. It gets even better when you check results below!

Once again Australia is the first race, or at least it has an earlier starting time, so its race update is going first.




And just as we planned, right after the race director raised a flag, Calvin made an attack!



It looked pretty good, since no one was following him nor trying to chase him. Just few minutes later, after Calvin got some nice advantage, Brown from Belkin Cycling made a move.



The gap was widening and it was becoming just more and more obvious that the peloton is going to let them decide the winner together. Calvin was looking really good, since he kept the advantage of 3 minutes for long time.



Almost 100 kilometers passed and these guys got more than 10 minutes of advantage. Right then, peloton decided to chase. It's clearly way too late , but at least they're trying.



Watson was kept the 3 minutes advantage until some 50kms to go. Then, just as rocket, Brown started accelerating. Advantage started to melt and Graeme finally managed to catch Calvin somewhere at 10kms to go.



Now, Brown has big psychological advantage. As both riders were very tired, they decided not to attack until the finish sprint. It turned out to be a naive move from Watson, since Brown is way more experienced and even better sprinter at another hand. Brown won this with ease.



He was so happy that he got the win, while at the background you could see sad face of young Calvin. We was so close...

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Graeme Brown	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	5h06'37
2	Calvin Watson	Trek Factory Racing	s.t.
3	Michael Matthews	Orica GreenEdge	+ 1'26
4	Simon Gerrans	Orica GreenEdge	+ 2'09
5	Richie Porte	Team Sky	s.t.
6	Leigh Howard	Orica GreenEdge	s.t.
7	Rohan Dennis	Garmin Sharp	s.t.
8	Nathan Haas	Garmin Sharp	s.t.
9	Simon Clarke	Orica GreenEdge	s.t.
10	Heinrich Haussler	IAM Cycling	s.t.

Meanwhile, in New Zealand...Same plan once again. Now, with a reserve in a peloton, since we have 2 riders here.




Just as the race started, Jesse found a way to get at the top of the group and made a move.



Oram, Karwowski and Bennet joined him and they made a BOTD. It looks like a pretty strong group for a NC race.



And, peloton let them go. Once again, huge chance for Jesse. Can he make it 2/2? Guys co-operated until about 25 kilometers to go, where first attacks started.



Sergent, as a guy with great time-trial abilities always managed to catch that. He knew that his chances were just getting bigger while these guys are tiring more and more.

10 kilometers to go, all hills passed and it was a time - Jesse made an attack and managed to get advantage of at least 300 meters! But can he stay in front?



Of course he can. Great individual time trial by Sergent to get another win. Life is sweet baby, 2/2!



Damn, that guy knows how to enjoy in life! Once again, he's standing near these beauty podium-girls. We're slightly getting jealous...

1	Jesse Sergent	Trek Factory Racing	4h34'03
2	James Oram	Bissell Development Team	+ 1'31
3	Cameron Karwowski	Veranclassic - Doltcini	s.t.
4	George Bennett	Cannondale	s.t.

Sergent rocks! That guy is future TT beast guys, believe me!

the_hoyle - It's under this button, so it looks like:

Thanks alot Ian, it really was great way to start the season!

Few days after NCs, Tour de San Luis is on our schedule. 7days long race in Argentina, perfect way to start the season.




The route is fairly hilly with 3 hilly/mountainous stages. There's a room for sprinters as well and that makes this race one of most complete in these terms.

As for the startlist, some popular name from cycling world decided to race here. Some of them are: V. Kiriyenka, C.A. Sorensen, D. Millar etc.



Our team is really strong here, with Haimar Zubeldia as our leader and top contender for a overall win in the race. Beside him, Trek Factory Racing brought some young names here, such as Silvestre, Felline, but we also have some quite old and experienced guys as Voigt, Popovych and Devolder.



Generally, this should be one very interesting race for our team. More to come soon, stay tuned!

See ya soon, DS of Trek FR

Thanks guys! I can't see any problem in these profiles, Cossack. It's fine, at least at my end. About which post were you talking about? I maybe missed it.

1st stage of San Luis is in front of us. Flat stage that will most likely finish in mass sprint. Our expectations are not that high, since both Felline and Silvestre are out form, but we'll definitely try something in mass sprint.




Breakaway were created from an early start and it was only 2 guys that were in it, Kuschynski & Ochoa.



The breakaway was pretty weak, with only 2 riders in it and it was expected that peloton is going to catch them. It was like that, since 20 kilometers before finish line, after some chasing of IAM cycling, they caught them.

Nothing important happened in next 17 kilometers and riders entered 3km zone. Only one train were created and it was Andro Giocatolli's one.



At the last cornet, Androni's guys set hard pace and made some advantage of the peloton. Our sprinters Felline and Silvestre lost their wheel and it was clear that we have no chances today.

Perfectly set-up train from Androni worked great, since they managed to get win. Belleti almost got new time on guys behind. That was win with style!



Silvester was our best guy, finishing as 13th. Nothing impressive, nothing surprising.

1	Manuel Belletti	Androni Giocattoli	3h22'09
2	Kenny Van Hummel	Androni Giocattoli	s.t.
3	Sébastien Hinault	IAM Cycling	s.t.
4	Omar Bertazzo	Androni Giocattoli	s.t.
5	Matteo Trentin	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	s.t.
6	José Joaquín Rojas	Movistar Team	s.t.
7	Juan José Lobato	Movistar Team	s.t.
8	Alexander Porsev	Team Katusha	s.t.
9	Lloyd Mondory	AG2R La Mondiale	s.t.
10	Michal Golas	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	s.t.

admirschleck wrote:
2 days later, it was time for New Zealand ITT NC. Our hopes are high and we think our guys can meet the expectations.