Thanks, Manx Always enjoy your analysis prior to the race. Makes it even more interesting to play the races and compare the results with the predictions. So your feedback is always appreciated
Tour of Toowoomba (Stage 1, Hill, 114km)
The opening stage is already one of the most interesting: while it ain't the toughest profile, the hilly route will make for a hard race. The rather easy climbs near the finish may lead to a bunch of favorites fight for the win, like last year, where a rather surprising winner (Jake Sutherland) won ahead of a small group.
Two riders managed to break clear from the bunch rather late into the stage: Trevor Spencer (Charter Mason) and Spears (Lightsview).
They are allowed to establish a decent gap, but definitely face a tough challenge "surviving" the now remaining 77km.
With 24km to go, the gap is down to a minute and Spencer dropped Spears, trying to go for a solo-victory.
The peloton is led by search2retain, but also Budget Forklifts and Satalyst show it's colors at the front.
So it ain't surprising to see Bayly (search2) on the attack with now 11km remaining!
He's joined by Dever (Target) and Shaw (Huon), so except of Bayly no top-favorites on the move yet! In the meantime, escapee Spencer got caught..
The group struggled to build a decent gap, but 8km before finish, Bayly launches another powerful attack, quickly jumping away from the peloton!
Bonello (GPM), stage-winner in the Mersey Valley Tour, made his move a few moments before, but can't catch up with Bayly.
Bayly established a minute-gap quickly, but it's still a thrilling race now, as also the first top-favorites make their move close to the finish:
Sulzberger (Drapac)
Neil Van der Ploeg (search2)
Semple (Satalyst) and
O'Brien (Euride)
attack the bunch 2km before the finish, while Pat Shaw (Huon) also tried another move earlier! So where's Earle, Anderson or Lapthorne?
Bayly won't take care, he keeps pacing hard and holds on to a 30"-gap on solo-chasing Bonello with 1km to go!
Shaw is another 35" behind, still ahead of the first group of top-favorites, which won't fight for the stage-win, obviously.
Cameron Bayly takes it in style! Two powerful attacks, with the second being the decisive today, search2retain's co-leader fools the top-favorites and will slip into the leader-shirt!
Bonello finishes 36" behind as good 2nd. He couldn't repeat his solo-victory from the Mersey Valley, but gains valuable seconds for the GC!
search2retain has another reason to be happy: Van der Ploeg completes the podium, 1'10" behind team mate Bayly!
He leads a group of top-favorites (with Nathan Earle, who caught up close before finish), that finishes 15" ahead of the peloton for valuable seconds.
Bayly should be considered as a real threat though, as he's known as a very good climber. O'Brien, VdP, Semple and Earle at least put themselves in the Top-10 already, while Anderson, Norris or Lapthorne lost 15" on those top-favorites.
Tomorrow's stage will be the queen stage, featuring a challenging hilltop-finish, where Bayly will have to fight hard to defend his decent gap.
Impressive ride by Bayly. I thought he'd work for VdP, but he really surprised. VdP is still being Mr Very Consistent with another podium. I wonder if Search2 will still maintain the lead in the TTT, or maybe Earle or O'Brien will take over?
@all: Thanks, mates! Your support and thoughts on a stage like that are always appreciated Really impressive move by Bayly, who definitely can achieve something special now. Guess the second stage (see report below) and the TTT will be interesting..
Tour of Toowoomba (Stage 2, Hill, 120km)
Stage two from Crows Nest to Bunyas may one of the crucial stages, as it's without any doubts the toughest route of this tour. The finish-climb ain't as steep as others in the NRS, but long enough to make a difference.
So will top-favorites like defending Toowoo-champion O'Brien or Earle be able to attack and gain time on GC-leader Bayly?
A first breakaway has been caught early and with now only 27km remaining, some GC-outsiders but notable names try to break clear:
Jason Spencer (Charter), Evans (Budget), Szollosi (ProTeamDU) and Clements (Tasmania)! At least three good climbers, including last year's Tour of Gippsland-winner Evans.. that's something!
Something too dangerous, it seems... the group never could establish a bigger gap and is caught at the bottom of today's finish climb! Only Szollosi rides solo 30" ahead of the pack as the less stronger climber.
And here we go with some early moves by top-favorites this time:
Semple, O'Brien and Norris attack the bunch, followed by race-leader Bayly and also Anderson!
6km remaining and now also Earle jumps behind this promising group! Last year, the Tasmanian missed the decisive split in this stage, so he needs to do better this time!
He catches up to the leading group with 4.5km to go. The peloton is now already 46" in arrears and the 7-men-group - pacing hard with the hilltop-finish in the background - is packed with top-favorites!
More riders try to jump behind, Szollosi got dropped by the leading group in the meantime:
Elliott (Target), Hucker (Drapac), Gillett (African) face a 40"-gap, with another group including Carpenter (Euride) and GC's 2nd Bonello (GPM) being another 20" behind!
Race-leader Bayly struggles to hang on! He loses contact to the leading group 2.6km before finish!
So will he defend his gap in the GC? He's about 1'20" ahead of those five riders remaining in the lead..
Less than 2km to go and the group continues to go into pieces with Anderson and O'Brien keeping a brutal pace:
E1/ Anderson, O'Brien, Earle, Semple
E2/ Norris at 0.16
E3/ Bayly at 0.35
E4/ Hucker at 0.52
E5/ Gillett, Elliott at 1.06
Most notable names missing today's crucial moves are Van der Ploeg (GC's 3rd) or Lapthorne (Drapac), while GC's 2nd Bonello is somewhere around 2 minutes behind the leading group.
Last year, this stage was won by a breakaway (Hepburn/GPM), but this time it's the big guns fighting for both the stage and the GC:
O'Brien accelerates with the finish approaching! Anderson remains the only one within reach, it seems, as both Earle and Semple are too far behind!
And yes, Mark O'Brien sprints for the stage-win! An important step towards his goal to complete the Toowoomba-triple.
Anderson, Earle and also Semple managed to finish within the same time, without a chance to beat O'Brien though.
Norris 5th (+ 0.34) and here comes race-leader Bayly! But how much time did he lose?
He crosses the line as 7th, close behind a strong finishing Hucker, losing 54" on O'Brien today. A huge fight, that keeps him in the purple leader-shirt, even though it's getting closer.
Bayly will enter the third day with 19" on O'Brien, 25" on Earle, 29" on Semple and 38" on Anderson. The TTT (but also the tricky flat stages) will make for a close thrilling battle!
Former GC's 2nd Bonello at least finished ahead of the bunch and may hope for a Top-10 in GC now (currently 8th).
@miggi: Glad you like that screen in particular, as i was looking for a angle that shows some more of the shirts. Ain't easy to get good shots from the back of shirts, but it worked here Thanks for stopping by and the shirts!
@sutty: Finally, yes. Budget ain't looking as strong as Huon or Euride for the TTT though, but they may prove me wrong
@all: Can't promise a report for tonight, as i have some ManGame-stuff to do first. Will try, but don't know yet! Sorry for the slower pace then, but stay tuned for the remaining stages!
tsmoha wrote:
@miggi: Glad you like that screen in particular, as i was looking for a angle that shows some more of the shirts. Ain't easy to get good shots from the back of shirts, but it worked here Thanks for stopping by and the shirts!
Im always here and reading... Though mostly while Im not logged in.
I agree with sutty.. Huon is doing great, O´Brien is starting to show up, Anderson did good too. Bayly with almost a minute lost, he will loose the lead for sure.
this is so cool!! i ride in the Euride Team, well actallly direct it too haha i have the 2012 pcm, is there any where i can get a link to this db please? i would love to play it
faza42 wrote:
this is so cool!! i ride in the Euride Team, well actallly direct it too haha i have the 2012 pcm, is there any where i can get a link to this db please? i would love to play it
Well that's pretty cool Unfortunately I think it's not a db that's in a downloadable format
faza42 wrote:
this is so cool!! i ride in the Euride Team, well actallly direct it too haha i have the 2012 pcm, is there any where i can get a link to this db please? i would love to play it
Well that's pretty cool Unfortunately I think it's not a db that's in a downloadable format
That's cool indeed! Would love to know who you are now, but it nice to see an Euride-member around here anyway
As for the DB, aidan got it right, more or less. It's a heavily edited custom db and i don't know if i will ever manage to make it a proper download. I MAY try at some point, but can't promise anything!
@miggi: that's nice to hear/read!
@baia and sutty: Thanks for the feedback, mates! Will be interesting to see if you're right with your prediction, baia
@all: Finally had some time to play the next stages, so i guess i will get a report online later today!
Edited by tsmoha on 16-11-2013 15:18
The 3rd stage and TTT around Greenmount will surely mix the GC and be crucial in terms of the overall winner. Given that some teams are much stronger against the clock, it will be interesting to see, who will take this chance today.
We'll focus on the Top-5 in GC for this report, so let's take a look first. Bayly needs to defend a now rather close gap on O'Brien and Earle, so two GC-contenders with strong TTT-squads today!
1
Cameron Bayly
search2retain
5h53'53
2
Mark O'Brien
Euride Racing
+ 19
3
Nathan Earle
Huon Salmon - Genesys
+ 25
4
Adam Semple
Satalyst Giant Racing Team
+ 29
5
Jack Anderson
Budget Forklifts
+ 38
Budget Forklifts - Jack Anderson (GC + 0.38)
Local team Budget didn't send their best possible TTT-lineup, but given the "home boost", this may be Anderson's chance to join the GC-battle.
Provisional 2nd behind Drapac: + 0.10
Satalyst Giant - Adam Semple (GC + 0.29)
Satalyst is next on the road and trying to keep Semple in the GC-contention. They finish within reach, so ain't a bad try.
Finish: + 0.12
Huon Genesys - Nathan Earle (GC + 0.25)
Huon is expected to be one of the best TTT-squads, even though not all of their best against the clock are at the start here. Anyway, the team can't really deliver, but finishes still close to Budget or Satalyst.
Finish: + 0.14
search2retain - Cameron Bayly (race-leader)
Time for race-leader Bayly to hit the road as second to last team today. No one did expect this squad to beat the likes of Huon or Budget, but... they actually do!
Finish: + 0.08 as provisional 2nd behind Drapac!
Euride Racing - Mark O'Brien (GC + 0.19)
Today's top-favorited team is Euride with GC's 2nd O'Brien, who already won yesterday's queen stage and aims for the GC-lead now. And Euride delivers..
New BT: 37'10", beating Drapac by 28 seconds!
Mark O'Brien slips into the leader-shirt, leading the GC by 17" on Bayly and already 48" on Earle!
Thanks to this TTT being rather close in terms of the gaps, we still have two thrilling days remaining: two stages rated as flat ones, but both with some tricky uphill-finishes.
Always enjoy your analysis prior to the race. Makes it even more interesting to play the races and compare the results with the predictions. So your feedback is always appreciated 
i have the 2012 pcm, is there any where i can get a link to this db please? i would love to play it 
