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The Oz Cycling Project #PCT14
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 14-02-2015 13:24
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Time to say goodbye? Roger's season in numbers
It was one of the biggest news in Oz Cycling's transfer season 2013: timetrial world champion Michael Rogers joined our project coming off free agency, aiming to help the team staying away from relegation after it's last place the previous season. With Jack Bobridge or Luke Durbridge loaned out to Simply Red Bull, the Aussie veteran surely was a key signing for Oz.
Except of winning the Duo Differdange (together with Michael Ford) and finishing as runner-up in the Isle of Man ITT, our biggest hope had his problems to shine on the PCT-level though. Rogers and Oz Cycling: simply a misunderstanding? Well, he saved his best til the end: with our team in the deep relegation battle, the veteran scored a huge GC-win on home soil, when he took out the Herald Sun Tour! The key race for Oz to stay up and still the question, whether he would be kept on the roster with his rather expensive contract.
Despite being released during the renewals, there were still rumours that Rogers would make it back on the roster for the 2014 campaign. And he did. The now 35 years old did sign a 220.000€ deal for yet another season in Australia. It did pay off for both sides: after a rather quiet start into the season (when missing a good result in Ukraine), Rogers and Ford repeated their victory in the Duo Differdange! While the Tour of Czech Republic appeared to be not Roger's favorite (well, Bobridge took the GC this year), our veteran then went for an exceptional mid-season run.
Including a prestigious win over Mikhail Ignatiev in the Isle of Man ITT, a huge GC-victory in the Post Danmark Rundt, Rogers added great results in the USA, Bayern and led our team to the second consecutive win of the Monterrey TTT. It's pretty obvious, that Rogers would be a key for our current battle for promotion!
Anyway, he's again facing an off-season with no insurance to be kept on the roster. Not matter if the Oz goes ProTour or not, Rogers is likely to leave the team during the renewals again. It's always sad to see key riders leaving, but it's still a good feeling for both sides, that he had such a good season. Never say never, but also Michael himself just told a local press, that he may leave Oz at his best..
| Race | # | Note |  Gisborne GP | 99 | |  Kenya Mountain Classic | 101 | |  Tour of Ukraine | 102 | |  Duo Differdange | 1  | |  Tour of the Czech Republic | 97 | |  Monterrey TTT | 1 | |  Isle of Man ITT | 1 | |  USA Pro Cycling Challenge | 7 | Stage-win |  Post Danmark Rundt | 1  | Stage-win |  Volta a Portugal | 63 | Top-5 Stages (2x) |  Bayern Rundfahrt | 7 | 2nd Stage | | Tour of Britain | 126 | 3rd Stage |
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 18-02-2015 21:07
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Autumn classics #PartOne: 21-10-11
Even though the 2014 campaign is nearing it's end, The Oz Cycling still faces a pretty loaded October. That ain't bad news of course, since we're still fighting to defend the team's strong 3rd place in the PCT til end. It's a month with many one day races and here's the first three of them.
A late cobbled classic first: Wanze - Arenberg and minor hopes for Jesus Del Nero to score his fifth Top-10 in a one day race this year. Unfortunatelly, our Spanish veteran was never a factor in this tough and entertaining race, which saw relegation fearing Boeing scoring a huge win with Geraint Thomas. Del Nero's 21st place at least made for minor points.
The Oz made a trip to the US, too: some bigger hopes for the Philadelphia Cycling Classic, as many top-sprinters like Matthew Goss were aiming for this flat, but challenging race. Goss couldn't hang on with the day's very best, but he didn't totally fail either: his 10th place is somewhat okay, while it was an important preparation for his following races... our team was often to be seen in the race, by the way: while Glenn O'Shea joined the break of the day, also one of our manager's favorite riders Sonomtseren Delgerbayar got some TV time with his empty-handed attack 33km before finish (see picture below).
And we had a "pure" hilly classic as well: Milano - Torino features two quite steep climbs in the final part of the race and so we brought both a puncheur (Pengda Jiao) and a climber (George Bennett) to add points to our bucket. While Bennett couldn't be a factor eventually, Pengda Jiao did pretty well to score his best result for Oz this season. His 11th place amongst a group of favorites is pretty satisfying and helped keeping The Oz on 3rd place in the newest PCT's rankings.
#Results Wanze - Arenberg
| 1 | Geraint Thomas | Boeing-Bulgaria | 4h40'56 | | 2 |  Jérôme Baugnies | Quickstep | + 1'18 | | 3 | Marc Machado | RBC Pro Cycling | s.t. | | ... | | 21 |  Jesus Del Nero | Oz Cycling Project | + 12'25 |
#Results Philadelphia Cycling Classic
| 1 | Matti Breschel | AMEXpc | 4h29'27 | | 2 |  Michael Van Stayen | Venchi - Ferranti | s.t. | | 3 |  Nolan Hoffman | Metinvest-Emirates | s.t. | | ... | | 10 |  Matthew Goss | Oz Cycling Project | + 11 |
#Results Milano - Torino
| 1 | Chris Froome | Quickstep | 4h14'00 | | 2 |  Pieter Weening | Gazelle | + 30 | | 3 |  Carlos Betancourt | FCB - Polska | s.t. | | ... | | 11 |  Pengda Jiao | Oz Cycling Project | + 45 |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 23-11-2024 00:41
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 18-02-2015 21:09
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Wanze-Arenburg might be the first time i've gotten a rider to show up in one of these updates 
Bit slower points gathering in those last few classics, but it's a steady stream of points that will take you to the ProTour in great shape
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 18-02-2015 21:21
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TheManxMissile wrote:
Wanze-Arenburg might be the first time i've gotten a rider to show up in one of these updates
I was pretty sure I mentioned Lloyd somewhere.. and here you may see 
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 23-02-2015 10:44
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Scully ain't dully: "One year lost, one more chance.."
After joining The Oz in 2013, Tom Scully hadn't exactly the two best years. The talented Kiwi, now 24 years old, is still struggling to have an major impact on the team, that will turn ProTour next year. A tricky situation for Scully, who did not contribute to his team's success in the way, he might have hoped for when signing his contract two years ago.
"I'm honest, especially the first season with Oz was a lost one from my personal point of view.."
The Oz Cycling Project faced tough a challenge prior to the 2013 campaign, when the team came off a clear last place in the division to then avoid relegation with a heavily rebuilt roster. Scully was one of several new faces and despite being one of the team's most talented riders, he still had to pay for the more important battle against relegation.
"The management was pretty straight, which is fair enough. The 2013 season was all about staying up and not about developing talents at all... less race days for me, that wasn't exactly easy to cope with."
So Tom missed out on some well needed experience and therefore couldn't also be expected to be a key rider in the 2014 campaign. At least, the management promised to use him more often. His most recent 27th place in the Philly Cycling Classic finally showed some signs of what to expect, once he's a fully experienced sprinter..
"Getting zabel'd in the US Pro Cycling Challenge... this was one stupid mistake, that sums up my last two years pretty well!"
Scully is likely to get another shot at staying with the team for next season. At least, he came close to a victory in the US ProCC, where he celebrated too early and lost the stage win to Ian Boswell from Heineken.. The Kiwi is well aware of the fact, that next year may be his final chance: "Two years without any notable results ain't great, but I'm still young and totally focussed to become the sprinter, which any team - either ProTour or Continental - can rely on. I will take any opportunity to convince the Aussies to keep me. Just give me more days in the saddle and I'll pay it back with results!"
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| roturn |
Posted on 23-02-2015 11:09
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Just checked Scully. He seems to be a prety good rider in future with a good climbing.
Quite a pity for you that he couldn`t get enough race days for reaching level 4 last year already. What was the reason? Stat wise I expected him to be one of the most important riders to get the needed exp. |
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 23-02-2015 11:24
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Yeah, it was definitely not too smart to race him less last year. I remember I had my main focus on sending the best possible squads to every race, and unfortunatelly i'm the sort of guy, who then has his favorite riders (Delgerbayar for example), who i brought to many races, where Scully should have been 
It's a pity, since he could have been quite useful already next year. At least i did better planning this season, where i covered all my (few) talents to be developed to a next XP-level
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| Roman |
Posted on 23-02-2015 11:34
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Well, maybe even some other teams could give Tom that race days he wants. The question is if his current team will only just accept he would feel more at home in some Kiwi team than in Oz Country.
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 23-02-2015 11:49
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Roman wrote:
Well, maybe even some other teams could give Tom that race days he wants. The question is if his current team will only just accept he would feel more at home in some Kiwi team than in Oz Country.
I don't know... Cadbury, Fletcher.. those Kiwi teams use to disband too early..
Oh wait.. I see your point!
1-1 swap deal, hm?!
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| Scorchio |
Posted on 23-02-2015 12:01
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Scully will develop into an interesting sprinter with competent ability over speed-bumps as a plus point, but his low stamina will be an issue - I assume this is why he has missed out on RD's vs. some of his team-mates. Is good though that most sprinters have some sort of flaw, its not as if the db is not already over-run with sprinters or up-and-comers!
Will be watching closely how Oz evolves over the close-season as you gear up for PT racing, especially whether you manage to maintain such a strong national focus as up until now - good luck!
Manager of ISA - Hexacta in the MG |
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 23-02-2015 18:14
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Thanks, Scorchio! Believe me, i'm as interested as you how to handle the off-season challenges for a chance to stay in the PT in out first season It will be tough, but a lucky/smart transfer period can do miracles!
Scully, yes. He won't be the most special sprinter around, but at least will offer a nice package.
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 23-02-2015 19:31
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 23-02-2015 22:57
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Autumn classics #PartTwo: Top-10s for Bobo/Goss!
Our loaded October is still underway and The Oz just had two more one day races held in the past few days: while Paris - Tours was one important preparation for the sprinters and their journey to Africa (Tour du Faso), the Giro dell'Emilia kicked off a busy late season for some of the division's best puncheurs.
Matthew Goss would of course be our leader for the challenging Paris - Tours. Aiming for the podium, Gossy unfortunatelly couldn't really compete with the day's best. Anyway, with still a decent 7th place in the bags, here's some hope for him to show something in the Tour du Faso (even though his first "showing" there wasn't yet too impressive).
Jack Bobridge - who will have to achieve our last race goal in Beijing (Top-5) - just came back from his trip to Italy, where he was one of the more promising riders for the Giro dell'Emilia. A quite entertaining race with several attacks and early moves, saw Bobo eventually climb to a pleasant 5th place. After missing the earliest moves, Jack did quite well to join the leading groups. No competitor for the podium, but close to a 4th place, our captain looked in good shape.
#Results Paris - Tours
| 1 |  Danilo Napolitano | Meiji - Cannondale | 5h22'42 | | 2 | Paride Grillo | AMEXpc | s.t. | | 3 | Gerald Ciolek | Team Puma - SAP | s.t. | | ... | | 7 | Matthew Goss | Oz Cycling Project | s.t. | | ... | | 16 | Jesus Del Nero | Oz Cycling Project | s.t. |
#Results Giro dell'Emilia
| 1 | Cesare Di Maggio | Venchi - Ferranti | 4h44'32 | | 2 | Chris Froome | Quickstep | s.t. | | 3 | Maxime Monfort | Gazelle | + 17 | | 4 | Cyril Gautier | La Vie Claire | + 1'12 | | 5 | Jack Bobridge | Oz Cycling Project | s.t. | | ... | | 19 | Giovanni Visconti | Oz Cycling Project | + 6'38 |
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 24-02-2015 10:00
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Aiming for more Aussies? #RumorsPartOne
With the 2014 season approaching it's end and the Oz Cycling Project still going strong towards finishing 3rd in the PCT, it's pretty obvious that the management is already considering some possible targets for the crucial transfer season. It's no secret that the team doesn't feel like being 100% prepared for the step to ProTour, so - like last season - the roster will need some significant changes to be competitive on the highest level in cycling.
While our team may again focus on building a team around already established elite riders, there's of course still rumors around those Aussies, who may be available on the market: Lachlan Morton, 22 years old (and contracted to Jaguar), just got linked to rumors, that he may not be only available for loan, but for a permanent deal. He may not be the team's main target for the 2015 campaign, but it's still certain, that The Oz won't be silent when a deal with Morton is underway.
Morton is rumored to be on the outs at Jaguar..
Morton will be one name of several more Aussies, who are likely to be high on The Oz's list of targets: Steele Von Hoff, 27 (Lotto), may be another. With his half Australian team disbanding after the season, the sprinter is heavily linked to The Oz thanks to his good relationships with a few of our current riders. Since Anthony Giacoppo didn't exactly shine as a premium leadout for Matthew Goss this year, the management will look for solid sprinters like Von Hoff is expected to be.
As we used to do the last years, The Oz won't reveal it's entire list of possible targets, but a few names may be leaked anyway. One thing is for sure: The Oz will have a whole different look in a few months, with riders like Michael Rogers or Giovanni Visconti likely to leave us.
Von Hoff as an obvious target in free agency..
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| Roman |
Posted on 24-02-2015 11:36
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I wonder how much money any team would like to pay me for Bewley, maybe there is an amount I could be tempted to let him go.
And oh, interesting news about your targets. I wonder if you are about to bid for Hepburn/Howard then. Still I am absolutely sure some of guys who are on your shortlist will be on my shortlist too. You probably already know who I am thinking about.
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 25-02-2015 09:04
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Roman wrote:
And oh, interesting news about your targets. I wonder if you are about to bid for Hepburn/Howard then. Still I am absolutely sure some of guys who are on your shortlist will be on my shortlist too. You probably already know who I am thinking about.
Hepburn/Howard, we will see
And yap, pretty sure we will have similar names on our lists..
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| Avin Wargunnson |
Posted on 26-02-2015 08:01
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I find the news about Visconti potentially leaving Oz in the transfers very interesting, after watching him for few years now.
Lachlan Morton looks like obvious target, but questions is , should Oz focus on gaining young Aussie talents, or rather improve the team in best possible way to gain immediate results in PT?
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 26-02-2015 17:13
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@Avin: Visconti, yeah. He will - as always - be my most difficult decision Morton... But yes, i may not go for talents afterall. Staying up is the goal!
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 26-02-2015 17:46
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Well there's talents, and then there's someone who is already 80 MO, and with room still for improvement! (And an Aussie!)
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 26-02-2015 17:54
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SportingNonsense wrote:
Well there's talents, and then there's someone who is already 80 MO, and with room still for improvement! (And an Aussie!)
And there's someone playing it rather quiet until the heat is on
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![imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg](https://imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg)
