Charles Coin Road Race

The Charles Coin Road Race is always a speacial and traditional inclusion on the racing calendar. Uni CC have run the race for many years out at Laidley and is always a great race. The course is generally flat with a few small hills breaking things up.

The team knew we needed to keep an eye on the Tinelli team with their great season so far making them marked men. Knowing this, the boys made sure we tried to get one of us into any move that a Tinelli rider was in.

For the first 40km there were many attacks, with a few small breaks getting away, but nothing staying away for long. After 50km however, a group of 5 riders got away and built a bit of a lead. Unfortunately we didn't have a rider in the break, and so the chase had to be done.

Callum and Brendo did amazing work on the front to slowly bring the break back. These two animals worked together with a little help from others for more than 50km to finally bring the break back. At this point, the counter attacks were to start. This is when Tom Collier attacked solo to build a big lead.

With less than 40km to go, the race split and things started to get serious. Callum was ever present in the front group, with Matt and Taylor working hard to get Condy up into the front group with Callum. Meanwhile Collier's lead built.

As the rest of Tinelli attacked, Callum was able to sneak away in pursuit of the leaders to get 5th, while Condy sprinted in for 8th. Well done boys.

Tom Collier won solo - very strong!

Teams Series 4 - Kingaroy

The 4th round of the Teams Series saw the inclusion of a new rider to the team, Darren "Condy" Condon. The rest of the team were also there to try an improve the teams standings in the series, which they managed to do.

The course was very hard, with several small climbs and one larger 2km climb punctuating the course. After the first lap, the bunch had already dwindled and several breaks forming.

Callum, Taylor and Darren made it into the second chase group, with the leaders building a good lead. As the laps past, more and more riders dropped off and the chase group became more select.

Callum and Darren managed to stay in the second group and get top ten results, while Taylor came in soon after to ensure the team moved up a spot on the team standings.

Good work boys!!

Tour of Toowoomba

The Tour of Toowoomba is the first National Series event for the team and it proved to be a big test for the team. The race was to include all of the best teams and riders and was no doubt going to be a hard race.

The wind was to ultimately going to play the biggest part in the tour, with over 40 km per hour cross winds slicing through the peleton.

Stage one was eventful with Taylor and Mat getting punctures and Mat getting sick late in the stage. Callum, Sam and Brendon finished in the fractured groups that formed, while Matt and Taylor struggled home.

Stage two included more incredible wind and fast racing to again cause havoc with the pelton, that again fractured into many groups. The final climb of more than 25% gradient, certainly tested the will of the team.

Stage three was set to be an easier affair with no wind or large climbs. However, after 20km Sam was involved in an horrific crash and had to abandon, while other team riders ended up in hospital. Sam looks to be not seriously injured and will hopefully be back soon.

The final stage was much welcomed and was an opportunity for redemption after tough weekend and lots of bad luck. Taylor and Brendon rode well to be up the front and showing off the team jersey infront of the great crowds.

Round 3 Qld Teams Series

This round of the Teams Series included a criterium in Miles and a road race from Chinchilla to Bunya Mountains. The criterium was uneventful, however the road race was a true classic.

The road race was 150km, with a 10km climb to the finish. This climb was always going to be decisive, especially with the 20% ramps that featured on the climb. As a result, the race was fairly subdued for the first 50km as the bunch anticipated the tough finale.

Once the first hour was raced, the bunch became very active with many attacks taking place on the flat and fast course. It was difficult for a break to get away, but finally after 50kms of racing a break of about 15 riders finally got away and would stay away until the foot of the final climb
The team was thankful that Taylor was able to make it into this break, which allowed the rest of the team to sit in while other teams chased. Along the way, Taylor was strong enough to get points in both the King of the Mountains competition and the Sprint competition.

As expected, the break was caught at the foot of the climb, which is where the real race started. The climb started with a hard 20% ramp, which splintered the remaining group. Those who were left simply had to do would they could to get to the finish as the climb slowly broke rider after rider.

Peter Herzig was the strongest rider of the day and won in strong fashion. Meanwhile, the team all managed to finish the tough race, with all the boys getting themselves into good positions (results still pending).

Next round – Kingaroy

Next race – Metro Championships

Battle on the Border

Stage 1
The first stage was a short 5.5km TT. This stage had little influence on the overall race, with both Matt and Sam putting in decent times to be within 50 seconds of the lead. After this short test, it was important to save the legs for stage 2 in the afternoon

Stage 2
This stage was a hard 150km hilly stage around Mooball in northern NSW. With several large climbs and the distance, it was always going to be a hard race. Interestingly, there were no significant breakaways, and with 10km and two large climbs to go, there was still a large group together and a bunch sprint was to ensue. Sam managed to stay in the front group and finished up the front and was 18th overall. Nick Schultz too a great win considering he’s only 17. He also took the overall lead.

Stage 3
Stage 3 was 120km with several good climbs. Matt decided he would lay it on the line and try and get into some kind of breakaway to try and take the pressure of the rest of the team. Matt got into a couple of small breaks, but with 20km to go, the race was still mostly together. Over the last climb and with 10km to go, two rider slipped off the front and gained a good lead. Sam got into a small chase group who tried to bridge up to the front pair. Although they didn’t catch the front group, they maintained an advantage on the main group and Sam managed to get himself into 8th overall. Michael Hoskings took the lead.

Stage 4
The last stage was a tight 45min crit around Salt. Sam hoped to maintain his 8th spot and did a great job to hold onto the front group and managed to move up one spot in the overall to get 7th, which is a great effort for his first multi stage race.

Michael Hoskings took the overall win.

Video footage

Here is some footage of the team in the ANZAC 25 race and the Foodworks Teams series - Round 2, courtesy of SBS - Cycling Central. Please follow the links:

http://vimeo.com/22914412

http://player.sbs.com.au/cycling#/cycling_08/race_highlights/race_highlights/playlist/FoodWorks-road-team-series/

ANZAC 25

To pay tribute to the ANZAC’s, the Hamilton club puts on the annual ANZAC 25 race around the Lakeside circuit. This is a popular and difficult race, with the list of winners being compiled of many of the great riders from the SEQ area.

With the rain around and the wet roads, the first part of the race was spent in a state of caution, with no real breaks being let go. After the second prime, the race started to become more animated, with Sam getting into a small break. But the field didn’t want to let anything go and brought his group back.
Matt anticipated the counter attack and managed to get into a small break of three just before the third prime. This small group gained a gap and it looked like Matt and the others in the break would contest the prime. As they approached the climb that punctuates the course, Matt sensed the others in the break were weakening and attacked hard over the climb and got a significant gap. Matt was solo coming into the straight, but ran out of legs close to the line, with one rider bridging across then coming past him to take the prime.

From this point on many groups tried to get away, with Matt and Sam making sure they were in any group that got off the front. However, no groups were to be let go and a bunch sprint was to ensue, where Jono Cantwell once again took a good win, with Sam placing in the top ten.

Round 2 Foodworks Teams Series

The second round of the teams series was set to show which teams were versatile enough to be both a good TT team but also a good road racing unit. The course was very difficult, as it included a tough 1.5km climb that was very steep, with sections close to 20% in gradient. This climb had to be done twice, so we knew the second time over the climb would be crucial. The race was to be 133km in length.

The team was eager to move up in the overall standings and were set to ensure we had three good finishers to register a good aggregate time. The race started very quickly, with the first 30km done averaging 50km per hour. No real breaks were let go, and the field hit the climb for the first time together. Many people were caught out by just how hard this climb was, with many having to walk up the climb. This first climb already ensured many would lose contact early, with many groups splintering over the climb. On the decent, some groups reformed with a peleton of about 50 left.

After 45km, the break of the day finally formed, with about 10-12 riders gaining about one and a half minutes on the main chase group. Sam was able to get himself into this group, while the rest of the team were able to sit back in the main peleton and allow the other teams to chase.

We knew the second time over the climb would be important. As the break hit the climb for the second time, the chasing peleton caught the break, except for two riders – Reuben Donati and Michael Cupitt. They would continue to ride hard over the climb, as the main peleton exploded across the road with a lead chasing pack forming.

Matt Murray was strong enough to make it into the front chasing group and sat in, with plans to attack in the finale. Meanwhile, Cupitt and Donati continued to forge ahead of the chase.

With 10km to go, it was evident that the front two would not be caught, and as such, Matt was now looking to try and get 3rd place. With 7km to go, the group started attacking each other, and Matt put in his first big attack. The group let him go for several kilometres, but then brought him back. Matt sat in for a kilometre and then attacked hard again. This attack was countered by Kristian Juel, which the group let go. Matt attacked again to try and bridge across to Juel, but again, the group didn’t want to let him go, and so Matt sat in for a sprint.

Matt got himself into the top 15, while Donati took the win ahead of Cupitt and Juel. Tom Szollosi finished in the second chase group, while Brendon Beavon (guest rider) finished several minutes down to complete our 3 riders.

This should mean we move up in the team standings. It was a great day for the team and means we will now look to move up again next round at Miles and Chinchilla.