Tour of Tasmania Preview

The Spirit of Tasmania Cycling Tour is held across five grueling days through some of the most picturesque countryside anywhere in the world.

This year will see the Tour once again based in Northern Tasmania, which will provide a great mix of spectacular views and tough hill climbs along with some potentially unpredictable weather. It's sure to be one of the absolute highlights of the 2017 Subaru National Road Series.

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, Mark O'Brien and Jack Bobridge:

2016 | Jack Bobridge (Budget Forklifts)
2015 | Mark O'Brien (Avanti)
2014 | Mark Williams (Budget Forklifts)
2013 | Mark O'Brien (Budget Forklifts)

Avanti Isowhey Sport	State of Matter / MAAP
Joe Cooper	Dylan Sunderland
Robbie Hucker	Daniel Fitter
Chris Hamilton	Jesse Kerrison
Pat Shaw
Jason Lea
Mobius Future Racing	Swiss Wellness Cycling
Ben Dyball	Chris Harper
Peter Livingstone	Jesse Featonby
Jayco VIS	SASI Callidus
Angus Lyons	Tom Kaesler
Ethan Berends	Harry Carpenter
JML Racing	Satalyst Verve Racing
Jake Klajnbat	Matt Clark
Jai Crawford	Lachlan Norris
TIS Racing	AMR Renault Racing
Bernard Sulzberger	Josh Aldridge
GPM Stulz	Oliver's Real Food Racing
OTOC Vault	Individuals
	Nathan Elliott
	Samuel Jenner

The last stage race in the NRS this year comes with a great course (again): a new prologue in Launceston's "Alp d'Huez" - short, but challenging. The new queen stage will feature a tough climb up to Poatina. It's the only real mountaintop finish in the series this year.

So we need to consider the climbers as the top favorites: Ben Dyball (Mobius), Chris Harper (Swiss Wellness) and Dylan Sunderland (State of Matter) as the biggest threats for Avanti's armada. Will Joe Cooper be able to attack Pat Shaw's NRS-lead here? He certainly needs to. Cooper ain't the best climber though, so how will Avanti handle the leadership?

A few interesting riders can be named, too: Bernd Sulzberger (TIS Racing) should be motivated on home soil. The former race-winner may have something left in the tank. Same goes for Jai Crawford (JML Racing), who used to be one of the better pure climbers in the NRS when racing for Drapac a few years back. He's certainly a great guest rider for the young team. Also Matt Clark or Lachlan Norris (Satalyst) are/were known as good climbers and may finally give the team some success this season.

Tour of Tasmania Stages 1-2-3

Joe Cooper (Avanti) is leading the Tour of Tasmania after 3 of 5 stages. Taking the prologue in Launceston and adding two more podium finishes, the Kiwi had a great start into his mission to score points towards the NRS rankings. The GC is still quite open with Jake Klajnbat (JML) currently a strong 2nd with the same time as Cooper and Chris Harper (Swiss Wellness) on 3rd just a few seconds behind.

Cooper took out the prologue in Launceston ahead of teammate Chris Hamilton and Daniel Fitter (State of Matter). The short "Alp d'Huez" climb didn't make for huge gaps, but of course it's been key points for Cooper and his GC-victory goal here.

On second day, the GC-favorites would wait for the final short climb to Grindelwald to make for some action: Chris Harper was the first big gun to attack and the talented climber held off Cooper, Angus Lyons (Jayco) and Dylan Sunderland (State of Matter) til the finish. The stage-win would lift Harper into yellow and those four riders also gained 13 seconds on a group with 26 riders, that included JML's Jake Klajnbat and Jai Crawford.

A more action-packed and windy stage three from Devonport to Penguin would than lead to another GC-change: Cooper would finish 3rd on the day to re-claim the leader shirt from Harper. But the biggest smile would go to Jake Klajnbat (JML) and his team: after a first attack from Jai Crawford was brought back by a group of 33 riders (mostly led by Mobius Future Racing), his teammate Klajnbat launched an attack from 5km outside the finish. Just when it looked like the leading group would settle down to wait for the flat and fast finish, Klajnbat went away. He succesfully held on to a small 18 seconds gap, taking the team's (and his) first NRS stage-win and almost grabbing yellow! Huge result for the squad.

Tomorrow's queen stage to Poatina will likely shake up the GC though. While Klajnbat may suffer, JML is hoping for Crawford to deliver. He did well to stay within reach for notable GC-result so far. Will Cooper manage to defend yellow on this tough climb then?

Joe Cooper did what he hoped for: winning the prologue!

Chris Harper (Swiss Wellness) as the first favorite to attack on #S2..

..to take the stage ahead of Cooper for yellow!

Jai Crawford (JML) attacking the bunch on #S3's toughest climb..

..empty-handed, but Klajnbat with another attempt with 5km left..

..powering into the fast finish in Penguin, still leading..

..for the win and almost yellow! A huge victory for JML!

Cooper with key points so far. Will he survive the mountain stage?

Thanks, Tamijo! Starting quite well

Tour of Tasmania Stages 4-5

Dylan Sunderland (State of Matter) is the newest winner of the Tour of Tasmania, beating Chris Harper (Swiss Wellness) by just one second eventually! A strong showing from Matt Clark (Satalyst) made him earn the final podium spot ahead of Ben Dyball (Mobius) and veteran Tasmanian Bernd Sulzberger (TIS Racing). Former race-leader and NRS-contender Joe Cooper (Avanti) couldn't follow in the queen stage, dropping to 12th in the GC. Avanti went all-in for Cooper and paid for it: anyone remember a NRS-race with no Avanti in the Top-10?

The queen stage to Poatina would bring what it promised: the best climbers fought for the GC-lead. In a tough selection-race, a group of 6 riders was leading the race to fight for line honours. Sunderland, Harper, Dyball, Sulzberger, Clark and Angus Lyons (Jayco). GC-leader Cooper got all the support from his team, but eventually lost almost 4 minutes. Behind the leading group, a few riders tried to hang on: Jai Crawford (JML) as one of those, eventually finishing 11th on the stage to jump onto 10th in the GC. The stage would go to Dylan Sunderland, who beat Clark and Dyball in a thrilling sprint, taking yellow from Cooper.

The final criterium through Devonport had heavy crosswinds again, but no major GC changes this time: Daniel Fitter beat teammate Jesse Kerrison (State of Matter) in the sprint, with Jackson Mawby (JML) finishing 3rd for another strong result for his team here. The overall winner Sunderland avoided any drama to finish a second ahead of Harper in the GC. Cooper misses out on valuable GC-points and might have lost the chance to grab the NRS-title this year.

Matt Clark initiating the first big moves with 6km to go..

The leading group with six riders would fight for the stage..

..Dyball against Sunderland with a few metres left..

Sunderland takes the queen stage ahead of Clark/Dyball!

Jai Crawford (JML) finishing 11th, suffering from his efforts..

GC-leader Cooper cracked and lost a high GC-result here..

Fitter/Kerrison ahead of a strong Jackson Mawby (JML) in the crit!

Dylan Sunderland with his first race-win in the NRS. Huge!

#INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS

Rk	Name	Team	Points
1	Patrick Shaw	Avanti Isowhey Sport	632
2	Joseph Cooper	Avanti Isowhey Sport	515
3	Matthew Ross	Pat's Veg Cycling	470
4	Dylan Sunderland	State of Matter / MAAP	385
5	Scott Sunderland		340
6	Pat Lane	Avanti Isowhey Sport	285
7	Jesse Kerrison	State of Matter / MAAP	275
8	Jacob Kauffmann	Subaru NSWIS	265
9	Chris Harper	Swiss Wellness Cycling	250
	Robert Stannard	Mobius Future Racing	250
11	Robbie Hucker	Avanti Isowhey Sport	234
12	Nathan Elliott	Kenyan Riders DU	215
13	Ben Dyball	Mobius Future Racing	190
14	Samuel Burston	Mobius Future Racing	183
15	Ayden Toovey	Subaru NSWIS	180
16	Michael Cuming	State of Matter / MAAP	150
17	Matthew Clark	Satalyst Verve Racing	145
18	Ethan Berends	Jayco/John West/VIS	140
19	Sean Whitfield	Oliver's Real Food	130
20	Angus Lyons	Jayco/John West/VIS	121
21	Liam Magennis	Subaru NSWIS	120
22	Harrison Bailey	GPM Stulz	110
23	Nicholas Kergozou	Mobius Future Racing	100
24	Jason Christie	Kenyan Riders DU	85
	Alex Porter	SASI/Callidus	85
	Bernard Sulzberger	TIS Racing Team	85
...
35	Jake Klajnbat	JML Racing	45
...
42	Jai Crawford	JML Racing	35

#TEAM RANKINGS

Rk	Team	Points
1	Avanti Isowhey Sport	1465
2	State of Matter / MAAP	727
3	Mobius Future Racing	625
4	Subaru NSWIS	445
5	Pat's Veg Cycling	443
6	Kenyan Riders Downunder	289
7	Swiss Wellness Cycling	260
8	Jayco/John West/VIS	231
9	SASI/Callidus Cycling Team	168
10	Satalyst Verve Racing	157
11	TIS Racing Team	121
12	GPM Stulz	120
13	Oliver's Real Food Racing	85
14	St. George Merida	63
15	Physiohealth Focus	48
16	JML Racing	41
17	AMR Renault Racing	40
18	Van D'am Racing p/b Butterfields	22
19	SUVelo Racing	10

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. Two years ago, the race came down to a bunch sprint, where Alex Edmondson took the primes. Last year though, a solo-move from Van der Ploeg made him win by minute on runner-up Kent-Spark:

2016 | Neil Van der Ploeg (Avanti Racing)
2015 | Alex Edmondson (Euride/SASI)
2014 | Aaron Donnelly (Huon Salmon - Genesys)
2013 | Jack Anderson (Budget Forklifts)

Avanti Isowhey Sport	State of Matter / MAAP
Joe Cooper	Jesse Kerrison
Pat Shaw	Daniel Fitter
Anthony Giacoppo	Dylan Sunderland
Mark O'Brien	Michael Vink
Pat Lane
Subaru NSWIS	Mobius Future Racing
Jacob Kauffmann	Scott Bradburn
Scott Law	Peter Livingstone
Ayden Toovey
Satalyst Verve Racing	Pat's Veg Cycling
Matt Clark	Matt Ross
Joel Strachan	Drew Morey
Swiss Wellness Cycling	SASI Callidus
Chris Harper	Russell Gill
Jeremy Cameron	Harry Carpenter
JML Racing	Oliver's Real Food Racing
Jake Klajnbat	Sean Whitfield
GPM Stulz	Phoenix Cycling Collective
Anchor Point South Coast	AMR Renault Racing
Van D'am Racing	Physiohealth Focus
SUVelo Racing	Individuals
	Nathan Elliott
	Scott Sunderland
	Brenton Jones
	Tommy Nankervis
	Todd Buschkuehl

A classy field for a classy classic: several top-riders subscribed for this iconic event and so we can expect another thrilling edition of the Warry. Of course there's the big question, if Joe Cooper will somehow manage to claim the NRS crown from teammate Pat Shaw. He needs to win here, while Shaw would have to finish outside the Top-15. Both should be considered strong on this course though.

Avanti with the best team, but a few individual riders came to ride the event this year: Brenton Jones (former NRS champion in 2015 and riding for Drapac), Scott Sunderland (former NRS-leader earlier in the season, winner of the Great South Coast Tour), Nathan Elliott, veteran Tommy Nankervis should be considered threats. And of course we have some usual suspects like Subaru NSWIS's ever strong core of classic riders (Toovey, Law, Kauffmann). If we get crosswinds, things should become interesting anyway.

JML Racing will hope to continue the better results from Tasmania. Jake Klajnbat is strong on the flat and may aim for a Top-15 here.

Melbourne to Warrnambool Recap

Avanti Isowhey concluded the season just like they opened it: Pat Lane took the primes in the final race of the year, soloing to a victory ahead of former NRS-leader Scott Sunderland and Jesse Kerrison (State of Matter). The fight for the NRS crown did not happen, as Joe Cooper (13th) finished just behind NRS leader and teammate Pat Shaw (12th) with no attempt to attack his road captain.

Tough conditions made for a brutal day in this epic 280km classic: heavy rain in the first half of the race and crosswinds up to 45km/h. An early breakaway group with four riders was caught inside the final 35km, just when the first serious attacks in the pack would occur: Matt Ross (Pat's Veg) launched a move with still 45km. The climber still had a chance to overtak Cooper for 2nd place in the NRS rankings.

His attempt was short-lived though, as he got caught by the already quite reduced leading bunch (30 riders) just a few kilometres later. Pat Lane went away with 17km to go and his move always looked like a promising attempt. Avanti's teammate would not chase for obvious reasons and so other teams (like State of Matter) or individual riders (mainly Nathan Elliott) desperately tried to bring him back.

When Elliott ran out of gas and Lane still had a notable gap on the leading group, the remaining favorites would try to bridge across Lane with now only just two kilometres from the finish. Lane did not have the speed, Kerrison/Sunderland came pretty close. But it was enough for Lane to hold on. JML Racing couldn't compete with the best, as Jake Klajnbat finished as 34th eventually. Still a respectable result in his first Melbourne classic.

Matt Ross (Pat's Veg) attacking with 45km left. No luck though..

Just 30 riders remain in the leading group, a few teams pacing..

Pat Lane launching his winning move 17km before finish..

JML's Klajnbat could not hang on with the fast pace then..

The chasing group launching the sprint with Kerrison leading..

..but Lane held on, beating Sunderland and Kerrison!

NRS leader Shaw finished together with NRS contender Cooper..

A huge win for a huge talent: Pat Lane on the podium!

#INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS

Rk	Name	Team	Pts
1	Patrick Shaw	Avanti Isowhey Sport	645
2	Joseph Cooper	Avanti Isowhey Sport	525
3	Matthew Ross	Pat's Veg Cycling	470
4	Scott Sunderland		440
5	Pat Lane	Avanti Isowhey Sport	410
6	Dylan Sunderland	State of Matter / MAAP	385
7	Jesse Kerrison	State of Matter / MAAP	350
8	Chris Harper	Swiss Wellness Cycling	310
9	Robbie Hucker	Avanti Isowhey Sport	269
10	Jacob Kauffmann	Subaru NSWIS	265
11	Robert Stannard	Mobius Future Racing	250
12	Nathan Elliott	Kenyan Riders DU	215
13	Ben Dyball	Mobius Future Racing	190
14	Samuel Burston	Mobius Future Racing	183
15	Ayden Toovey	Subaru NSWIS	180
16	Michael Cuming	State of Matter / MAAP	150
17	Matthew Clark	Satalyst Verve Racing	145
18	Harrison Bailey	GPM Stulz	140
	Ethan Berends	Jayco/John West/VIS	140
20	Sean Whitfield	Oliver's Real Food	130
21	Angus Lyons	Jayco/John West/VIS	121
22	Liam Magennis	Subaru NSWIS	120
23	Nicholas Kergozou	Mobius Future Racing	100
24	Jason Christie	Kenyan Riders DU	85
	Alex Porter	SASI/Callidus	85
	Bernard Sulzberger	TIS Racing Team	85
27	Daniel Fitter	State of Matter / MAAP	80
28	Harry Carpenter	SASI/Callidus	78
29	Ben Hill		75
30	Adam Bull	State of Matter / MAAP	72
31	Neil Van der Ploeg	Avanti Isowhey Sport	60
	Russell Gill	SASI/Callidus	60
33	Sam Crome	Avanti Isowhey Sport	59
34	Cyrus Monk	Pat's Veg Cycling	55
35	Brodie Talbot	St. George Merida	50
	Jesse Featonby	Swiss Wellness Cycling	50
37	Jason Lea	Avanti Isowhey Sport	48
38	Jake Klajnbat	JML Racing	45
	Chris Hamilton	Avanti Isowhey Sport	45
40	Nick Katsonis	State of Matter / MAAP	40
	Mitchell Dedman	Physiohealth Focus	40
	Alexander Evans	AMR Renault Racing	40
43	Drew Morey	Pat's Veg Cycling	38
44	Jai Crawford	JML Racing	35
	James Robinson	TIS Racing Team	35

#TEAM RANKINGS

Rk	Team	Pts
1	Avanti Isowhey Sport	1645
2	State of Matter / MAAP	802
3	Mobius Future Racing	625
4	Pat's Veg Cycling	493
5	Subaru NSWIS	445
6	Swiss Wellness Cycling	345
7	Kenyan Riders Downunder	289
8	Jayco/John West/VIS	231
9	SASI/Callidus Cycling Team	221
10	Satalyst Verve Racing	157
11	GPM Stulz	150
12	TIS Racing Team	121
13	Oliver's Real Food Racing	85
14	St. George Merida	63
15	Physiohealth Focus	48
16	JML Racing	41
17	AMR Renault Racing	40
18	Van D'am Racing p/b Butterfields	22
19	SUVelo Racing	10