Girraween Open Criterium

The Sunshine Coast Cycling Club hosted the inaugural Girraween Open Criterium over the newly constructed cycling facility near Noosa. The circuit was a great race track, with some elevation changes and good facilities, so the racing was going to be hard.

Women's Race
The girls were first to race, and the rain stopped just in time to allow a dry race. The girl to beat was always going to be Shara Gillow (Orica - Greenedge), who was clearly in good form. From the gun, Shara hit the bunch with a huge attack and was straight away off the front solo. As such, the girls had to chase. All the team worked well to maintain the gap to something manageable, but due to the tough climb and wind, the going was hard.

The hard conditions allowed Shara to build her lead. Meanwhile, Lou Betts was able to break away in pursuit with another girl, but Gillow was too strong and was never to be caught. Lou held on to get third place.

A Grade Race
The men's race started off with a bang, as new recruit Graeme Rose attacked from the gun. This aggressive start cause major stress in the bunch, with riders struggling. As Graeme was caught Jimmy Miller then had a go off the front and spent some time solo. As the other teams chased him back, Matt then also counter attacked, but wasn't let go for long.

The race settled into a rhythm for a while, until the attacks began again, which saw a group of three sneak away. Matt and Graeme chased, but weren't able to get across and had to settle for a place in the bunch.

Success at Brisbane Blast

The first big open road race for the three squads was the Brisbane Blast, which was to be used as an unveiling of the teams on the road. It was especially exciting to see the debut of the women's team and the first full force race for the B grade team. It also saw the debut for some new riders in the A Grade team.

Women's Race
The women started the day off in style. With a great line up of female talent, the race was anticipated to be an aggressive race. The four girls went out to be aggressive from the start and started the race with some strong riding by Lou Betts and Corissa Smith. Sally Cowman then put some pressure on the field, which softened things up for Jasmin Hurikino to follow a counter attack.

This counter attack saw a group of four girls ride off the front, where Jazzy then worked well to establish the gap. The finale saw some more attacks, but in the end it was a three girl sprint, where Jazzy was able to take third place. Great work Jazzy.

B Grade Race
The B Grade team were almost at full strength and really did dominate the race. Aggressive riding early on by JJ and Gleggy allowed Adam Baron to get a gap and force the other teams to chase.

Coming into the finale, Mark Pierce and JJ were able to support Ben Chambers in holding position and controlling the race. This allowed Ben to time his effort in the final 500m to go solo to the line for a fine early season win. Good work Ben.

A Grade
The final race of the day was the A grade team. The class field of top quality riders saw the race average incredible speeds from the gun. The field was always strung out with limited opportunities to attack being presented.

As such, the race was one of attrition, with many riders dropping off. In addition, a large crash mid way through limited the chances of some of the team, however Mick Hill and Dan McCulloch were able to get through the crash to contest the final. Despite Dan crashing, he was able to dust himself off and be in contention for the sprint, where he was able to take a top ten finish. Not bad considering the 49kph average speed and crashes.

2013 Team Launch

The recent team launch was a great success. It was an opportunity to get all three squads together and gave all of the team riders a chance to bring family and friends along to meet all of our great sponsors and team mates.

Campos were kind enough to host the event again at their Wandoo Street cafe, and put on some excellent food and drinks. The cold beers were a hit, given the extreme heat, and allowed the big gathering of supporters to enjoy the evening in comfort.

Now that all the official presentations have been made, and the team is officially launched, we're now gearing up for the first race of the year, the annual Tyalgum Cup. Stay tuned for updates on how the team goes on our twitter updates and facebook page

twitter: @camposcycling
facebook: Campos-Avalon p/b Champion System

Dan McCulloch finishes 2012 in style

 

New recruit Dan McCulloch has finished off 2012 with a great 2nd placing at the 'Jack Newitt Memorial' 10 mile scratch race on 22 December. Dan will be a great new addition to the team as his experience in both Australia and abroad will help guide the team to more great success in 2013.

Dan has a great sprint, but is also an aggressive rider, not afraid to mix it up in the breakaways.

The team looks forward to working with Dan in 2013.

Campos-Avalon; p/b Champion System

Here's a look at the new jersey for 2013. Not a lot has changed for 2013, which is just the way we like it. It has to be said that Champion System have come up with a great design, so why change it.

Thanks for all our great sponsors who have once again joined the team and will support us in this exciting new phase of the team. All three squads really do appreciate this support, and we hope we can do you all proud next season.

2013 looking bigger and better

With a very successful 2012 behind the team, things are already looking very positive for the team for next year.

Thanks to all of our great sponsors, the squad will now expand to include an Elite Women's team and a B Grade men's team. This is in addition to the Elite Men's A Grade team.

Very soon we'll be able to announce the teams for each squad that will represent the sponsors in 2013.

We're especially excited by the women's team, which will be headed by Sally Cowman and supported by three other great female riders. Stay tuned for some more information soon.

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.