New Zealand Elite Nationals Preview

The Kiwi Nationals are held at the same time as the Aussie Road Nats and of course we do have some similar teams lining up here: Avanti and Budget as the most well known Continental teams, while also some World Tour riders made their way to Christchurch again.

TT - Jason Christie (Breads of Europe)
RR - Jack Bauer (Garmin)

Jason Christie rides for Avanti this season and is one of several threats for the team, that went to become a New Zealand registered UCI team. Jack Bauer won't defend his road title, as he ain't at the start this time. The semi-hilly parcours may once again see a thrilling decision between a breakaway and the rather small bunch (58 riders for the road race).

TT - Christchurch (40km)
RR - Christchurch (185km)

Timetrial	Road Race
Joseph Cooper	Joseph Cooper
Patrick Bevin	Patrick Bevin
Michael Vink	Sam Horgan
Jason Christie	Michael Torckler
Sam Horgan	Michael Vink
Taylor Gunman	Jesse Sergent
Paul Odlin	James Oram
	Tom Scully
	George Bennett

Avanti as the strongest team in numbers and names: Bevin and Cooper should be considered top-favorites for both events - and their support ain't too bad at all. Also Team Budget lines up with a strong squad though. Horgan, Torckler or Daniel Barry are strong on the flat and can climb as well.

Of course there are some more internationals then: Sergent, Oram, Bennett, Scully or upcoming talents like Hamish Schreurs. Those probably need Avanti and/or Budget to control the race though.

New Zealand Elite Nationals Timetrial

Michael Vink prevented Avanti from a possible 1-2, but the New Zealand based team still delivered big time: Joseph Cooper secured himself the somehow expected timetrial crown, while Patrick Bevin finished off the podium behind Vink. Cooper never looked in real danger, even though Vink was just about ten seconds off at the half-time split.

Team Budget couldn't compete with the very best and Sam Horgan hadn't his best day anyway: his 8th place ain't exactly satisfying, even though we couldn't expect much more than a sixth place or something like that. A huge performance by domestic rider Nick Clark, who definitely put up the most surprising effort here.

Patrick Bevin (Avanti)

Sam Horgan (Budget Forklifts)

Michael Vink (Champion System)

Joseph Cooper (Avanti)

New Zealand Elite Nationals Road Race

Young gun Hamish Schreurs (riding for Nature Valley Avanti) took out the Elite Nationals road race in a sprint from a reduced leading group, beating veteran domestic rider Sam Lindsay and World Tour professional George Bennett! After Avanti Racing and Team Budget failed to cause a higher selection (though bringing back some late attacks by Jesse Sergent), Schreurs showed some perfect tactics in the bunch sprint.

An early break was pulled back before the penultimate lap, but neither Avanti nor Budget went to launch a solo move then. World Tour rider Sergent tried two times, but couldn't escape. The strongest teams obviously played it all for either Patrick Bevin or Michael Torckler (both strong finishers), but both hadn't the best timing in the sprint. A pity for Budget to miss out on the podium here, as Torckler had a pretty good position in the final kilometres, but he launched his sprint too late. At this point, guys like Schreurs or Lindsay flew past them Budget and Avanti boys - a crucial move.

Sergent with one of his two attacks late in the race..

Avanti and Budget controlled the race though..

Schreurs wins the bunch sprint and fools the top-teams!

Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Preview

The Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Classic goes into it's second edition and already proved to become a potentially entertaining early season classic last year. A course that can favor either sprinters, puncheurs or roleurs and of course possible crosswinds and some challenging short climbs in the finishing loop through Geelong.

The inaugaral edition saw a few solo attempts in this finishing circuit, where Drapac's Jack Anderson launched a gutsy attack about 5km before finish - eventually holding off a reduced peloton by a few seconds! A huge win for himself and the team:

2015 | Jack Anderson (Drapac)

Heinrich Haussler	Gianni Meersman	Peter Kennaugh
Caleb Ewan	Simon Clark	Nathan Haas
Giampaolo Caruso	Cadel Evans	Neil Van der Ploeg

A pretty packed startlist and an interesting mix of different types of riders: Haussler, Meersman or Ewan as those punchy sprinters, who should be considered the strongest, if a breakaway or late attack won't survive this year. Plenty of talent for Orica, who should have several options. Also guys like Haas, Caruso or maybe Evans or Porte could stand a chance though.

Local favorites like Van der Ploeg will hope to show themselves against those World Tour teams. Team Budget ain't lining up with defending champion Jack Anderson (who will race the New Zealand Cycle Classic instead), but feels confident to show their colors anyway.

Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Recap

Gianni Meersman played it smart and took out the second Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road in a dominating manner: when a tough race with rainy conditions and heavy crosswinds had already led to some major splits, the Etixx-professional easily outsprinted a small leading group to finish ten seconds ahead of Caleb Ewan and Heinrich Haussler! Local favorite Cadel Evans (6th last year) once again delivered in his own race and finished 4th.

Tommy Nankervis (Budget), Samu Sánchez (BMC), Chris Jones (UHC) and Marco Frapporti (Androni) built the break of the day, that was reeled in with more than 25km left. An action-packed race would see the bunch getting smaller every minute then. Sam Spokes (Drapac) launched a promising solo move 17km to the line, but got caught by a 17-men-group with less than 6km to go!

Most of the big guns made this major split and entered the final kilometres with no more attack. But with a late sprint being kicked off, more and more riders couldn't compete with the very best of the day.. unfortunatelly, none of Budget's riders made it into the leading group, but Brodie Talbot fought hard to finish as 19th eventually. A next group with Sam Horgan, Brendan Canty and Michael Torckler would also make the Top-25 then. A brutal day in the saddle, but once again an eventful and thrilling race here. Congrats to Sean Lake (African Wildlife Safaris) as the best of "our" NRS competitors in 9th place!

Jones, Nankervis, Sánchez and Frapporti building the break of the day..

Spokes attacking the bunch about 17km before finish..

The 18-men-group, that would fight for line honours then..

The first chasing group with Budget's trio..

Meersman celebrating a dominating victory!

An empty Talbot crosses the line as Budget's best..

Meersman follows on Jack Anderson to win the second edition here!

New Zealand Cycle Classic Preview

All the glamour and colour of international cycle racing will sweep past the doorsteps and farm gates of many people in the Wairarapa region from January 20 to 24, as the New Zealand Cycle Classic gets set to thrill spectators for its 29th year.

The only UCI stage race (2.2) in New Zealand, the NZCC once again attracted Oceania's best domestic teams to take part - even though Drapac won't participate this year. Avanti Racing though has some good reasons to race here, as they feature the honour roll for the past season:

2015 | Ben Dyball (Avanti Racing)

Joseph Cooper	Jack Anderson	Dion Smith
Taylor Gunman	James Oram	Nick Bain
Jason Christie	Joshua Prete	Brad Evans

Avanti comes back to defend the crown, that Ben Dyball took last season. But also Team Budget has some good memories, as they finished with four riders inside the Top-10 here. Avanti's Joe Cooper is the man to beat, even though there's no more timetrial in this year's edition.

Oram, Smith, Bain, Brad Evans or Gunman can be real threats, too. Several more common faces from the Aussie/Kiwi cycling scene and a few internationals should make for an interesing race. Team Budget is likely to rely on Jack Anderson as their man for the GC, while also Prete and Juel can do something. Daniel Barry should be one of the best sprinters (together with Roman Van Uden or oldie Gordon McCauley) and so a stage-win is the goal for us.

sutty68 wrote:
Hope the guys can put in a decent ride here but it will be hard with Avanti present as well

New Zealand Cycle Classic Stages 1-2

Team Budget kicked off the race with a bang, as Daniel Barry finished off some strong teamwork to win the opening stage in Masterton! Heavy crosswinds made for a tough day and so our domestiques burned themselves in order to catch a breakaway group around KoM-leader Alex Grunke (Data#3). Jack Anderson though provided a nice leadout for Barry, who narrowly held off Roman Van Uden (NZL) and Brad Evans (Armstrong Cycling) then. A nice win for the whole team.

Another flat, but challenging stage on second day then. Budget once again worked hard to reel-in the break, but Barry hadn't the best legs this time. Brad Evans sprinted to a dominating victory and as Jack Anderson was our best finisher as 5th on the stage, that's the race-lead for Evans as well. The next two hilly stages are likely to mix things in the GC though. Anderson is Budget's only remaining real threat, it seems.

Barry kicking off his sprint in stage one..

..and holding off Van Uden and Evans!

Enjoying the GC-lead and his moments on the podium..

The sprint trains approaching the finish in Martinborough..

Brad Evans opening up a clear gap on the bunch..

For the win and race-lead, as Barry comes in 8th!

New Zealand Cycle Classic Stages 3-4-5

Nick Miller (Team Scody Downunder) sensationally claimed the overall victory of the New Zealand Cycle Classic! Winning the queen stage up Admiral Hill out of the early break, Miller managed to hold off local favorite Andy Hagen (Nature Valley) and top-favorite Joseph Cooper (Avanti) by quite a margin. Huge results for both Miller and domestic cyclist Hagen. Jack Anderson (Budget) finished 4th in the final GC.

Things went very well for Team Budget on day three though: after Barry lost the race-lead on the second day, Jack Anderson proved his good shape by winning a challenging Carrington Circuit the day after! A less selective race, but still the puncheurs challenged for line honours. Anderson had the perfect timing and held off Ryan Wills (NZL) and Tom Davison (Avanti).

The queen stage up Admiral Hill would then decide over the GC: Nick Miller did benefit from the peloton struggling to catch the early break prior to the final climb and the Kiwi held on to a notable gap then. Andy Hagen and Joe Cooper attacked the small group of favorites too late, but gained valuable time on those, who couldn't follow. Anderson did well to keep his 4th place in the GC and also Josh Berry finished in the front group.

The final flat stage saw a breakaway victory from William Green (Signmakers). No threat for the GC anyway, the bunch came close but failed to catch the escapees. Good news for Nick Miller, who defended yellow easily. Brad Evans took the points jersey, Miller added the KoM and U25 rankings to his bucket!

Anderson launching his sprint on day three..

..to lung in for Team Budget's second stage-win here!

A great win and Anderson moved up to 4th in the GC..

Hagen and Cooper dropping the group of favorites on Admiral Hill..

Anderson couldn't follow, but tried to go his own pace..

One escapee survived: Nick Miller takes the queen stage!

Anderson holding off the chasing group to finish 4th on the stage!

Miller celebrating his overall victory after five tough days!

sutty68 wrote:
Shame Jack missed out on the podium, but he should be happy with his overall performance