Ben Cook second at Ipswich Open Road Race

The Ipswich Open was the final road race of the South-east Queensland calendar, so the team was motivated to do well in this final race before the criterium season takes hold.

With a strong team willing to be aggressive, it was Matt who started off with a 30km solo break away. As Matt's lead approached one minute, the bunch finally started to chase and bring him back. This allowed the other team riders to follow the counter attacks and continue to put pressure on the other teams.

Another two riders broke away, but with great work done by Steve Handreck to bring these guys back, it allowed Ben Cook to follow another counter attack with 20km to go.

This move quickly gained over a minute on the bunch and was to be the wining move. In the final sprint, Ben was beaten by break away companion Tom Collier. Second however was a great result for Ben and the team.

Goulburn to Sydney

The Goulburn to Sydney Cycle Classic is the oldest bike race in Australia, and the team was privileged to race this great event. With 170kms, ending with several hard climbs, including the legendary Razorback Hill, it was guaranteed to be a hard day.

At the start line, the sub zero temperatures were a shock to the boys. However, once the race started, the fast pace ensured the cold was kept away.

This race spends most of it's first half on the open highway, which makes it fast and very hard to get away in a break. After 40km, finally the big break of the day was let go, and the race settled into a consistent tempo. After a few uneventful kilometres, a few crashes on the way into the finale, spiced things up, but it was all about the final climbs that everyone was waiting for.

The bunch was still well over 100 riders as the final climbs approached, which made it hard to gain positions as the climbs started. As expected, the race split apart on the second last climb, and split further on the final climb up Razorback. The boys did what they could to stay in contention and all finished the race, with Jimmy and Aidan both in the main bunches.

This will be a race we'll be doing again next year for sure.