North West Tour (Stage 5, Flat, 136km)

The final day of the North West Tour and it's a flat stage from Coonabarabran to Gunnedah.. it looks like an easy day for a mass-sprint, but there's a short climb very close to the finish. Will we see some sprinters fading or a puncheur attacking?

So this only difficulty seems to be the last remaining concern for GC-leader Stu Smith.. will we see O'Brien attacking in order to achieve the North West-triple?


Breakaways have been quite succesful so far in the flat stages of the NWT this year, so today's break of the day may hope for a shot at the win:

Hall (Bianchi), Donati (Downer EDI), Cooke (Satalyst), Payne (Kangaroos) and Rendall (African) build a 5-men-group!


The escapees established a huge gap, but 20km before finish, it looks like the chasing bunch will narrow this gap soon:

Charter Mason, GPM and Budget lead the pursuit for their top-sprinters, the escapees leed by a minute only.


But tough weather conditions make for a thrilling race! 2km before finish, we're on the small climb close to the finishing stretch, and the peloton couldn't yet catch all of the escapees:

Donati holds on to a 25"-gap, dropping the last remaining breakaway companions.. will he stand a chance?


It ain't looking bad, but it's getting closer though:

a Budget-duo (Kerby, Kerrison) got themselves a small advantage over the rest of the sprinting pack, narrowing the gap to Donati..


..but he takes out the final stage! Reuben Donati finishes close ahead of Budget's duo for his team's second stage-win here in the North West! Definitely the biggest race for the small team yet!


No more notable changes in the GC today, so Stuart Smith brings home a great win for search2retain!

What a race he had: two stage-wins, points-shirt, KoM-shirt and of course the GC-win! This will be a nice points haul for the 23 years old Victorian based climber.

O'Brien 2nd ahead of Dyball! While O'Brien might have hoped for more points here, Dyball finally proved his talents and surprisingly lead his Huon-team for the first time in two years. Crawford (17th) and Haig (13th) couldn't deliver, bad news for the latter in particular.

Hucker and Cupitt complete the Top-5, with pre-race favorite Clark taking 6th. Good points for Drapac.. a strong Talbot, young gun Spencer, in-shape Bayly and Welsord round up the Top-10.

Biggest disappointments: Haig, Crawford, last year's 3rd Evans (16th), Norris (18th) and Lapthorne (21st)..

While most people focussed on wether O'Brien (or someone else) would be able to take the NRS-lead or not - with Earle skipping the North West Tour - it turned out to be a one-man-show: Stuart Smith conquered the North West with two stage-wins, the overall win and 20 (!) points in total! So search2retain has not only Van der Ploeg or Bayly to go for great results, it seems.

O'Brien did well as 2nd, scoring 10 points and narrowing the gap to Earle to only 3 points. He definitely had hoped for more, as he failed to score points (aka podium) the queen stage. Haig still sits on 3rd, but failed to score any points, as Dyball proved to be Huon's strongest in the NWT.

The team's rankings saw some major changes this time: search2retain (18 points) and also Drapac (14) scored well needed points to put some pressure on Euride, which was expected to struggle in this mountainous race though.. Huon and Budget (both 12) did well again and remain where they seem to belong.

INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS/

Rk	Name	Team	Points
1	Nathan Earle	Huon Salmon - Genesys	35
2	Mark O'Brien	Euride Racing	32
3	Jack Haig	Huon Salmon - Genesys	21
4	Neil Van der Ploeg	search2retain	20
	Jack Anderson	Budget Forklifts	20
	Stuart Smith	search2retain	20
7	Adam Semple	Satalyst Giant Racing	18
	Joe Cooper	Huon Salmon - Genesys	18
9	Darren Lapthorne	Drapac Cycling	16
10	Alex Wohler	Budget Forklifts	15
	Cameron Bayly	search2retain	15
12	Robbie Hucker	Drapac Cycling	14
13	Michael Cupitt	Budget Forklifts	13
	Lachlan Norris	Jayco - Honey Shotz	13
15	Aaron Donnelly	Huon Salmon - Genesys	12

TEAM RANKINGS/

Rk	Team	Points
1	Huon Salmon - Genesys	72
2	Budget Forklifts	64
3	Euride Racing	52
4	search2retain	48
5	Drapac Cycling	46
6	Jayco - Honey Shotz	38
7	Satalyst Giant Racing	24
8	GPM Data#3	21
9	Target Trek Racing Team	17
10	Pro Team Downunder	11
11	Downer EDI Mining	10
12	Subway Cycling Team	7
13	African Wildlife Safaris	6
14	Charter Mason / Drapac DT	5
15	Racing Kangaroos	4
	Pure Tasmania & Polygon Cycling	4
	Suzuki Bontrager	4
18	Bianchi Lotto Arbitrage	3
	SUVelo Racing	3
20	Veneziano Blefari	2
21	Data#3 Cisco Racing Team	1
	St George Skoda HP Team	1

The sprint kicks off in Philip Island GP (VRS) with two escapees ahead..


Breakaway in the Preston Mountain Classic (VRS)..


NRS-leader Earle riding safely in the bunch in Adelaide Tour..


The peloton chasing in Adelaide Tour..


Alex Wohler celebrates a solo-victory on the same stage..


Trent Carman and his biggest stage-win so far..


The peloton chasing again.. this time in the North West..


Stuart Smith celebrates a dominating win in the NWT!

Tour of Gippsland

The Lakes Oil Tour of Gippsland is an 8 stage road tour that starts on scenic Phillip Island, where they battle it out on the infamous Grand Prix circuit in the second stage.

The race then heads into South Gippsland where the riders will endure a stage full of rolling hills from Leongatha to Yinnar. The second road stage starts from Sale and finishes with a climb up to bushfire affected Licola.

An afternoon road stage on a testing course from Lakes Entrance across to the sleepy fishing village of Metung will conclude the tour on the final day then.






Budget Forklifts was really on fire at this time back in 2013: even though team captain O'Brien lost minutes due to a split in the bunch on the opening day, the team managed to keep it's winning streak - Karl Evans celebrated a huge win in this Category 1-event. A close race, may we hope for the same in 2014.

More impression from 2013/

Rhys Gillett (AWS) took out the queen stage - his biggest win!

Haig, O'Brien and Talbot on the attack..

More attacks on a crucial climb, including Karl Evans..

Rainy weather on the opening made for a thrilling race!

A breakaway in stage six..

Tour of Gippsland (Preview #2)

Earle (Huon), Cupitt (Budget), Lapthorne (Drapac), Semple (Satalyst), Carpenter (Euride)

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Haig_zps8d12cd78.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Jack Haig (Huon Salmon - Genesys)
Key stats/ HI 73
It's again a Huon-race without NRS-leader Earle and even though Dyball did well in the latest event, this time Haig is expected to go for well needed points.

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_NeilVanderPloeg_zps9f1165f0.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Neil Van der Ploeg (search2retain)
Key stats/ HI 71, SPR 71
We don't need to say why VdP is that high on the list: he is capable of finishing strong in both the flat and the hilly stages, so this race suits him, simple thing.

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_WiWalker_zpse14f53a2.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]William Walker (Drapac)
Key stats/ HI 73
Walker hasn't shown anything good since his comeback to the NRS and this has to change now! Being rated as one of the strongest puncheurs, he's a favorite.

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Anderson_zps7a324a36.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Jack Anderson (Budget)
Key stats/ HI 74
Anderson, who looked extraordinary strong in the summer (4th in Australian NC), has all skills to go for the win here, which would bring well needed points.

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_OBrien_zpsd0ff84f7.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Mark O'Brien (Euride Racing)
Key stats/ HI 72
O'Brien has delivered in all of his appearences so far in the season. Gippsland won't be the race where he's the very top-favorite though. Still dangerous.

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Wurf_zps678ac5a7.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Cameron Wurf (Subway)
Key stats/ HI 71
Wurf has skipped a couple of races recently, but is expected to come back strong here. As the reigning VRS-champ, he knows the Victorian roads quite well.

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Norris_zpsd23d82ed.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Lachlan Norris (Jayco - Honey Shotz)
Key stats/ HI 71
Like O'Brien, Norris definitely prefers the mountainous races, but he's also strong on shorter climbs and should be amongst those, who aim for a Top-5 at least.

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Elliott_zpse52577cf.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Nathan Elliott (Target Trek)
Key stats/ HI 70
Victoria based Elliott will aim for something special, as this may be one of the best races for him. Being a "local hero" and top-motivated, he ain't chanceless.

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Gillett_zpsb42bcdd2.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Rhys Gillett (African Wildlife Safaris)
Key stats/ HI 70
Same goes for our blogger Gillett, who managed to take out last year's queen stage here in Gippsland! A coup like that may bring him a nice GC-result this time.

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_PaulVanderPloeg_zpsde09d6c7.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Paul Van der Ploeg (Satalyst)
Key stats/ HI 69, SPR 71
Neil's brother struggled so far in the season and has been quite invisible recently.. he had a pretty good start early in 2013, will we see him finding back to shape?

[img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Williams_zpsc8f0f678.jpg[/img-l][img-l]https://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/tsmoha/NRS_Portraits/NRS_Platzhalter_zps31ed228a.png[/img-l]Marc Williams (Budget)
"It's a huge race and we know we have to deliver now! Jack Anderson should be amongst the top-favorites and we will support him wherever possible.. on the other hand, guys like Evans or even myself can do something, too."

admirschleck wrote:
Well, to be honest i had that in idea (to start story). Maybe in future, who knows. If i start , i would firstly need stage-maker and jersey-maker , but that's not important. I'll try to focus on Michal now, that's still only idea.