After a year and a half of activity and a year and a half of inactivity, I'm back with another crack at a two rider story.
Basic Info
Difficulty: Hard
Prize money: 1.5
Evolution: .5
DB: PCM Expansion Pack
Random Potential: No
Hello, and welcome to our blog!
We are Julian Woods and Thomas Smith and we will be sharing our experiences riding for Team Orica-Greenedge for (at least) the next two seasons. We hope you will follow our journey as we develop as pro cyclists. We both grew up in Dunedin, and attended Otago Boys' High School, where we dreamed the next Richie McCaw or Greg Henderson
We were both part of this display in support of our schools alumnus
We both spent a lot of time doing triathlons in our younger years, and our best sections was the cycling. Eventually both of us quit doing triathlons to focus on our cycling. After some good results in the junior and U23 ranks, Orica-Greenedge offered us 2 year youth contracts, which we quickly accepted. Now a little bit about each of us individually...
Julian Woods
Height 185 cm
Weight 81 kg
DOB 14/4/1993
Specialty: Sprints/cobbles
I'm a big strong guy, and I'm best suited to anything that is flat. I have never found success going uphill, although I can usually power over the short climbs in a race like the Tour of Flanders. I will spend many days in the grupetto this season. My father is a Belgian, and whenever we visited his family, I always looked forward to riding on the cobbles. My favorite races to watch growing up were the cobbled classics, and I hope to excel there in the future. I have a quick finish, but I don't possess blazing speed. My main career goal is to be the first Kiwi to win a monument, and hope you guys will follow me on my quest.
Thomas Smith
Height 182 cm
Weight 72 kg
DOB 17/07/1992
Specialty: TT/GC
Hopefully I can someday be as good as Indurain
Orica have the intent to develop me into a GC rider, but as of now I don't really fit that mold. They tell me I could be the next Indurain with my ability against the clock, but IMO I'm not a GC guy right now, but a Time Trialist who can climb a little bit. I really suffer in the hills, the longer a climb lasts the better I ride. I have no punch, I can't sprint, and please don't put me anywhere near the cobbles. As a TT guy, I can do a good turn of the flat road, and I imagine I will spend a lot of time in the first few seasons as part of the leadout trains for the team's various sprinters. My main career goal is to podium in a Grand Tour, and spend a lot of time as the Kiwi TT champ.
Edited by welker3257 on 09-07-2016 21:35
Here at Orica we do not have very many elite riders, instead we have lots of solid guys who on a good day have the ability to ride with the best of the pro peloton. Our best chances for success on the World Tour will come in the Ardennes Classics with Simon Gerrans and Michael Albasini. There is loads of youth talent on the team, with 12 of the 27 riders on the team under 25 years of age. Most notable among these youngsters are the Yates Brothers, Michael Matthews, and Caleb Ewan. Here is a full list of the riders and their nationalities.
Michael Albasini Esteban Chaves Simon Clarke Mitch Docker Luke Durbridge Caleb Ewan Simon Gerrans Matthew Goss Matthew Hayman Michael Hepburn Leigh Howard Damien Howson Daryl Impey Jens Keukeleire Aidis Kruopis Brett Lancaster Michael Matthews Christian Meier Cam Meyer Jens Mouris Ivan Santaromita Thomas Smith Svein Tuft Pieter Weening Julian Woods Adam Yates Simon Yates
DS: Today is the first day of our careers with Orica-Greenedge. We start with a 40 km pan flat time trial around the city of Auckland. It is straight, going around 18 km in one direction before turning around and heading back the other way. Today's favorites are Thomas, Jesse Sergent (Trek), and Jack Bauer (Garmin).
Thomas: I expect to podium, and I'd like to challenge for the win. Starting off my career with a win would be a dream start!
Julian: Today my job is just to set a good benchmark for Thomas, hopefully I can get in the top 5 and get into shape for the road race.
The Race
Julian: Here's me going down the ramp to set off for 40 km of windy racing against the clock.
I felt great, and with around 10 km to go, I caught my minute man. In the background you can see Thomas heading the other direction!
I kept riding hard and I finished with the best provisional time at 58' 46. It certainly would not hold up though.
Thomas: My legs were feeling awesome from the start, and it took me only 22 km to catch the man in front of me, I certainly would challenge for the jersey.
I kept riding hard, and bested Julian's time by 1' 06 to set the top mark at 57' 40.
The big pre race favorite was Jesse Sergent, and he was the last starter. As he came up to the line it was extremely close and when he hit the line the clock read 57' 40! Who would take the jersey by a margin of less than a second?
Spoiler
It would be yours truly, as I get off to a dream start, and I will bear the silver fern in time trials during my first season in the world tour!
Results
Rank
Name
Team
Time
1
Thomas Smith
Orica GreenEdge
57'40
2
Jesse Sergent
Trek Factory Racing
s.t.
3
Jack Bauer
Garmin Sharp
+ 1
4
Sam Bewley
Drapac Pro Cycling
+ 6
5
Julian Woods
Orica GreenEdge
+ 1'06
6
George Bennett
Cannondale
+ 1'56
7
Greg Henderson
Lotto Belisol
+ 2'12
8
James Oram
Bissell Development Team
+ 2'18
9
Shane Archbold
An Post - Chain Reaction
+ 2'43
10
Hayden Roulston
Trek Factory Racing
+ 2'53
Thomas: I'm super pleased with my ride today. I knew I was in decent form, but I did not expect to beat Jesse in my first race with Orica. Hopefully today's win is the first of many wins in this race!
Julian: Next up is the Road championships, where hopefully I bring home the other national championship jersey home to Orica.
The NZ road race doesn't really work, no one tries to chase down the breakaway, so I just quick-simmed it
Julian: Apparently the national road race wasn't televised, so I'll give you a quick recap. Some semi-pro riders went away in the early break, but they were brought back with about 20 km to go. Thomas brought me to the front as we were nearing the finish, and I found my way onto the wheel of Greg Henderson. He launched his sprint a little early, and I was able to come around him to become national road race champion!
Results
Rank
Name
Team
Time
1
Julian Woods
Orica GreenEdge
4h40'40
2
Greg Henderson
Lotto Belisol
s.t.
3
Jack Bauer
Garmin Sharp
s.t.
4
Shane Archbold
An Post - Chain Reaction
s.t.
5
Jesse Sergent
Trek Factory Racing
s.t.
6
Michael Northey
Madison Genesis
s.t.
7
Sam Bewley
Drapac Pro Cycling
s.t.
8
Tom Scully
Madison Genesis
s.t.
9
Dion Smith
Hincapie Sportswear Development Team
s.t.
10
Cameron Karwowski
Veranclassic - Doltcini
s.t.
19
Thomas Smith
Orica GreenEdge
s.t.
What a great way for us to start our careers with two victories in our home country. Our next race will be the Tour de San Luis in Argentina. We hope to see you then!
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] Xero Racing
DS: 16 teams with 6 riders each are here for this early season race in Argentina. Stages 1,2 and 7 will be sprints. Stages 3, 5, an 6 are the big climbing days and stage 4 is a flat time trial. We bring young riders: Damien Howson, Caleb Ewan, the Yates brothers, Julian Woods, and Thomas Smith. For the first two stages, Caleb and Julian will be free to fight for themselves the first two days, and we will work for Adam Yates in the GC. Our team goal is to win a stage and take home a jersey.
Favorites
Luis Leon Sanchez
Kanstantin Siutsou
Dario Cataldo
Wout Poels
Adam Yates
Sprinters
Francisco Ventoso
Kenny van Hummel
Kris Boeckmans
Caleb Ewan
Julian Woods
Tour de San Luis Stage 1
Julian: Today's stage is 165 km of flat road that will surely end in a sprint finish. It's my first day in my new jersey and I'd like to finish in the top 5.
Thomas: We as a team decided to help out Caleb and Julian, and I will bring Julian to the front at the end, hopefully he can find a good wheel for the finish.
The Race
Only two men went into the break today, they were Offredo of FDJ, and De Bie of Lotto-Belisol. They never got a gap of over three minutes, and they comfortably brought back with around 15 km to go.
With 5 km to go, I brought Julian to front, and that was the end of my responsibilities for the day, hopefully he could do a good ride.
Julian: With 2 km to go, Androni were in firm control on the front for their man, Van Hummel. I was sitting fifth wheel behind the Androni riders and Boeckmans. I think Caleb was trying to follow the sputtering Movistar train.
With one km to go, Van Hummel was flying, but I was right on his wheel. Could I come around him?
I could not get around Van Hummel, but Ventoso and Boeckmans sure did as the Movistar man takes the victory and the GC lead in the race. I take foruth and Caleb comes out of nowhere to get sixth.
Julian: Not a bad start, but I have to admit I'm a little disappointed that I couldn't get by Van Hummel. I think I launched my sprint a little bit late. Hopefully I can do a bit better next time.
Julian: It's another sprint day, pan-flat with one small climb early on in the stage. I'd like to go one better than yesterday and get onto the podium.
Thomas: The team plan is the same as yesterday, just get Caleb and Julian to front for the sprint.
The Race
The break had three riders today, Chamarro (472-Colombia), Vallee (Lotto), and tomorrow's KOM jersey wearer Soupe (FDJ).
With just under 17 km to go, the duo of Vallee and Soupe, still had a gap of over two minutes to the main bunch. Damien and I then went to the front to try and bring these two riders back to the fold.
We made a dent in the gap, but Soupe was super strong today, and under the 5 km to go banner his gap was still 50 seconds as he left Vallee behind.
Julian: Soupe just ran out of gas with a few kms left, and thanks to the hard work done by Thomas, the gap was down to only 10 seconds as we went under the flamme rouge. Caleb was placed better than I was, but my legs were feeling strong.
With 500 m to go, it looked as if it was a three horse race with Van Hummel, Ventoso, and Boeckmans fighting it for glory, but they were tiring, who would take stage 2?
It's a win for Orica as Caleb Ewan takes the stage by an inch over Van Hummel! On the far right Ventoso takes third, and I take another solid fourth place.
Thomas: What a great win for Caleb! The team did a lot of work on the front today, and I am sure glad that the hard work in the wind paid off with a stage win. Hopefully we can build off of this win and do well in the upcoming GC stages with Adam. Tomorrow's stage is a hard, with a cat 1 climb and a short steep summit finish.
Thomas: Today is the first of four stages that will decide the GC for this race. We are going all-in for Adam, but I would like to save a little energy for tomorrow's time trial.
Julian: I'm really not looking forward to this, but hopefully I can do something to help today. It's all about survival.
The Race
The day's break contained three riders, Bodnar (Cannondale), Kocjan (Smartstop), and Coledan (Bardiani).
With no strong climbers in the break, they were given a long lease. Bodnar led over the cat 1 climb, and the trio of leaders still had around an 8 minute gap to the bunch. At this point I was already hurting, but I managed to hang on over the top of the climb.
The gap came down dramatically in the flat section between the big climb and the finishing climb, and with 20 km to go the gap was down to 2 30 to the now solo leader Bodnar.
With 5 km to go, Bodnar hit the foot of the final climb with a gap of just over 1 30. At this point I brought Simon Yates to the front and fell of the pace. I finished comfortably in the grupetto.
Thomas: With 3 km to go, I had already been left behind my Adam Yates, who followed an attack of Sky rider David Lopez. You can see them in the top left, riding about 20 seconds ahead of Wout Poels and a Bardiani rider. My group is around 15 seconds behind those two riders.
With 1500 m to go, Lopez had left Adam behind and caught Bodnar, who was very strong today. I had really fallen off the pace, I was sitting a good 1 15 back off the leaders.
Lopez had an amazing day, and he takes the stage by 19 seconds over Yates. The breakaway man Bodnar ends up fourth 43 seconds back.
I really struggled in the final kilometers, and I crossed the line over 2 minutes back of Lopez in 23rd place. Certainly not my best day in the saddle.
Thomas: Not a bad day for the team, second certainly isn't a bad result, but I am a little disappointing with my ride. I was hoping for a top 10, not a top 25. Hopefully I can do better in tomorrow's time trial, which is pan-flat and just under 20 km.
Sorry for not updating this, I was a at a camp, where I had only access to my phone for around an hour a day.
Tour de San Luis Stage 4
Julian: I'm not looking forward to today, its a 20 km flat time trial. I'll just try and save as much energy as possible.
Thomas: It's a big day for me, my first time trial in my national jersey. A win would be nice, but I think a podium is a more reasonable expectation.
The Race
Julian: My day went as planned, I took it easy, and coasted home among the early starters with a time of 26 23.
The best time of the early starters was set by Stephen Cummings, who actually came in right after me. He stopped the clock at 25 37.
Thomas: When I set off, the time of Cummings was still the best time of the day. I felt good, and I was one of the only riders to catch their minute man, I was definitely to best the time of Cummings
As I hit the line I looked up and it read 25 02, over thirty seconds better than Cummings. However, there were still 22 riders yet to cross the line.
And one of them was Kanstantsin Siutsou, and the Belorussian absolutely flew on the course to take the victory and the race lead with a time of 24 47.
Thomas: I honestly can't complain about my ride today, Siutsou rode a great ride, and getting onto the podium was the goal. Tomorrow is the hardest climb of the race, but it isn't a summit finish. I should be able to stay in the group and help Adam out, although I can't say the same for Julian.
Thomas: Today's stage features the hardest climb of the race, but it tops out with around 20 km still to race, anything could happen today. I hope to stay around the top 10 in the GC.
Julian: I'll just get some bottles in the early part of the day before pedaling home in the grupetto.
The Race
It was a big breakaway, with the biggest names in the move being Kolobnev (Katusha), and Capecchi (Movistar). None of the riders posed a big threat for GC, and they were given a long leash.
At the foot of the climb, the break still had a gap of around four minutes on the Sky-led peloton.
Thomas: Once the peloton hit the foot of the climb, Sky laid the hammer down, and a split formed in the bunch. The only riders in the split were the entire Sky team, the Yates brothers, and myself.
With 3 km to the summit, a every select group had formed among the GC guys. At the front was five Sky guys, Adam, and Luis Leon Sanchez along with mop ups from the early break. I had long ago lost contact with the group and my hopes for a good GC placing were long gone. Capecchi led the GC guys by around 2 30 and was nearing the summit.
With just under 5 km to go, the Movistar man still led the race, and with a gap of over 1 30, was certain to win the stage. I was sitting around 3 45 down in the second GC group.
It was a great ride from Eros Capecchi, and he deservedly takes the stage win! The first GC group rolled in 1 24 down led by Stephen Cummings. I came in 4 20 down in 21st place. Not my best day.
Thomas: Today was not a day to remember, it was frustrating to watch the GC guys just fly away from me. I will go all in for Yates tomorrow, as its a punchy hill finish. Hopefully he can keep his podium and maybe even drop Sanchez or Siutsou.
See you Then-
Thomas and Julian
Edited by welker3257 on 20-06-2016 23:54
Thomas: Today's stage is the last day for the GC, and there should be gaps on the hard finishing climb. We are all in for Yates, I'm not riding for myself today.
Julian: I'm feeling absolutely awful, I threw up last night and I have a massive headache. I will certainly be useless today. Trying to race while ill is no fun at all, and I hope I feel a bit better for tomorrow's sprint stage.
The Race
The day's break had no big names in it, and the best rider in the group was probably Colombia's Juan Pablo Valencia.
With none of the breakaway riders posing any threat to the GC, the peloton did not aggressively chase the five escapees, and the gap was still at 2 30 with 20 km to ride. At this point in the race, I just pulled off and rode slowly towards the finish.
Thomas: At the foot of the climb, the green jersey of Luis Leon Sanchez flew out of the peloton, and began to mop up riders from the breakaway. I did my best to bring him back, but I soon pulled off after making little dent in the Spaniard's advantage.
With a little over 2 km to go, Adam put in a move and he managed to distance the yellow jersey and the Sky train. However, there would be no catching Sanchez as he was 30 seconds up the road.
What an attack from Luis Leon Sanchez as he takes the race win with a brilliant ride up the final climb! Yates was unable to maintain his gap to the select GC group, and he rolled in the midst of a group of around 20 riders 33 seconds back of LLS. I came home in 25th, and Julian was dead last on the day.
Full Results
game crashed before I could export results
Julian: I will remember this day, but it certainly won't be happy memories. If I feel better tomorrow, I will ride for myself in the final sprint. If I'm still ill, the team will ride for Caleb.
See you then
- Thomas and Julian
Thomas: The final stage of the race is an undulating circuit race, and the stage should end a bunch sprint. I'm hurting from the GC days, but I will try to power the sprinters to the front at the end of the day.
Julian: I'm still not feeling well (-5 daily form and ill), so we well create a train to try and set up the sprint for Caleb.
The Race
Thomas: The day's break featured 9 riders, most notably Boivin (Cannondale) and Martin Veilts (Omega). None of them were anywhere close to the GC lead, and the bunch were content to let them build a large advantage.
It was a pretty boring day, and with 10 km to go, the breakaway had around a minute lead on the bunch. I was finishing my turn on the front, and pulled off shortly afterwards.
Julian: Despite the combined efforts of our riders and the Movistar train, we could not bring the breakaway back into the fold. With only 3 km to go, the gap still sat at 25 seconds, and surely a chance for a stage win was lost.
It was a very frustrating day, as Guillaume Boivin takes the stage from the breakaway! Lander from BMC is second and Pavel Kochetkov takes third Katusha. Caleb and myself take 1-2 in the bunch as we finish on the same time as the break, but take 10th and 11th respectively.
Julian: Today's stage was certainly the low point of the tour, we did a majority of the work and fell just a few seconds short of victory. Besides today, I think the race was a great success. We took a stage, two jerseys, and put Adam finished third in the GC. I think we learned a lot, and gained valuable experience in our first pro race!
DS: There are lots of strong riders for this 5 day stage race in France. We bring eight guys here, and we are here to try and get some stage wins. We have no ambitions for the GC, as we have no hope of beating the likes of Contador, Costa, and Schleck. The first 3 days should be days for the sprinters, stage 4 is a 20 km hilly time trial, and the final day features two hard climbs in the finale that will decide the GC for the race. The team goal is to take a stage, we will work for both Julian and Jens in the sprints.
Thomas: I admit, I made fun of Julian when he was sick down in Argentina, but now I understand his pain. I feel absolutely awful, and the plan for me today is to do some work early on to control the break before coasting to the line. I'm not going to even try to stay in the bunch after my job is done, I'm here for stage 4 and stage 4 only.
Julian: There isn't much competition in the sprints besides Bouhani, so finishing on the podium is a expectation. It is a relatively hard stage and hopefully my legs are feeling good at the end of the day.
The Race
Thomas: Only two riders went into the early break, they were Michael Schwarzmann (Netapp) and Jonathan Paredes (Colombia). The German topped both KOM points first, and will ride in the Polka-dots tomorrow.
The bunch was led by FDJ for most of the day, and they did a good of keeping the break close. With 20 km to go the gap was down to 1 15 and I pulled off along with Damien Howson to coast to the finish over fifth-teen minutes back of the winners
Julian: With 10 km to go, the bunch were in touching distance as the sprint trains began to fight for control at the front of the peloton.
Our sprint train was firmly in control as the catch was made with around 4 km still to race. Things were looking good for the team, as Bouhani was nowhere to be found near the front of the peloton.
We ran out of guys a little early, and with 2 km to go, Jens and myself had both launched our sprint. We had a large gap over most of the competition except for the Cofidis rider Egoitz GarcÃa. It looked as if a win was in sight!
What a strong sprint from Jens Keukeleire, as he easily takes the stage win by over 50 meters! I barely edge Garcia for second as its an Orica 1-2 on the day! Bouhani isn't able to recover from his bad positioning and the pre-race favorite can only take sixth ahead of Contador. In the end the gap between the sprinters and everyone else is so large that a gap of 50 seconds is given between 12th and 13th place. The only GC guy to make the split is Contador and he surely will take the GC now.
Julian: It certainly is a great day for the team, can't ask for better than a 1-2 finish on the first stage. Despite being the U25 leader, I will bear the green jersey tomorrow as we try to defend the GC lead. Tomorrow is a another sprint day, another win would be nice!
Julian: The second stage of the Tour is categorized as "flat", but the route certainly isn't. The breakaway should have a decent shot at victory, but I hope it will be another bunch sprint.
Thomas: I'm feeling much better today, and I will do my best to ensure the race ends in a field sprint, where hopefully we can take another stage win through Julian or Jens.
The Race
Three riders went into the day's breakaway, they were: Lastras (Movistar), Hupond (Giant), and Keizer (Belkin.) None of the three were great climbers, and so we gave them a long leash, saving energy for the final chase.
At the foot of the final climb, Keizer had been dropped by the other two riders, and the gap was at a comfortable 2 minutes. No need to put the sprinters in difficulty on the climb.
My day's work ended with around 12 km to go, as the two escapees were brought back into the peloton. It was all up to the sprinters now!
Julian: With 4 km to go, our train was firmly in control at the front, but FDJ were organized today and Bouhani would pose a threat in the finale today.
Bouhani went really early, and our train has been swamped as I launched my sprint with around 1250 m to ride. It didn't look good, but most of the guys in front of me were quickly running out of gas.
With 300 m to go, Bouhani has nothing left, and its another mistake from FDJ as the Frenchmen went too early today. The Japanese champion Arashiro leads, but could he hold off the late charge from myself and Jens?
Soooo close, as I miss out on the win by a tire length! Another second place for myself and Koen De Kort takes third. Bouhani fades all the way to fifth place.
Results
Julian: Missing out on the win by such a small margin was certainly a disappointment, but getting to ride in yellow tomorrow, is a great consolation prize. It would be great to win in that jersey tomorrow, which is the final flat stage.
See you then
- Thomas and Julian
I'm probably put stages 3 and 4 in one report since one is a tt and other is only 60ish kilometers.
Michael Albasini
Esteban Chaves
Simon Clarke
Daryl Impey
Jens Keukeleire
Aidis Kruopis
Christian Meier
Jens Mouris
Ivan Santaromita
Adam Yates
Tour de San Luis 
Tour Méditerranéen
Volto ao Algarve
Tour of Turkey
Tour of Poland
Arctic Race of Norway
Luis Leon Sanchez
Kanstantin Siutsou
. Next up is the Tour Méditerranéen in France. Hopefully we can build off our successes here in Argentina.
Frank Schleck
