Metropolitan Championships success

This years metro champs proved to be a very successful weekend for the squad, with the B grade team dominating both the criterium and road race.

Criteriums

The A Grade race was characterised by a long break away that went from the gun. For most of the race, the break was clear of the field, gaining up to 50 seconds on the chasing pack. As the laps went by, the gap did eventually come down after being stable at 40 seconds for much of the race.

With some strong turns at the front by Michael Hill, the gaps came down further, as the team set up Dan McCulloch for a sprint.

In the finale, the break was caught, and the usual counter attacks began. However, Dan showed great patience to wait for a sprint and work to his strength. Another large break did get away in the finale, however it came back together with 250m to go. This saw a messy sprint, which caused Dan to have to interrupt his sprint. Dan managed to hold on for 7th, but if the "racing incident" hadn't occurred, Dan would certainly have made the podium.

The B grade race was a demonstration of great team work. The team worked hard towards ensuring the race was to be a sprint, so they could set up form rider Jack Richards for the sprint. All the boys covered all dangerous moves and into the finale, made sure Jack was in position for the sprint.

In the final lap, Jack was dropped off by the team onto the leadout train of a rival team, and took full advantage of this lead out.

Jack had the power to open up his sprint and hold it to the line for a great win.

Road Race

The road race the following day was highly anticipated with the team motivated by Jack's success.

The A Grade race was first off, with the boys looking to be aggressive on the selective road course.

On the first lap, a break of two riders went away and eventually established a gap of almost 3 minutes. As such, the team had to contribute to the chase to allow Matt and Ben to attack in the finale. As the gap reduced, Matt and Ben tried several times to bridge across, but the motivated peleton wouldn't let them go.

In the final 10km's, a small break bridged across to the front duo, which the team initially missed. Ben and Matt tried to get across in the dieing kilometres, but it was too late. It was good racing all the same.

The B Grade team was especially ready to go, with Justin Jelenkovic attacking early in the race. JJ gained an early lead, and was soon joined by four other riders, who set about increasing the gap to the peleton.

The break worked hard for the entire race, and was never to come close to being caught by the main group. As such, the break was able to indulge in some cat and mouse in the

finale, with JJ using some great attacking riding to get away from his breakaway companions.

JJ was strong enough to hold his lead and take a great win. JJ will now be promoted to the A grade squad. Well done!

Tour of Toowoomba

The second NRS event for the men's team was the Tour of Toowoomba. Renowned for it's hilltop finishes and brutal cross winds, this year's tour was no different.

Stage 1 for the team was fairly uneventful, with the boys just looking to get through the first stage and not loose anytime. First mission complete.

Stage 2 finished up the Bunya Mountains. The fact is, this climb is brutally hard, and ultimately shaped the GC for the rest of the race. Ben Cook did as good as he could to stay with the front group, but as the 7km climb continued, the Genesys team tightened the screws on everyone, and blew the race apart.

Ben did well to still finish in the top 20, and be 3rd overall in the Young Rider classification.

Stage 3 was a Team Time Trial. This wasn't the team's strength, so it was all about limiting losses and getting to the finish. Another box ticked.

Stage 4 was by all accounts, the hardest of the race. The wind was very strong, and from the start the attacks made sure those in bad position were to be left behind. Dan did well to stay in the front group, however Ben was dealt a tough lesson as he got caught at the back in the crosswinds. He did gain a valuable experience in positioning in such races.

Stage 5 was the usual Queens Park Criterium, which is the traditional finish to the race. The boys tried to feature in the race, but the big NRS teams made sure they had complete control of the race, and had the strength to ensure nothing dangerous was to get away. The boys did well to finish off a very hard tour.

Women's Race
For the first time, a women's race was included around Queens Park on the final day. Our form rider, Jasmin, made her way up to contest this inaugural event and did a great job. Early in the race, four girls broke clear and established a good gap. Jazzy was attentive enough to make this group and contribute to the pace making.

As the laps went by, it soon became clear the four leaders would stay away, so the cat and mouse tactics came to the fore. coming into the finale, the attacks began.

Ruth Corset made a strong attack, and was soon going solo. The three chasing girls couldn't bring her back, and started to fight for the minor placings. After a great effort, Jazzy took 4th behind a storming Ruth Corset.

Quick Update

It has been a very busy few weeks for the team, with loads of travel and racing being done.

The first round of the Queensland Teams Series was held in Gatton recently, where Ben Cook did a great job in coming 10th in the time trial and 7th in the last road stage. Meanwhile Condy and Dan got top ten placings in the road races as well. Overall, the team is sitting very well and have room to move up the standings.

The Team's series race was followed by Battle on the Border. Battle for this year was an NRS race for the women and A Grade men, so hard an fast racing was on the menu all weekend. All though there were no results of note, the team worked very hard to do as best they could, while ensuring plenty of fun was had along the way. I highlight of the weekend was certainly the team bbq on Saturday night. After four days of racing, the crew deserve some time off...if only.

The Tour of Toowoomba is next on the agenda.