Teams Series Round 3

Gatton hosted the third round of the teams series, which included a time trial and two road races.

Time Trial

The team doesn't have any renowned time trialers, so the team's hope was for someone to post a time that would place one of the riders in the top 30. Andy and Condy got close to a top 30 time trial, but still missed out. This wasn't so bad for the team, who were focused on getting some better results in the next road races.

Road Race 1

The 105km road race was held over the same rolling course as the TT. The pace was very fast from the beginning, with the race averaging over 46kph. This meant it was very hard for any breaks to get away. Jimmy did a great job of following the early moves, but the high pace wasn't letting anything go. In the finale, Aidan and Matt tried to get into some late breaks, but again, the bunch didn't want to see anything go.

The race was looking like a bunch sprint, with a big group coming into the finale 2km, however with 1.5km to go the bunch hesitated as a small group of 7 riders eased off the front and gained a small gap. The very late break held on until the line. Condy got third in the bunch sprint to take 10th place.

Road Race 2

Sunday's course included several steep climbs over 110km, which was likely to result in some breaks. The pace was somewhat sedate for the first half of the race, with the real action not happening until the final 20km. Going over the final King of the Mountains, a small break got away with 7 km to go. The bunch chased hard to bring them back, but was too late. Condy was well placed to get second in the bunch kick to take another top ten result. This meant he increased his lead in the Masters Jersey and improves his overall position. Jimmy, Aidan and Matt finished in the same group.

Battle on the Border

The team was well prepared for the first big stage race of the year. With a full compliment ready to go, the 4 stage race unfolded as follows:

Stage 1
The TT is never an event that suits the team, however the team gave it a good go to start with to ensure not much time was lost. Andy did well to get a top 25 result and was only 30 seconds off the lead, while Matt also managed to stay about 40 seconds off the lead. This set up Stage 2, where we knew the overall lead would possibly change.

Stage 2

This hilly road race over 145km was always going to be hard. The boys did well to stay in the front group over the first 100km, however the race split up through the feed station as some teams attacked as other teams took on water. Half of the team didn't expect this convention of cycling to be broken and were therefore left behind in the split as the race broke apart in the feedzone. Thankfully Andy and Steve were up the front and managed to stay in the attacking group.

Over the final 45kms, the race split further, with a group of 10 going onto win. Andy and Steve finished in the second group, losing  up to 2 minutes.

Stage 3

With time having been lost in Stage 2, we were keen to get a stage result. Matt spent the first half of the race trying to get into a break, and almost managed to bridge across to the early break, but came up short. Matt continued to get into other moves over the hilly course, but the teams were playing there cards and happy to see the break stay away.

The rest of the team waited for the finale, however the break stayed away, with the team missing out.

Stage 4

The final criterium over the technical circuit always makes a fast selection. The field was flat strap from the beginning, which caused early splits. Andy and Condy made the front split. As the race progressed, things broke up further, with Condy making the final selection. As the finale approached, Condy was well positioned for a good result, however int he final lap, a hectic finish saw Condy get pushed out of position, yet still doing well to finish in the front group.

The team now freshens up for the next round of the Queensland Teams Series