GATTON ROUND 3 – QUEENSLAND CUP
This weekend we are off to Gatton west of Brisbane for round three of the Qld Cup series. Currently Alex Wohler is sitting second behind the Budget rider Luke Davison where the team hope to shorten the gap as the series ends.
Young U19 rider Jacob Restall is also currently sitting in second place in the King of the Mountains classification. It should be a good race for Jacob to try and re gain the lead in this classification.
Mathew Marshall formally from the Genesis team, Stuart Mulhern, James Stretch and our team captain Nick Woods will help Alex and Jacob gain valuable points.
Saturday starts with a 15.1 km Individual time trial with a good climb at the half way mark. Stage 2 starting at 1pm is a 105.7 Km road race where there are many opportunities to gain points as there is 7 x King of Mountain and 7 x sprint opportunities.
Sunday is a hard 107.5Km road race which will sort them all teams out with 5 x King of Mountain and 5 x Sprint opportunities once again. We hope to gain a stage win this weekend backing up from last week’s tour and gain more exposure.
This weekend’s racing will be televised on SBS in two weeks time so watch our green and blue colours dominate.
Over the past weekend we had Ryan Macanally race the battle of the border in the tweed region. Ryan used this race as training and so results wise wasn't really a major objective. He came 5th in the final criterium.
Tasmanian members Peter Loft and Luke Ockeby race the Burnie 80 down there in Tas, and Peter Loft showed he is well on track for the upcoming NRS rounds by taking off from the bunch after only 5km into the race and winning, nice way to back up from Luke Ockeby's win the weekend before in the Burnie 40.
Jason Spencer raced in a hill TT in Victoria, and was also doing event as training, he came 3rd.
Next on the radar is May 19-20th for the next round of the QLD series in Gatton, from there we move straight into training camp in Toowoomba (previewing Tour of Toowoomba key stages) and then relocating to Gold Coast for a few more days training, and hopefully meeting all at Scody in person :) The camp will then finish off with all of the boys attending (9riders) competing in the Metro's Champs which are held in Murrarie, Brisbane on the sat 26th and Mt Alford on Sun 27th.
We didn't really get any photos from those events last weekend other than one of Ryan Macanally
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PRESS RELEASE
Velo Battle of Border Tour, NSW, May 2012
Alex Wohler wins the final stage of the Battle of Border Tour for 2012. Alex and the team had a great weekend at the battle, Alex has a BMX back ground and with the support of his new TDU team mates has excelled with his sprinting speed.
The four stage tour started with a 7km ITT, this set the GC order for the following three stages.
Second stage a 147km road race was a perfect day for racing, with the climbs being so far from the finish we expected a bunch sprint into Murwillumbah. It was a fast finish with Alex coming second on the line losing by .005 of a second. Nick Woods, Stuart Mulhern, Justin Vanstone, Doug Freeburn, Jayden Copp, Mathew Marshall and our Under 19 rider Jacob Restall rode well to keep the race under control.
Stage three a 120km stage around the hills and flats of Kings Cliff on the north coast of NSW with a finish in the Mantra Resort SALT. Stuart Mulhern was in a winning breakaway group of 8 riders. Stuart finished third on this stage and picked up enough King of Mountain points to claim second overall in this classification. Alex broke away from the main group to grab some valuable seconds to put him in 4th overall on General classification.
It come down to the final stage where we needed 17 seconds to win the tour, this was going to be a hard task as there were no bonus sprints during this street circuit at SALT, and the QAS were not going to let anything get away. At the start of this stage Alex was keen for the stage win, so the plan was to stay safe and ride smart. The boys put in an awesome effort to shut down a break and put Alex in the winning position to take the final stage win.
Alex finished 3rd overall, were Stuart Mulhern, Mathew Marshall and Jacob Restall rounded out the top 10 overall. Thank you to our sponsors so far, this has been a great preparation for the up and coming start of the National Road series events and Gatton Qld Cup event in two weeks. Stay tuned to SBS for race interview with Alex Wohler. And watch Alex and the TDU perform in the NRS events.
Here is a report from the Budget Forklifts team - kicking goals everywhere! They have even starred on SBS Cycling Central... looking great in their kit too!
The boys had plenty of racing on this past weekend, with half the team racing in Boonah qld for round two of the qld teams series. There was 3 stages and we won 2 and got second to Robbie Mckewen in the other. We now hold the overall lead in every clasification in this series.
The other half of the team raced in Victoria, in the Mt Baw Baw classic. We came third and 6th in this event.
We now look to this weekend, which is the first round of the National Road Series, in Mersey Valley Tasmania. This is the major goal of our year and what all these lead up races have been geared towards.
GOOD LUCK guys!
SCODY is a proud supporter of the Data#3 Cisco Racing Team, a National & State Level Racing Team affiliated with Cycling Queensland & Cycling Australia.
The Team comprises of an elite team (15 riders) and a competition team (approximately 35 riders). All wear SCODY's high-performance cycling kit and benefit from being part of Australia's best custom wear manufacturer.
Benefits of wearing SCODY include moisture-wicking fabric with anti-microbial properties, Italian-designed chamois, SPF 50+ protection... and getting unbeatable customer service and guaranteed turnaround times. But don't take our word for it - ask the D3RT guys when you see them on the road!
Good luck to the 2012 team as they hit the road season!
Team Roster 2012
Stuart Cowin
Matthew Chew
David Brown
Nick George
David Melville
Sam Wood
Callum O’Sullivan
Sam Volkers
Nick King
Richard Allen
Adam Simonelli - Masters
Nick George - Masters
The winner of the 2011 SCODY People's Choice Cyclist of the Year award will be named at the Jayco 2011 Australian Cyclist of the Year Awards in Sydney on Friday 11 November 2011.
The six finalists in the running are:
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Cadel Evans
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Matthew Goss
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Anna Meares
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Stuart O'Grady
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Steele von Hoff
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Mark Renshaw
Cadel Evans this year inspired the nation when he became the first Australian to win the Tour de France while Anna Meares collected a hat trick of cycling gold medals at the track world championships.
Last month Matthew Goss capped of his season with a silver medal at the road world championships while Mark Renshaw has enjoyed another stellar year of racing in the WorldTour. Meantime Stuart O'Grady, who next year hopes to contest his sixth Olympic Games, remains one of the most respected riders in the professional peloton.
Steele von Hoff has been posting impressive results on the road in Australia this season and is ranked second in the National Road Series.
New Zealand Yunka Tour of Southland Report
Race Report by Owen Gillott, Ryan Cavagnah, James Thompson and Daniel Fitter
Friday morning racing started off with a cold change to our normal climate. The blisteringly quick prologue was first up. We were hoping for a good result from Owen Gillott and Daniel Fitter, Owen delivered with a 3.27 off the 2.58km circuit. He managed to pull this off with a second over Jack Edwards, and Dan in third. We had started better than we had planned, with all four riders in the top 6, and on very close times. At the end of the first stage Daniel was in the polka dot jersey and Owen in yellow. The next challenge was the Kermese.
We went into the Kermese confident with two jerseys on our shoulders and the race was on from the get go. The team was placed well throughout the race, but being the U17 men, keeping a top spot was a hard job that required some bumping and nudging. There was a crash early in the race with four riders going down. Dan and Owen were caught up in the confusion, but quickly got back in the pack to find their team mates James Thompson and Ryan Cavanagh. The plan was to lead out Owen for the stage win, however in the last lap there was NexGen on the front, but the other teams didn’t want any part of it. Daniel and Ryan were battling extremely hard, with Dan coming off second best to the main rivals, however, we held our positions and we were looking good for the sprint. On the final straight James launched Owen with 250m left to race, it was a closely contested finish with Owen placing 3rd and gaining a 2 second bonus.
As the start came around for stage three, the results stood as; Jack Edwards 1st, Owen Gillott 2nd and Chad Ellston 3rd. The plan was to rest in the first stage and be fresh for the second where we would make up the time and places that we lost. All went to plan with James, Ryan and Dan covering all attacks that went up the road with main rivals in tow, however, an unfortunate event culminated in the disqualification of Daniel. As the finish approached, we started the lead out train with a missing member which boosted the work load for James and Ryan. The final 2km was sketchy with loads of energy running throughout the peloton. The finish was unfortunate with neither members placing in the top three. Owen placed 5th and just missed out of the time bonuses.
Stage 4 was to be ours for the taking. The plan was to sit tight and cover until the finish where we would launch James, the team’s climber, to drag Owen over the final hill to victory and hopefully some extra time. All went to plan until Dan found himself in a break 1minute up the road; there was confusion amongst the NexGen team as to what to do. The final 5 km went to plan, with Ryan and James driving the front to the climb. Unfortunately James was in the wrong place at the wrong time, however, this did not bother Owen who powered past the field as an expert blocking move was produced by Ryan to give Owen more breathing space. The race was not all a loss, but there was one big mistake made by the team who could not pull back the three man break up the road which contained Dan. This break put Owen in 3rd by 1min 19sec, a gap that would require something special to bring back.
Stage 5 was a lightning fast 800m circuit which would be a challenge for the NexGen boys who were still trying to defend and claim back some time to stay on the podium. The first 5 laps were extremely quick; getting rid of some competitors, unfortunately none of the major ones. The attacks went and got closed down expertly by Ryan and James who throughout the tour wouldn’t let anything slip buy them. Finally the last lap came where Ryan and Dan got on the front to start the lead out for Owen, however, Owen was not on the wheel, he had been caught up in traffic further down the field. In the final corner, Dan was rolling back through the field and Owen came rushing up through the top 15 for a 7th place finish, this was an unfortunate result for the team after they raced so well. The results stood, Connor Stead 1st, Luke Wieblitz 2nd +3sec and Owen Gillott 3rd +1:19min.
As stage 6 rolled around, the team was still confident that they could pull off the tour win, and if all went according to the race plan, Owen would be in yellow by the days end. The start was delayed by 25min because some of the riders forgot to bring their bikes to the start with them, but once they arrived it was game on. Nothing happened for the first 19km, it was just a fairly high paced ride, but at the 20km mark, Dan lead out James and Ryan for a break away which was later joined by two more Australian riders. As the breakaway reached 30sec, Owen and Dan tried to reach across the gap but failed due to the pace of the peloton and the control of the front end of the field. When the gap reached 45sec, the race plan changed “on the road”, James was the leader for NexGen, so Owen and Dan decided to combine forces with the Racing Kangaroos who had two riders up the road as well in an attempt to block any chases that were formed. This tactic was played out to its full potential, with every Australian rider blocking and covering every attempt to bring the break back.
This continued until the 67km mark, when the New Zealanders finally got the better of them and managed to bring the break back to the field. The race stayed at a high pace until the last 3km, where out of the last corner Owen attacked and simultaneously so did Josh Haggerty, leaving the peloton behind. Josh was too tired to pull much of the work load, so Owen rode the last 2km strongly for the race win. Meanwhile, back in the peloton the NexGen team wanted to help out one of the other Australian riders, Josh Harrison who was in second place in the Green Jersey competition and only needed 1 point, with his main rival to get nothing to achieve the win. Once again the NexGen team formed the lead out train, this time with the help of Racing Kangaroos to place Josh Harrison on the line in third place. Unfortunately he did not achieve the win in his category, however at the end of the final stage the results stood as Owen Gillott 3rd +1:05min, James Thompson 8th +1:41min, Ryan Cavanagh 25th +2:16min and Daniel Fitter 42nd 14:58min.
All in all the NexGen team did better than expected, with two gold medal places, one silver medal place, two bronze medal places and a Bronze overall.
As the NexGen Team, we wanted to say thanks to everyone that contributed to the New Zealand trip, and making everything possible. Thanks for taking us on the tour, it was a great learning experience and we all learnt some valuable techniques, strategies and how to ride as a proper team should.
It was great to finally race as a team under the guidance of Nick Formosa who coached us to our achievements. Thank you to Neil Trembath athlete trustee Mike Crawley and everyone that was involved with organising our accommodation and getting us to this event. Thank you for this, without the help of all the NexGen team we would not have raced as well as we did, and finally we would like to thank all our sponsors for believing in us and putting funds towards our goals.
A big congratulations to Nathan Haas and Steele Von Hoff, who have secured contracts for 2012 to race with top ranked cycling teams Garmin-Cervelo and Chipotle (the Garmin Cervelo development team), respectively.
Both Haas and Von Hoff have been tearaway sensations in this year's SCODY Cup. We're proud to be part of their success!
From cyclingnews.com today:
"A winner of an incredible 18 races in 2011, along with taking the prestigious Scody Cup, Von Hoff has been a sprinting sensation. With the attention Von Hoff was earning with his wins, it was the sprinter and not Haas, who was approached by the team first.
"We first approached Steele in August, long before we'd even begun talking to Nathan."
"Chan McRae [Development squad director] had been following [Von Hoff] for quite a while, and Allan sort of presented the idea that maybe he was still a bit 'green' and could use some time in the development squad," said Vaughters. "He could use another year of harder racing, in Europe and the US, so we thought that would be the best option and we went through with it."
"The expectation next year is for him to show himself in some bigger races, bigger fields. We want to see how he functions in some say 2.2 level races. After that we'll be trying to bring him on the WorldTour team."
If you are heading to the 2011 Around The Bay In A Day in Melbourne, make sure you come down to Alexandra Gardens for the GO Bike Festival from Friday 14 – Sunday 16 October, 2011.
Bicycle Network Victoria, in partnership with the City of Melbourne has created a major weekend of cycling, including:
FREE entry to the GO Bike Expo, presented by Tressidder Insurance Group, where exhibitors will offer advice, upcoming events, test rides, and all the latest cycling gear.
FREE live music by Victorian-grown artists including Melbourne’s well-loved Daryl Braithwaite
FREE children’s activities such as facepainting, Learn2Ride sessions, Crazy Bikes and “Cycle Chic” Fashion parade
FREE entertainment including Bike Boy, the Biscuit Readers and Bike Trials demonstrations
FREE Roll Up Bicycle Valet Parking – ride to the event and experience VIP bike-parking treatment.
So strap on your helmet and pedal on down! SCODY will be there so drop past and say hi.
