Murrarie Criterium, Saturday 11 Dec 2010

The team turned up to the start line on Saturday for what would be a hard A grade race at Murrarie. The field included Jack Anderson, Steve George, David Melville and Ian Richards just to name a few. After many small break away efforts by Tomas Szollosi and Sam Volkers (new team rider) the field would inevitably come back together for a bunch sprint, or so the field thought.

On the back of the course on the final lap, a group of four managed to sneak away with a big attack from a Cyc'd rider. Tomas missed the front group but managed to attack with Sam Wood and Ian Richards and snare 5th place, with a big effort to get past the other chasers in the group. Sam rode a strong race, contributing to the pace making at the front for the majority of the race and pulling back dangerous breaks with big efforts on the front. All in all another successful day in the saddle.

The Mill Pharmacy Espresso Bar

If you're ever after a quality coffee, have a think about heading up to the Mill Pharmacy Espresso Bar at 225 Wickham Terrace, Spring Hill. The baristas at "The Mill" are award winning and most importantly, make use of the delicious range of Campos Coffee.The best part about this cafe, other than the coffee, is being able to sit outside under the old fig trees and take it easy while enjoying your favourite espresso and looking out over the Brisbane skyline. The team has started making it a habit to stop by after a hard training ride to sit back and relax. Give it a go.

Fusion Criterium, Nundah – Sunday, 7 November 2010

The Fusion Criterium is the premier end of year summer criterium and always attracts a high quality field. This year the field included some of the best young talent Queensland has to offer, including Malcolm Mudolph (Jayco Skins, Australian u23 rider), Jordan Kirby (QAS rider and Australian u19 rider), James Hepburn and Peter Thompson (Virgin Blue), Chris Williams (Team CKT) and many others.

The team was well prepared for the race and felt confident in a good result.
The race started fast as usual, with several small breaks forming, with Matt Murray being in the first big break of the day. This lasted for the first quarter of the race, but was brought back. Matt then decided to sit in for a while and wait for a late move.

With more breaks coming and going until about 15 minutes from the end, Matt got into another break that looked to be the winning move. This break worked well together, however with 5 minutes to go, the peleton looked set to bring it back.

In anticipation of the race coming back together, Matt attacked again and managed to create a selection of 9 riders who managed to open up a lead that would not be seen again by the peleton. This break included some of the race favourites, including Jordan Kirby. With 2 laps to go, Jordan attacked hard with young Tatham White being strong enough to go with him. These two riders worked well together, with Jordan doing huge turns to make sure the 2 stayed away. As a result, Tatham was able to come round Jordan in the sprint to take the biggest win of his young career.

Meanwhile, Matt tried to bridge across to the two leaders, however it was too late and was forced to scrap it out in a sprint for 3rd, where he was unable to produce much of a sprint due to his aggressive race leading into the finale. He ended up in 6th.

Regardless, it was a successful race for the team, with much respect being gained for the team’s aggressive racing style.

Giant TCR Advanced SL

The team will once again be sponsored by Giant Bicycles Australia for 2011, which we are all excited about as we get to ride awesome bikes like this one:

This bike is a thing of beauty and honestly the best bike I've ridden. It's not the lightest bike in the world, but it's not heavy either. The ride quality is amazing with a stiff responsive frame for when you need to move, while having a forgiving level of compliance that maintains a high level of comfort while out on the road.

Importantly, this machine looks amazing and always gets the attention it deserves.

Thanks to the crew at Ashgrove Cycles for helping with the maintenance of this great bike.

Welcome to Campos Coffee, presented by Champion Systems

Welcome to this new Elite Cycle Racing team: Campos Coffee, presented by Champion Systems. This blog will provide you updates on the teams progress and give you an insight into the South East Queensland cycle racing world.

Stay tuned for changes to the site and further updates.