Canberra Weekly Update - 1 July 2012

Today marks the start of the carbon tax commencing in Australia. Unfortunately there are no tax cuts or breaks for bicycle riders as part of the compensation package.

Giro delle donne

Everyone has been talking about the record number of Australian riders in the 2012 Tour de France.  However, it must also be a record number of Canberra women riding at the Giro Delle Donne this year.  Four Canberra riders started in Napoli, including Chloe Hosking, Team Specialized - Lululemon, Jessie MacLean, Orica-AIS, Miffy Galloway, Faren Honda Team and Gracie Elvin, Faren Honda Team

The Giro delle donne is the women's equivalent of the Giro d'Italia.  It is a nine stage race that snakes it way around southern, central and northern Italy. Last night's stage was a ITT around the historic city of Roma.

Chloe Hosking was the most successful rider after the first stage, picking up the maglia bianca (white jersey) and fourth spot overall on the GC. Unfortunately Chloe was well down on the stage 2 ITT in Rome and lost her maglia bianca.

While there was no yet success for Miffy and Gracie, they did help their teammate Rochelle Gilmore secure a top 10 spot in the opening stage.

MacLean was the best place rider during last night's ITT finishing in the 36th spot behind overall winner, Marianne Vos.

After two stages, Jessie MacLean is 36th (59 seconds behind), Chloe Hosking is 43rd (1.03 minutes behind) and 9th on the young riders classification, Gracie Elvin comes in at 62nd spot (1.18 minutes behind) and Miffy Galloway rounds out the Canberra contingent in 115th spot (2.15 minutes behind) and 32nd on the young riders classification.

Looking forward to seeing how the girls perform over the rest of the week.  

Gracie Elvin - Stage 2 ITT Roma

Michael Rogers starts his Tour de France campaign

Last night the 99th edition of the Tour de France commenced with a 6.4km prologue around the Belgium city of Liege.  Based on his ITT form leading up the Tour, a top 10 finish would not have been totally unexpected.  Unfortunately for Rogers, the prologue did not go as expected as he finished a disappointing 61st, 25 seconds down on Cancellara's winning ride.

Not expecting much from Michael Rogers over the next week. The race will switch into first gear once the riders hit the Alps where Rogers will be Wiggins key domestique.



Successful under 19 Australian titles for Canberra riders

The under 19 Road National Championships are currently being held in Shepparton Victoria.  While there were no podium finishes in either the time trial or the road race, Canberra riders have performed admirably over the carnival.  The bitterly cold conditions surely must have helped the Canberra riders and making them fell right at home.

In the women time trial, ACT secured three riders in the top ten with Lucy Kirk (4th), Allison Rice (5th) and Alexandria Nicholls (7th).  The men were unable to replicate the women's performance with Sam Sautelle our best finisher in 23rd spot.

Allison Rice was the ACT's best finisher in the road race, finishing 7th in a bunch finish.  Karl Michelin-Beard was the best male finisher in 37th spot. The carnival concludes today with a criterium around Shepparton.

Full result of the carnival can be found at: http://www.cycling.org.au/?Page=46180

WHERE ARE CANBERRA RIDERS RACING THIS WEEK?

Michael Rogers (TeamSky) The racing proper starts tonight in the Tour de France.  The stage to watch out for will be stage 7 finish at La Planche des Belles Filles.  The first steep ramp where Wiggins will try to get a march on his rivals.

Chloe Hosking, Team Specialized - Lululemon, Jessie MacLean, Orica-AIS, Miffy Galloway, Faren Honda Team and Gracie Elvin Faren Honda Team continue their march at the Giro delle donne.

Fabio Calabria (Team Type 1 - Sanofi) Had a terrible stage two of the Tour of Qinghai Lake where he finished almost 11 minutes down.  Currently sitting in 135 spot in the GC. 

LOCAL RACES 

Unlike the previous two Canberra Cycling Club races, yesterday's South of Tharwa scratch race stayed dry.  All riders had spent the week anticipating rain, however, it ended up being a glorious day with the sun shining and not too much wind.

I will update the link of race result when they come available.  

The Subaru women's national road series hits Canberra next week with the Canberra Women's Tour.
    

Canberra cyclists added to the Australian Olympic squad

Canberra cyclists were well represented across all disciplines when Cycling Australia (CA) announced the final members of the Australian cycling team for the London Olympics. Michael Rogers (Team Sky) and Chloe Hosking (Specialized-Lululemon) were both selected for the men's and women's road team respectively. At the same time, CA included Rebecca Henderson and her coach (now a Canberra resident), Daniel McConnell were selected as Australia’s mountain bike representatives for the London Olympic Games. The news came 24 hours after announcing Caroline Buchanan had been selected for the Australian BMX team.

The news of Michael Rogers' Olympic selection comes as he prepares for the Grand Depart in Liège (Belgium) for the 2012 Tour De France. Rogers will be one of the key members of Team Sky to help British rider, Bradley Wiggins, be the first Brit to win the yellow jersey. After three weeks racing, Rogers will be expect back up quickly to help Matt Goss go one better in the road race than at last year's World Championships in Denmark.  He will then challenge for individual time trial gold against compatriot Cadel Evans.



With a couple of early season sprinting wins and a solid training session on the simulator at the AIS in May/June, Chloe Hosking was one of the three selected for the Australian women's team. A course that favours a sprinter, Chloe is likely to be one of the favourites for a medal chance. Participating in this week's Giro delle Donne should be give Hosking with the racing experience to set her up nicely for the Olympic challenge.
 

http://www.cycling.org.au/?Page=46915

The selection of twenty-year-old Henderson was a surprise. Although a regular on the under-23 mountain bike podium, the step up to the senior level will be a big ask as she makes her debut in London. Currently ranked around 55th in the world, it is unlikely that Henderson will pick up a medal in London. However, the experience should place her well for a medal in Rio in 2016.






http://www.canberratimes.com.au/sport/cycling/henderson-keeps-mum-on-surprise-olympic-selection-20120625-20yxy.html

Buchanan focus for a number of years has been London since she was too young to compete in Beijing.  She has been successful season, claiming three straight World Cup time trial wins. Buchanan also won the rainbow jersey at the non-Olympic time trial event gold medal at the World Championships.
















Good luck to all the riders in their respective disciplines in London.

Wrap up - Canberra riders at round 3 of the National Road Series

All roads led to Narribri this week as round 3 of the Subaru National Road Series commence. The inaugural race of the Santos North West Tour was not without controversy as stage 5 of the men's race was neutralised due to safety concerns as the 117-strong men's field being unable to remain inside one lane as demanded by race regulations. Unfortunately (probably due to cost), the race organisers were unable to have rolling road closure, but forced riders to stay within the left lane at all time. Unfortunately, as an cyclists knows, it is difficult to keep within the confines of the left lane, especially when passing.  

After long discussions between teams and race organisers, the general classification was neutralised, handing Budget Forklifts rider Mark O'Brien the overall victory.

The race was not without its testing conditions, freezing winds, rain, sub-zero tempertures and headwinds that affected the ability of  riders to get into breakaways.  Something about safety in numbers. Note: These conditions could explain why Canberra riders performed so well.

Notwithstanding this controversy, it was a impressive display by Canberra riders. There were stage wins, jersey claimed and success amongst the teams.

The best result for Canberra women was Lisa Keeling (Boss Construction/Nutrixxion), who finished in 8th spot on the General Classification around 4.27 minutes from overall winner, Ruth Corset. In the men's race, Ben Hill (winner of the u19/u23 jerseys) finished in second spot. Joe Lewis, made up for forgetting his mother's birthday, by securing a top 10 spot in the General Classification. But success, did not stop here.   The four days were characterised by resilient performances by Canberra riders.

It all started on Thursday, when Suzuki-Trek rider, Rebecca Wiasek won the opening prologue in an impressive ride. The time was enough for Rebecca to pull on the leaders jersey after day one and two stages.  It was not the only success for Canberra on the day, with Kimberly Wells finishing 3rd during the stage 2 criterium.




Joe Lewis (RBS Morgans - ATS Pro Cycling) was Canberra's best finisher in the men's race, picking up a 3rd spot in the stage 2 Criterium.

While Canberra riders experienced a lean Stage 3, it all come together during Stage 4. RBS Morgans rider Ben Hill claimed an impressive solo victory ahead of James Boal (John West) and Canberra's William Lind (Suzuki-Trek). A ride that moved Hill into second spot on the GC, and the sprint and KOM jersey. Not content with the males taking all the glory, Kimberly Wells (Specialized SA Womens) took out the stage win. The win moved Kimberly into the second spot on the sprint classification.

Courtesy of the Cycling Australia website.

Stage 5, even though neutralized for the men, was equally successful. Joe Lewis (RBS Morgans - ATS Pro Cycling) won Stage 5 in another impressive display over the weekend. I understand that it was Joe Lewis' first NRS Stage win. One of many to come after his display over the last two races.

While Lisa Keeling and Megan Bagworth (Boss/Nutrixxion) helped team mates Ashlee Ankudinoff take out the women's Stage 5 race.

Joe Lewis - Stage 5 winner (Courtesy of Cycling Australia)

Overall, in the team event, Suzeki-Trek finished third in the women and 12th in the men's race. Boss/Nutrixxion, a team with a strong Canberra contingent finished 4th.

The results in NSW underlined the strength and depth of the Canberra cycling scene.  Congratulations to all Canberra riders that picked up stage wins and performed strongly to help riders take out stage wins.

Ben Hill - KOM Jersey (Courtesy Cycling Australia website)

More Ben Hill - Sprinter Jersey (Courtesy of Cycling Australia website)

The next event on the calendar is the Canberra Women's Tour from 6 to 8 July, with the men back in action at the Tour of Gippsland from 1-5 August.

The Italian National Road Championships - Did we go backwards?

This morning I woke up to the news that Franco Pellizotti had won his first Italian tricolore - Italian Road Race Championship. The Italian rider had just returned to racing after a two-year ban for a biological passport violation. Also making up the podium was Danilo Di Luca (Acqua e Sapore), guilty of his own doping indiscretion. But it was not a clean sweep for Italian ex-dopers as Moreno Moser (Liquigas-Cannondale) managed to finish in third spot.



Last year, the Italian cycling federation took a strong stance again the growing doping problem. It banned any rider with any sort of doping penalty from competing in the Italian national championships that were being held in Sicily. The decision was taken at the FCI’s federal council meeting in June 2012. The ruling prevented any rider who has served doping bans of six months or more from representing Italy at international level and from competing in the national championships.

The decision meant Italian stars as Michele Scarponi, Ivan Basso, Danilo Di Luca and Alessandro Petacchi were not allowed to fight for the tricolore national title jersey in Sicily. 

The decision was not supported by everyone. National coach Paolo Bettini questioned if the new ruling was too stern. A poor showing at the World Championship in Denmark may have had the authorites waiving in their attempt to clean up the sport.

Fast forward to 2012 and suddenly the top 2 spots of the podium are taken up by riders that have been found guilty of doping indiscretions. 

Had the authorities taken a retrograde step to allow ex-doper to participate in the Settimana Tricolore?

Something had changed in the past 12 months.  Ex-dopers were welcomed back into the fold.  Unlike in 2011, ex-dopers were allowed to participate in the Settimana Tricolore.  In fact, 4 of the top 15 riders were guilty of doping infractions in the past.

The 2011 decision was challenged by Di Luca without success. Basso asked for clarification back in November 2011.

Unfortunately, it appears that the FCI efforts to clean up the sport were in vain. Ex-dopers were allowed to participate.

In fact, any decision made to allow these riders back into the Settimana Tricolore undermines the ability of authorities efforts to clamp down on doping rather than promote the event. 

Pellizotti won. Congratulations. But celebrating Pellizotti's win will not give me, or many other, the same level of satisfaction as a rider that spent his whole career clean.  

The best outcome of the Settimana Tricolore weekend was the podium finish of Moreno Moser. Certainly one of Italy's future stars.

Canberra Cycling Corner - Weekly update

The end of the Criterium de Dauphine means the focus shifts to National cycling championships and the inevitable discussion about the Tour de France favourite.   It has been another week where Canberra cyclists have been in the headlines.

CANBERRAN ON THE WINNERS PODIUM

After a successful Tour of California where he finished just outside the top 10, Rory Sutherland (Unitedhealthcare Pro Cycling) took out the overall honours at the 27th Tour of Beauce in Canada. Rory claimed the yellow jersey after the 4th stage and the team defended it very well over the last two stages. Fabio Calabria (Team Type 1 Sanofi) had his best finish during stage 6, taking 11th spot in a bunch finish for third. Fabio finished in 31th position overall on the GC.



















TEAM SKY ANNOUNCES TOUR DE FRANCE SQUAD

After weeks of waiting, Team Sky finally released their squad for the Tour de France. Fans and the media were eagerly anticipating whether the squad would fight the Tour de France on two fronts - yellow and green jerseys. The social media world were alight with rumours that Cavendish would not be selected, forced to focus on Olympic gold medal glory instead.

On 21 June, Team Sky finally revealed their squad. It was no surprise that Wiggins would lead the squad, but Team Sky was also challenging for Green jersey honours by naming Mark Cavendish.

After back to back podium finishes, it was not a surprise to see Michael Rogers selected. He will no doubt be one of Wiggins' main super domestiques in the mountains. Great to see Dodger back to his best.

Unfortunately there was no room in the squad for Matt Hayman. The yellow and green jersey fight for Team Sky meant limited spots were available for Hayman. Hopefully Team Sky will take Hayman to Spain for the Vuelta.

The full squad was Bradley Wiggins, Edvald Boasson Hagen, Mark Cavendish, Bernhard Eisel, Chris Froome, Christian Knees, Richie Porte, Michael Rogers and Kanstantsin Siutsou.

http://www.teamsky.com/article/0,27290,25884_7833018,00.html


TRADING THE LYCRA FOR HOPS AND BEER GOGGLES

Drapac Porche, after 6 weeks of solid racing in Europe, traded in the lycra for brewing yesterday. The team had a bonding exercise by heading out to a brewery in Oudenaarde (Belgium). Oudenaarde has a rich brewing tradition with many regional breweries. Four of them are still active today: Roman, Liefmans, Cnudde and the new brewery Smisje.  Adam Phelan went on to say on twitter - 'Went on a brewery tour here in Oudenaarde & I had no idea how much of hassle it was to make beer.'

SUCCESS AT THE NATIONAL ROAD SERIES

Canberra cyclists had an impressive Round 3 of the National Road Series by winning several stages at the Santos North West Tour. It started with Rebecca Wiasak winning the opening Women's prologue in Narribri and finished with Joe Lewis winning Stage 6 of the men's race today - although a neutralised stage after a number of infringements.  In between, Ben Hill and Kimberly Wells took out strong stages.

Great result for Canberra riders.

WHERE ARE CANBERRA RIDERS RACING THIS WEEK?

Michael Roger (Team Sky) - Michael will be on the starting line in Leige on 30 June 2012 for the start of the Tour de France. His current form on the time trail bike will mean that Rogers will be one of the favourites for the ITT.


Fabio Calabria (Team Type 1 Sanofi) - After Canada, Fabio heads across to China for the Tour of Qinghai Lake. Thankfully the visa arrived just in time.

Chloe Hosking (Specialized - Lululemon) - Heading to her first Giro delle Donne since 2009. 

Still waiting on news on whether the other Canberra women have been selected for the Giro delle Donne.


LOCAL RACES

The next race of the Canberra Cycling Club winter race season is next Saturday, 30 June 2012. Fingers crossed that the race will be drier than the last two races.

Details of the race can be found at: 
http://www.canberracyclingclub.org.au/events/details.asp?IntContId=1666&IntCatId=33

Canberra cyclists at the National Road Series

The boys from Canberra travel down the Newell Highway from Toowoomba to Narrabri for the Santos North West Tour this week. The boys will not be alone as the women will also be participating at the event after competing in different events recently.

Canberra riders will be hoping that NSW will be a better hunting ground than QLD when the third event of the National Road Series starts on Thursday, 21 June 2012.

Santos North Western Tour

Riders will not know what to expect from the inaugural Santos North Western Tour, which starts in Narrabri on Thursday. Similar to the FKG Tour of Toowoomba, the Santos North Western Tour is a five stage race over four days. Riders will have to traverse regional towns such as Narrabri, Coonabarabran, Gunnedah and Tamworth and watch out for the trucks that use these routes regularly.

One of the key finishes that could break open the General Classification will be stage 3 at ANU Siding Spring Observatory.  GPM Wilson was doing some reconnaissance on the stage finish today. The boys may be eying off this stage as a potential one to win.

The team to beat will have to be Budget Forklifts after a strong performance at Toowoomba.  The orange army will be looking to get their season underway if they want to replicate their 2011 form. http://nationalroadseries.subaru.com.au/news/santos-north-western-tour-ready-for-debut/

Stage 1 Thursday, 21 June 2012: Prologue - Narrabri Town Centre - A quick 3.6km prologue conducted around the CBD area of Narribri. Budget Forklifts Team Manager, Cameron Watt has already declared that this will be a stage that they will focus on to win the leaders jersey.

Stage 2 Thursday, 21 June 2012: Criterium - Narrabri Town Centre - In the afternoon the women and men will saddle up for a criterium road around Narrabri.  The women's race will 30 minutes plus three laps, while the men's race will 60 minutes plus 3 laps.

Stage 3 Friday, 22 June 2012: Coonabarabran to Siding Springs Observatory - It will be a testing stage for the riders today that culminates with a hill top finish. Watch out of the cattle grids!!!  Riders start the stage at Coonabarabran before heading out on the Tooraweenah Rd and then into the Coonamble Tooraweenah Rd before climbing up to Sidings Springs Observatory. The last 14 kms will be uphill, travelling from 400m above sea level to around 1100 metres above sea level.

Stage 4 Saturday, 23 June 2012: Siding Springs Observatory to Gunnedah - Unlike yesterday's climbing efforts, today's stage will mostly downhill.  Starting at the Observatory, riders will cycle day (thankfully the race will be neutral to the bottom of the 4.4km hill).  Then it is full race conditions out to Gunnedah.  The women start in Coonabarabran and head out to Gunnedah.

Stage 5 Sunday, 24 June 2012 : Gunnedah to Tamworth - Both men's and women's races will leave Gunnedah and travel south-east for roughly 70km before turning north-east for the remainder of the race to finish in Tamworth.  While there is a little uphill section just after Werris Creek, there will be no KOM or QOM points for Stage 5.

More details on the stages, good speculator spots etc, see the event organisers website at http://www.nsw.cycling.org.au/?MenuID=Santos_NWT%2F20616%2F0%2FCan


CANBERRA TEAMS AND RIDERS

Suzuki-Trek will be sending a full contingent of men and women for the Santo North Western Tour.  Although performing strongly, the team will be hoping that it finishes slightly higher up the team classification than it did in Toowoomba (13th).

The men's team consists of:

1	FLYNN, Mithell	Elite Men
2	LACEY, Jamie	U23M
3	CAMERON, Tim	U23M
4	JOHNSON, Brendan	U23M
5	LIND, William	Elite Men
6	BEARD, Ivan Michelin	U23M
7	SAUTELLE, Sam	JM19
8	BERRY, Josh	U23M

The women's team will be looking at trying to do one better than at the Battle of the Border.  Rebecca Wiasak will be hoping to knock off Ruth Corset and win the the individual GC elite women.  The Suzuki-Trek Women's team consists of:

1	MEADLEY, Lisa	Elite Women
2	WIASAK, Rebecca	Elite Women
3	RICE, Allison	JM19
4	VIOTTO, Emma	Elite Women
5	MCDONALD, Ailie	Elite Women

The Subura National Road Series discusses Suzuki-Trek team in their Women and Wheels Feature. http://nationalroadseries.subaru.com.au/news/women-wheels-feature-team-suzuki-trek/

Details for Suzuki-Trek can be found at: http://www.suzukicycling.com/







A large number of Canberra riders will also be participating in other teams at the Santos North Western Tour.  These include:

• Joe Lewis (RBS Morgans - ATS) - Had a strong end to the FKG Tour of Toowoomba finishing fourth during stage 4 and picking up a second spot on stage 5.
• Ben Hill ((RBS Morgans - ATS) - Picked up to top 3 finishes at Toowoomba.  Will be hoping to go one better and win a stage in NSW. Finished in 20th spot overall in Toowoomba.
• Alistair Loutit (GPM Wilson Racing) - Helped Josh Wilson win the last stage at the Tour of Toowoomba. Finished in the top 50 on the individual classification (46th spot).
• Mitch Lovelock-Fay (Jayco-Honeyshotz) - Picked up a 12th spot in Stage 2 of Toowoomba.  Late news appears to indicate that Mitch was a late minute omission from the team.  In need of a rest after riding in Indonesia and then Toowoomba. 
• Marc Williams (Budget Forklifts) -  Hoping to help Mark O'Brien take out a hat trick of stage races in the NRS.
• Etienne Blumstein-Jones (No team) - CCC will be hoping that Etienne can pick up a couple of top 10 finishes. Will be tough without team assistance. May get some support from Ruan Benson (CCC).
• Ruan Benson (No team) - Hopefully Ruan and Etienne can team up and help each other secure a top 10 finish. 
• Kimberly Wells (Specialized Women SA) - Kimberly got two top 3 finishes at the Battle on the Border, but finished well down on the GC. Hoping for a better result in NSW.
• Alexandria Nicholls (No team) - Alexandria will be completing in the JW19.  No team support, but the Suzuki-Trek girls may keep an eye out for her.
• Boss Constructions by Nutrixxion will be well represented by Canberra riders, including Megan Bagworth and Lisa Keeling. Both Megan and Lisa will be hoping for a better performance in the NSW. While both riders finished outside the top 20 at the Battle on the Border, we have expectations that the new team will start to gel in outback NSW. 
• And an honourable mention to ex-Canberra resident, Narelle Hards, also of Boss Constructions by Nutrixxion. Making it a strong Canberra contingent to start in Narribri.

Good luck to all Canberra riders.

For more details on the race, please see http://nationalroadseries.subaru.com.au/events/north-western-tour/ and http://www.nsw.cycling.org.au/?MenuID=Santos_NWT%2F20616%2F0%2F

Canberra Cycling Corner

It has been another solid week of news about Canberra riders amongst the world best in a week that has been dominated by news about Andy Schleck withdrawing from the Tour de France and then the US Anti-Doping Agency charging Lance Armstrong with doping.

But let's start off the Canberra Cycling Corner with positive news about our own Gracie Elvin.

Gracie Elvin - Joins Italian Team

After a successful Emakuneen Euskal Bira in the Basque country, Spain, where Gracie finished in 33th spot in the General Classification, we welcomed the news that she joined Italian team Faren Honda Team for the rest of the European Season.  The first ride for Elvin for her new team was the Giro del Trentino that commenced on the 16 June. What do we know about Faren Honda Team.

Faren Honda Team: Faren Honda is an Italian cycling team based in the Italian region of Lombardy.  Its main sponsor is Faren Chemical Industries SpA, a company specializing in the field of chemical transformation. The team uses Italian made Kuota bikes.

The top riders of the team include current Olympic champion Nicole Cooke, Commonwealth Games Gold medallist Rochelle Gilmore and 5 times Giro d'Italia winner Fabiana Luperini.  The recruitment of Gracie has added to the strong Australian contingent at the team.  In addition to Gilmore and Elvin, the team also includes Canberra's Miffy Galloway.

Michael Rogers - Tour de France must be assured with podium finish at the Dauphine?

Michael Rogers secured second place to make it a 1-2 for Team Sky at the Dauphine.  Rogers ability to help Wiggins to win back to back titles must guarantee Rogers position in the team's Tour de France squad.  Still waiting on the British Team to publish their squad for the Race.

Two solid race performances by Rogers has seen him climb up the IG Markets Pro Cycling Index with a bullet. He moved up from 50th place to 29th place. This may change once the index is updated for the Tour of Switzerland results.





Congratulations to Sue Powell - Olympic selection

On Tuesday, Sue Powell received the news that she has been selection in the Australia Paralympic Cycling Team.  Sue is currently racing in Europe, but will return to Canberra shortly.  Powell will compete in multiple disciplines across track and road cycling during the Paralympics.

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/sport/canberran-powell-on-amazing-journey-20120612-2086s.html


WHERE ARE CANBERRA RIDERS RACING THIS WEEK?

Chloe Hosking (Team Specialized-Lululemon) - Hosking returned to racing in Europe after a short sojourn in Canberra.  Hosking is participating in the Giro Del Trentino. Chloe finished 20th after the first stage. Two more stages remain.

Gracie Elvin (Faren Honda Team) - Gracie is participating in her first race (Giro Del Trentino) with her new team Faren Honda. Gracie finished 68th after the first stage, 5.44 minutes behind the stage winner.  Unfortunately, team mates Rochelle Gilmore abandoned the race.

Fabio Calaria (Team Type 1 SANOFI) - No success for Fabio at the Tour de Beauce.  After 4 stages, Fabio is sitting in 38th spot.

Rory Sutherland (Unitedhealthcare Pro Cycling Team) - Rory continues to lead the Tour de Beauce after five stages of the race. A second place in the ITT (Stage 4) put Rory into first place of the Tour.  One Stage remains.

Matt Hayman (TeamSky) - After 8 stages, Hayman is sitting in 70th spot, some 34 minutes from the leader Da Costa (Movistar). Getting into a couple of breakaways has meant that Hayman has been able to accumulate some points for the mountain classification.  Hayman is sitting in 19th spot. 

Nathan Haas (Garmin-Barracuda) - Haas is currently racing the Ster ZLM Toer, a four stage race in Netherlands that is designed for the sprinters. Haas is currently sitting in 56th spot and 3.51minutes away from leader Mark Cavendish with one stage to go. Haas got into a four man breakaway on Stage 2 and managed to accumulate some mountain points.  He is currently in eighth spot for the mountain classification jersey. 


LOCAL RACING FOR CANBERRA RIDERS

A number of riders and the Suzuki-Trek Team are racing in the FKG Tour of Toowoomba.  Toowoomba has not been a successful hunting ground in 2012 for Canberra riders.  The best place rider is Canberra based rider Joe Lewis (RBS Morgans-ATS Pro Cycling) who is sitting in 18th spot overall in the General Classification, but is leading the sprint classification.

Alastair Loutit (GPM Wilson Racing) 45th place in the GC and Mitch Flynn (Suzuki-Trek) 50th are honourable mentions. 

There is one stage remaining in the FKG Tour of Toowoomba before the riders head down to the Santos North Western Tour in NSW.  The tour starts on 21 June.

Yesterday was a Canberra Cycling Club's racing day with a handicap race around Lookout Hill. Similar to the last race day, wet, wintery and cloudy weather greater the riders.  I will update the link on the race results once CCC update their webpage. 

http://www.canberracyclingclub.org.au/events/details.asp?IntContId=1665&IntCatId=33

Canberra cyclists at the National Road Series

Race two of the Australian National Road Series returns to the inland Queensland city of Toowoomba this week. The third edition of the FKG Tour of Toowoomba commences on Thursday 14 June and finishes on Sunday, 17 June 2012. A record field of 23 teams and 138 riders will start Stage one of the race tomorrow. 

Canberra Teams and riders

Canberra riders will be well represented at the 2012 FKG Tour of Toowoomba with Canberra team Suzuki-Trek sending a full team of Canberra riders (with the exception Jamie Lacey who rides with Toowoomba Cycling Club).  The Suzuki-Trek team consists of:

111	FLYNN, Mitch	Canberra CC	ELITEM
112	LIND, William	Canberra Cycling Club	ELITEM
113	CAMERON, Timothy	Canberra Cycling Club	M23
114	LACEY, Jamie	Toowoomba CC	M23
115	MICHLIN BEARD,Ivan	Canberra Cycling Club	M23
116	LIND, Joshua	Canberra Cycling Club	JM19
MANAGER – MICK JERMYN

http://www.suzukicycling.com/ 

Three other Canberra riders participating at the FKG Tour of Toowoomba include:

• Alastair Loutit M23 will be racing for GPM Wilson Racing;
• after a successful visit to Indonesia (just finishing outside the top 10 at the Tour De SingKarak) Mitch Lovelock-Fay (Jayco-Honey-Shotz) returns to the Australian racing scene; and
• Brian McLeon (Team Budget Forklifts) will be helping Mark O'Brien maintain his lead in the National Road Series. 

Race details

The race organisers have adopted new form in 2012 with the introduction of the team time trial.  The race will consist of three road races, a inner city criterium race and the team time trial.

Stage 1: June 14: Cambooya to Cambooya - 125 km Road Race in the Cambooya/Clifton area of the Darling Downs.

Stage 2: June 15: Highfields Shopping Village - Mount Mowbullan TV Towers, Bunya Mountains - 126km race that culminates in a mountain top finish.

Stage 3: June 16: Kingsthorpe Village Green – Oakey - 12 km Team Time Trial on ordinary road bikes.

Stage 4: June 16: Oakey – Mount Tyson – Finish at the Toowoomba Criterium Circuit - A 100 km road race in the Oakey/Mt Tyson area of the Darling Downs before finishing at Toowoomba's new Criterium Circuit.

Stage 5:  June 17: 50km Criterium around Toowoomba’s Queens Park

Full details of the stages can be found at http://www.touroftoowoomba.com.au/

For an preview of the race please see report on Cycling News at http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/tour-of-toowoomba-2012/preview

Good luck to all the Canberra riders involved. 

Canberra Cycling Corner

Michael Rogers hot streak continues at the Critérium du Dauphiné. Currently sitting in second place with one stage to go.  The perfect place to start off the weekly Canberra Cycling Corner.

Rogers - packing his bags for Olympics and Tour de France?

Another impressive individual time trail performance by Rogers during Stage 4 of the Critérium du Dauphiné moved him into a podium position and strengthened Team Sky hold on the race.  After posting the third best time in the ITT, only 1.11 minutes behind Wiggins, Rogers moved from 16th place to 3rd overall in the General Classification.  Another strong performance by Rogers during Stage 6 (Saint-Alban-Leysse to Morzine) moved him up one spot to 2nd overall.  He is only 16 seconds in front of Cadel Evans, but based on his current form Rogers should secure a back to back podium finishes for the big Canberra riders.

Importantly, Rogers has also been one of the main supports for Wiggins in his efforts to win back to back Dauphiné wins. This should also be enough to guarantee selection in Team Sky's Tour de France squad as all efforts go into Wiggins being the first British winner of the race for a long time.

His form during several ITT stages has also helped to position Rogers to be one of the riders to be selected for the the Olympics ITT Australian squad.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/rogers-in-form-and-chasing-spot-in-skys-stacked-tour-line-up

Myfanwy Galloway helps teammate to second spot

Miffy Galloway (Faren Honda) put in a solid performance at the Liberty Classic in the USA by helping team mate Rochelle Gilmore secure second spot. Miffy now heads back to Italy with her team mates after riding in both the Liberty Classic and the Exergy Tour.  Hope that we can hear more about her performance on the European circuit.

Jessie Maclean - Best Canberran finisher at the Liberty Classic

Maclean (GreenEdge-AIS) was part of a bunch finish at the Liberty Classic. While Ina Teutenbergas a group won the race, Maclean finished 12th as group of a group of 26 riders.  The strong finish ensured that Maclean was the top GreenEDGE-AIS rider at the race.  An impressive end to the US tour for Maclean.

WHERE ARE CANBERRA RIDERS RACING THIS WEEK?

Michael Rogers (TeamSky) - Rogers has one stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné to go. Based on the current week, Rogers should at least secure a podium finish.

Gracie Elvin (Jayco-AIS) Currently in the Basque country (Spain) riding the Emakumeen Euskal Bira.  After three stages Gracie is currently sitting in 35th position after three stage and second on the Sprint classification.  One stage remaining.

Mitch Lovelock-Fay (Jayco-Honeyshotz) -  Lovelock-Fay is racing in the Tour De Singkarak (Indonesia). After 6 stages, Lovelock-Fay is sitting in 11th spot.  A chance for a top 10 finish with one stage to go. 

Fabio Calabria (Team Type 1 Sanofi) - Calabria returns to racing in Canada this week when the Tour de Beauce commences on 12 June.  It is a six stage race.

Adam Phelan, Tom Palmer and Stuart Shaw (Drapac Porsche) The Canberra contingent will be racing in the Ronde van Zeeland Seaports today.  A 208km flat course may suit Adam Phelan.  But to win our secure a podium, he will have to beat the likes of Pozzato (Farnese Vini-Selle Italia) and Mark Renshaw (Rabobank).

Matt Hayman (TeamSky) -  After a solid performance at the Tour of Luxembourg, Hayman moved south to the start the Tour of Switzerland.  Not a good start with Hayman coming in at 126th place in the opening ITT stage. 

LOCAL RACES

Do not forget that the Canberra Cycling Club Lookout Hill race commences 16 June 2012 at 1.00pm.  Registrations close at 12.45pm.

 

Canberra Cycling Corner

Well it will be another big week for Canberra riders on the World Tour with Michael Rogers (TeamSky) and Michael Matthews (Rabobank) leading the Canberra charge at the 2012 Critérium du Dauphiné. Across the French border Mat Hayman is doing his super domestique duties for TeamSky at the Tour of Luxembourg.

Michael Rogers - Returning to form for another crack at the Tour?

Rogers has returned to form with his recent win at the Bayern-Rundfahrt, which included two stage wins. While his main role will be to assist Wiggins win back to back Critérium du Dauphiné titles, I expect Rogers to put in a strong performance on the opening Prologue after winning the Stage 4 ITT at the Bayern-Rundfahrt. Nice interview of Rogers at the end of the video. 

In 2010 after a disappointing Tour de France, Rogers indicated that he would concentrate on shorter races rather than the grueling three week grand tours.  However, if Rogers' backs up with a strong performance at the Dauphine after victory at the Bayern-Rundfahr, he may well be packing his bags for the Tour de France. It will also be dependent on whether TeamSky push for sprinting and overall honours.  

Mat Hayman - Not doing his Tour de France chances any harm?

Hayman was out of the blocks with a bang on the first stage of the Tour of Luxembourg with a fourth spot in the opening prologue.  He followed up this performance on the third stage by getting into the opening breakaway.  He picked up a bag full of mountain points before the breakaway was caught.  With one stage to go, Hayman is sitting in 54th spot.

Some early season form in the Classics and the work that Hayman has been doing for the team at the Tour of Luxembourg should mean that Hayman name should be the one of the first chosen to assist Wiggin's bid to win the Tour de France.

No success at the Tour of Gironde for the Canberra contingent

Drapac Porsche was well represented by Canberra riders at the Tour of Gironde (France).  Adam Phelan was close to securing the KOM jersey, but was pipped by an Orbea rider on day three. Adam Phelan finished in 13th spot after a strong showing on the first stage.  He was the best placed Canberra rider. Stuart Shaw came in at 55th.

Canberra girls raced at the Exergy Tour

No success for either Myfanwy Galloway or Jessie McClean at the Exergy Tour. Unfortunately both Galloway or McClean did not finish the third stage which included some big mountain climbing. No overall success for their respective teams, although McClean's managed to pick up a fourth overall. Miffy traded in the cleats and lycra for the spurs and chaps after the event to take up some good old fashioned horse riding.  I expect to see Miffy back on the bike soon.

Hosking still waiting for news on Olympic berth

Hosking in Canberra for her sister's engagement party is still waiting for news on whether her bid for a road racing spot has been successful. The media coverage of Hosking continues to grow in momentum with another feature in the Canberra Times.  http://www.canberratimes.com.au/sport/cycling/hosking-lets-bike-do-the-talking-20120602-1zoq8.html   Looking forward to seeing Hosking return to racing in Europe.

Local Canberra racing

Even with terrible weather and rain approaching, 45 local riders braved low temperatures and wet roads to race the Canberra Cycling Club Uriarra Homestead Scratch Race yesterday (2 June 2012).  Race details and results can be found at: http://www.canberracyclingclub.org.au/events/details.asp?IntContId=1664&IntCatId=33

Next race of the winter racing season starts on 16 June.

Canberra juniors performed extremely well at the Goulburn Junior Tour with several top 5 results across the different age groups. Provisional results can be found at http://www.nsw.cycling.org.au/cy_nsw/races/?f=2012/12102/12102.htm.

Where are Canberra riders racing?

Michael Rogers (TeamSky) -  The Critérium du Dauphiné commences with the Prologue in Grenoble tonight.  Coverage on SBS.  Grenoble is where Evans' steamed to victory during Stage 20 of the Tour de France last year.

Michael Matthews (Rabobank) - Matthews will be one of the leading sprint chances for Rabobank at the Dauphiné.  At the bottom of the french alps there may not be many opportunities for Matthews.

Mat Hayman (TeamSky) - The final stage of the Tour of Lumenbourg tonight for Hayman.  No TeamSky riders in contention for overall victory, but expect Hayman to try to help young Italian rider Puccio or Barry win the stage and get a top 10 finish.

Mitch Lovelock-Fay (Jayco-Honeyshotz) - To be confirmed, but Lovelock-Fay is likely to compete in the Tour de Singkarak in Indonesia that commences tomorrow.