Mt Cotton Kermis

With wet weather greeting the team at the start line, it was likely today’s race was to be one to be at the front. The Mt Cotton course is a great circuit in the dry, but in the wet, there are several corners that make things very dangerous. As the rain continued to fall at the start line, thoughts of self preservation crossed the riders mind.

From the gun, Matt attacked and broke clear of the group, hoping to form a breakaway. A few riders bridged across to Matt, but the small group was shut down. The attacks continued to occur, with Sam and Taylor covering these early moves. Meanwhile, the rain continued and the puddles and water across the road got worse.
The pace never let up and the corners were getting taken faster and faster. Many people were being tailed off and with Matt’s back wheel sliding all over road and Taylor being caught behind crashes, it was left to Tom and Sam to stay in the front group.
About a third of the way into the race a three man group formed off the front that included Darren Rolfe, Hayden Brookes (Fly V) and Rueben Donati (Data 3). This trio worked well together and formed a good break. Sam back in the group was getting nervous and drove the chase group hard to try and close things down, but suffered a puncture not long into the second third of the race.
Tom was left to fend for himself and was looking very comfortable in the chasing group. Unfortunately the leading three had extended their lead to two minutes and looked to have the race won.

As such, Tom rode a smart race to try and get into the top 5, but was caught behind a crash on the last corner and had to settle for a minor placing. Still, it was a great ride and show’s that Tom is coming into some good form.

Darren Rolfe and Hayden Brookes got the one-two, while Donati came in for third.

Final Crestmead

On Sunday afternoon the depleted team contested the final Crestmead Crit. Unfortunately due to Callum's broken collar bone and Taylor's toe problems, they were unable to race. What they missed was a wet and dangerous race, which the team was glad to have finished alive.

Matt was able to win one of the mid race sprints, but other than that, it was just a matter of staying upright and getting to the finish, which all of the boys did.

The team is now very motivated to start the road races and show our real colours. Mt Cotton next week should be good.

Taylor 3rd at Lakeside Kermis

A few of the team were out at Lakeside today to have a hit out before the last crestmead crit tomorrow. Lakeside is always a hard race with the two small climbs on the 2.3km circuit. With the first half of the race being pretty sedate, it wasn't until the prime that things started to heat up. Taylor had been in a break leading into the prime, but was caught on the final straight, however Matt was well placed to go for the sprint, but wasn't able to come round Matt Ryan and Nick Schultz, and took third in the prime.

After the prime there were plenty of attacks and Matt got into a small group, but was brought back soon after. With only 15 minutes to go, Taylor got into a group of 6 riders who worked hard and built a good gap. The rest of the team were able to make sure no moves got across the the front group.
Taylor worked well in the group and they stayed away to contest the finish. In the sprint Taylor was able to take 3rd place.


Matt broke away from the peleton on the last climb to take 7th.

Well done Taylor.

Round 2 – Sizzling Summer Series

With the wind being as strong as we’ve seen in recent races, the team was very certain there would be no bunch sprint today. A race of attrition was what unfolded.

Tom and Sam were very active in the first part of the race and were able to work themselves into small groups trying to get away. Not longer into the race, Sam was able to get himself into a good group who stayed away to contest the first Prime of the day. Sam was strong enough to beat the likes of Hayden Brookes (Fly V pro) to the first Prime. The wind was relentless and was quickly weeding out the weaker riders. The team was super strong today and we maintained a good presence at the front of the race, knowing this was the best place to be. Half way through the race Ruben Donati attacked hard and was away solo. Matt and Hayden Brookes set off in pursuit and spent several laps off the front of the race trying to bridge to Donati. This move caused a big split in the race with only the strongest (or smartest) riders left in the front group. With ten minutes to go Matt and Sam were left in the small front group of twelve riders, saving energy for a last minute attack late in the race. With one lap to go Matt was caught behind a weaker rider who couldn’t hold the wheel and had to leave Sam in the front group to fend for himself with 1km to go. Coming into the final sprint it was going to be hard for Sam to beat the likes of Malcolm Rudolf, Darren Rolfe, Peter Thompson and Bevan Mason in a sprint, but Sam did really well to hold on for a top ten finish. Today was one of the hardest crits contested recently, which was evident of the quality riders left in the small group at the finish.

The team is very proud of their efforts today and we know that once we start doing some of the longer harder races which are more suited to our riding style, we’ll have some great success.