Updates

2nd and Polka Dots in Wellington
Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Trust House Tour of Wellington, 27th-31st/ 1/2010

Tom pinned on his number. I pinned on mine and before too long we were rolling out of Lower Hutt for the first stage of the 5 day tour of Wellington.

STAGE 1.
I was unsure of how the legs would be only a few days after the National MTB series weekend but knew the form was good. Thankfully when the flag dropped after 20kms of neutral I was feeling good.

Stage one went quite quickly for me. I attacked on the first climb of the Rimataka hills, carrying with me Jay Thompson from Fly V. We were caught by a group of six and continued up the climb with a 1-minute buffer on the peloton. I grabbed the KOM at the top of the hill and we continued to set a good tempo right up until about the 50km mark when another group came across including my team mate Tom Palmer. This grouup was not working well and on the second climb of the day we were rejoined by the peloton.

Pete McDonald decided to make his move on the climb and toasted the peloton gaining a big gap. Going for some more KOM points I lashed out with 500m before the KOM. Nobody seemed interested and I found myself rolling over the top of the climb in no man’s land between the peloton and my team mate Pete. The decision wasn’t a hard one and I jammed it over to Pete.

Now with a 30second gap on the bunch and only about 30km of race remaining we swapped off at full throttle. I was struggling to hold on to Pete’s wheel on the climbs but we were going quick none the less. Randomly inside the 20km to go mark we were stopped on the road by a flock of sheep. You get that in NZ….

Ensuring our gap the race restarted and Pete and I went straight back into the red zone. With around 10km to go we hit the final climb of the day and I was forced to bid Pete farewell, my legs giving way. I was caught by the pelo and spent the remainder of the race with my fingers crossed, watching Pete dangle off the front for the remaining 5km’s. Rounding the last bend we were close but using his vast experience and judging it to perfection, Pete had stayed away and claimed the first stage and the yellow jersey. With myself in the KOM Polka dot jersey we had made a good start to the tour.

STAGE 2.
A flatter start to stage 2 saw it take around 30km for the break to establish for the day. Pete was having huge difficulties getting away in the yellow jersey but thankfully myself and team mate Joe Lewis had made it into the 8-man break. We worked for the next 80 or so k’s to ensure we claimed the sprint and KOM points in a battle with green jersey wearer Jay Thompson.

The stage was mostly undulating and then at about the 100km mark there was a decent climb, the reverse side of the second main climb from the day before. This split things up and also saw a few guys come across to the now depleted group of around 5 at the front of the race. We worked a bit but the final climb and hilltop finish loomed and it wasn’t long until we hit the base of the climb. We were riding tempo and as I rolled through to the front I realised the other guys were hurting and laid down some power, escaping from the group.

Another rider, Michael Torckler, joined me and we continued up the steep section of the climb. He attacked me and formed a decent gap. I was grovelling to get back onto the wheel and finally coming into the final few km’s I cemented my position on his tail and waited right up until about 150m before the line. We sprinted, I went as hard as I could go and a bit more but was unable to come around him and had to be happy with 2nd place. After times had been adjusted I remained 5 seconds from the overall general classification lead. Little did I realise how hard this would be to make up.

STAGE 3
165km’s. The longest and flattest stage of the tour. I had to keep a close eye on Torckler and bide my time as the break took almost 50km’s to establish. Joe had managed to get in the move, but so too had Thompson, who was only a few points behind me on the KOM classification. Thankfully Joe claimed the KOM points for the day and back in the peloton team Cardno had assembled on the front to control the ever-increasing lead on the bunch. With around 60km to go the gap had blown out to almost 3 and half minutes, which meant Thompson was in the yellow. But, after some big turns from my team mates, Tom, Pete and Michael Phelan we began to close the gap.

The pace was fast and I was finding it tough enough tucked in out of the wind. At one particular point with the bunch strung out, 50km’s an hour along the valley floor, after just being piped from the chase at the front of the bunch, M.P rocks up by my side and gives me some bidons. I couldn’t believe how hard the boys were working as we closed down the gap on the breakaway.

In the finish Joe had been unlucky to finish 4th with some confusion over the finish line as the group that had been out all day narrowly beat the peloton home.

STAGE 4.
The 130km circuit race was always going to be hard as we tried everything to get back the 5 seconds on the GC lead. It was windy and we were on our toes as we kept a close eye not only with our battle with Cardno for the yellow jersey but also we had to ensure I didn’t loose my narrow 2 point margin over Thompson on the KOM classification. Joe was also a mere 1 point behind him in the green jersey comp so there was a bit to focus on.

With different breaks going everywhere, the boys and myself chasing them down, trying different things to get away off the front it was a tiring day all-round. The finish was a bunch kick and I battled to hang onto my lead out train of Joe and Tom to finish only 13th unfortunately right with torckler. It was all going to rest on stage 5 and we began to plan our assault on all three jerseys.

STAGE 5.
With a team of good criterium riders we were very confident as we planned for the day ahead. The rain was falling when we arrived in Wellington which gave us even more of an edge as we were just about the only ones keen to race in the conditions. We knew there was a chance we would be able to get rid of Torckler, particularly on a wet circuit. But, we waited as the commisaires considered the danger of holding the event.
With nothing but drizzle the race was called off, the circuit ‘too dangerous’ to race and a separate race was run with anyone who wanted to race making up the depleted field. We did not race, instead watched as Torckler lost contact with the group of riders at the front of the race. Interestingly there were no crashes in this event.

But either way the tour was over, and after a tough few days we had secured a stage win, 2nd and 4th stage results, 4th on teams classification, 2nd on sprint classification, 2nd on GC and the KOM Polka Dot Jersey, so a pretty good start to the season.

For now Pete and Myself, along with mechanic Jono Breekveldt, soigner Sarah Blake and Directeur Sportif Agostino Giramondo will reload and prepare for our assault on the tour of Langkawi in Malaysia at the beginning of March. Tom, Joe and Michael will prepare for the Singapore international Criterium held at the same time.

A massif thanks to Jono, Sarah and Ago for taking care of everything over the week. Another massif thanks to Pete, Joe, Tom and Michael for putting in the hard yards out on the road and for just being good blokes. Thanks to Drapac-Porsche Cycling and the team sponsors.
Thanks to my supporters, family and friends, Oakley, Castlemaine Cycles, Melbourne University Sport and the Victorian Institute of Sport.

Final Classification
Result
1 Michael Torckler (NZl) Cardno Team 12:37:33
2 Lachlan Norris (Aus) Drapac Porsche 0:00:05
3 Jay Thompson (RSA) Fly V Australia 0:01:31
4 Heath Blackgrove (NZl) Team Solway 0:01:51
5 Michael Matthews (Aus) Jayco Skins Team 0:02:00
6 Peter McDonald (Aus) Drapac Porsche 0:02:11
7 Jeremy Yates (NZl) Team Solway 0:02:20
8 Jai Crawford (Aus) Fly V Australia 0:02:32
9 George Bennet (NZl) Cardno Team 0:02:34
10 Nathan Earle (Aus) Genesys Wealth Advisers 0:02:38


Pelo rejoins. Stage 1.

Hanging onto Pete's wheel. Stage1.

Trying to get rid of Torckler. Stage 4.

1st in Shepparton
Monday, January 25, 2010

National Series #2, Shepparton, Vic, 23-24th/1/2010

With no rest for the wicked it was straight up to Shepparton for round 2 of the National Series only a few days after getting back from Adelaide.

Keen for some resolve after missing out on a National Title last week I hit the gas from lap one of the dusty paddock-circuit. The pace seemed slow towards the top of the climb so I made my move and began to build a solid lead on the field.

It was warm and promised to be a long, hard race so I tried to stay consistent and out of trouble. But, trouble came on lap three in the form of Sid Taberlay. Coming across to me on the climb he wacked me straight away. I scrambled back up to his wheel. Just as we began to negotiate one of the technical rocky outcrops Tabs backed me off, slowing the speed, only to attack around the corner and put me back on the chase. This time he started to peel away as we hit the fast, open downhill section of the course. But, he was pushing it a bit hard and I passed him after he had dropped it around one of the fast, dusty off-camber corners.

I was in the lead as we came into the more technical descent on the course and got stuck as I tried to surmount the rocks at the bottom of the main chute. Tabs came flying down behind me and crashed into me. After un-tangling ourselves I rode on and by the start of lap 4 he was nowhere to be seen, I could only guess he had experienced a mechanical. So it was all alone again.

By the final lap the lights began to flicker and dim as I tried to hang onto my lead. I noticed two riders closing slowly in on me on the climb but still figured I had a good lead. In the final descent however, I had decided to take on foot, with visions of four unimpressed team-mates and a livid DS if I was to rock up for the Tour of Wellington in a sling. I was caught by Ben Henderson. With only a couple of k’s of fast, off camber paddock descent to the finish I stayed cucumber-cool and made sure I stayed in front. Hendo tried to escape right away but I shut him down and held onto the lead right up until the fast final corner. I held a tight as we sprinted for the finish line. I was able to hold him off and take my first national series win as a senior.

A good days play all around with my team mate Dan Braunsteins taking out the U23 category.

Sunday rolled around and it was time to shed a bit of lactic acid in the short track. The course was mega short and mega dusty. The fresh legs of Dan McConnell got the gap from the gun, having only done a lap or two the day before. I worked slowly back through to the chase group of 4 after the first few laps. Brauny and I tried to pull the gap back in to Macca but were unable to. With only the two of us and Tabs remaining we did our best to get away but in the end he was too strong and held us off for second. With Brauny in 4th and myself in 3rd.

Again thanks to Drapac-Porsche cycling team and team sponsors including Giant. Thanks to our chief in the feed zone Darren Kruger and my friends and family for their support. Thanks to Oakley, Castlemaine Cycles, UniMelb Sport and The VIS.

Cross Country Results

Elite men
1. Lachlan Norris (VIC) – 2:17.44
2. Ben Henderson (ACT)
3. Aiden Lefmann (QLD)
4. Sid Taberlay (TAS)
5. Andrew Blair (NSW)
6. Joshua Carlson (NSW)
7. Daniel Braunsteins (VIC) under-23
8. Jason English (NSW)
9. Paul van der Ploeg (VIC) under-23
10. Nick Both (NSW)

Short Track Results
1 Dan McConnell (VIC)
2 Sid Taberlay (TAS)
3 Lachlan Norris (VIC)
4 Daniel Braunsteins (VIC)
6 Joshua Carlson (NSW)
5 Robbie Hucker (VIC)
7 Neil Van Der Ploeg (VIC)
8 Andrew Blair (NSW)
9 Paul Van Der Ploeg (VIC)
10 Nick Both (NSW)

Pics can be found here: cyclignews

National MTB Champs on Cyclingnews.com
Monday, January 18, 2010

Read about our weekend on cyclingnews.com

leadup

Olympic XC Race

Short Track XC Race

2nd at Australian Championships
Monday, January 18, 2010

2010 Australian Open Road Championships, Bunningyong, Victoria
Sunday, January 10, 2010

Some times the early break stays away and sometimes it doesn’t. The past few National Champs has seen the race pan out in a quite predictable fashion with a common theme that the early break does not tend to stick.

This year there were some gut feelings among the team that it may be the year it does stay away. But, unfortunately we did not have the man-power to cover it and had to rely on the deciding laps coming later in the race.

When a break splintered off the front of the peloton after about 3 km our team was not represented, along with many other teams including several of the pro teams. As the laps wore on the gap grew to almost 8 minutes and by the time the bunch started to react it was late in the race. We covered almost everything that went until a group of 5 riders got away including our very own David Pell.

And that just about sums up the hot summers day on mt Bunningyong. The early break stayed away, the chase group got to within 2 minutes and what was left of the main bunch came in at around 6 minutes with the top 12 positions already filled by riders who had splintered off the front. With two riders in the top 10 we had done a decent job but far from what we had hoped.

For me I felt if things had turned out differently I may have been more use to the team and myself, spending the majority of the race biding my time in the peloton, drinking bidon after bidon of carbo shotz electrolyte waiting for the action that never really came my way. A tough day none the less and a great day for learning, I was quite satisfied with myself for my first senior national championships race.

A big thanks my team, Drapac-Porsche, to the team sponsors, the team staff and my team-mates. Thanks also to my family and friends and supporters including Oakley, the VIS, Melbourne Uni Sport and Castlemaine Cycles

2010 Australian Open Road Championships Criterium
Thursday, January 7, 2010

As the sun began to set on Ballarat we psyched up for the leg-tester for what will be two weeks of National Championship races for me. With my team-mates in the U23 race that preceded us tearing the field apart, 3 in the top 5 with Dan Braunsteins taking out the title the three of us senior riders competing in the criterium David Pell, Rhys Pollock and myself had big shoes to fill.

Fly V had a big team in the race and were always going to be tricky to beat. After the first mad scramble period of the race, a break of eight riders had established, thankfully we had managed to get two riders in it! With 3 Fly V riders we were a little outnumbered but tried all we could to get the end result. There were times when I was feeling well under the pump and other times when the pace eased slightly I managed to grab a few breaths. I tried to escape with about 5 laps to go but didn’t get far before I was brought back in. Pelly jumped off the front with 2 laps to go and looked strong enough that he may have got away, but the Fly V boys dragged him in just before the finish and neither he nor I had the legs in the sprint. Still not a bad start to the weekend and hopefully the weekend will go our way!

Thanks to Drapac-Porsche, to the team sponsors, the team staff and my team-mates. Thanks also to my family and friends and supporters including Oakley, the VIS, Melbourne Uni Sport and Castlemaine Cycles

Bendigo Advertiser "Rising Star"
Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Click here to read article.

Drapac-Porsche in 2010
Thursday, November 5, 2009

After enjoying some time off from racing and training it is finally time to get back into it. I have been enjoying time on my Felt Sector Pro BMX but will be back on the Six Team this week as I begin to prepare in earnest for 2010. 

Altitute Project
Thursday, November 5, 2009

Check out the Altitude project that I was involved with prior to the World Champs by clicking here!

End of Season Wrap Up 2009.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009

The year of racing started early this year when I lined up for my second Jayco Bay Criterium series. It was a good week of hard racing to sharpen up for the National Road Championships. Here I was disappointed to have bad feeling legs but managed to grovel through and end up getting pipped on the line for a top 5 and finishing in 6^th place, a good result to start the year.

From here it was up to Canberra where I once again began the race feeling under prepared and heavy legged. Just when I thought all hope for an U23 National Title was lost I began to come good and overtook early leader and team mate Nathan Haas in the later parts of the race to claim my second National Title and first in the U23 class. A tough day and probably not one of my finest rides but a result I was naturally pleased about.

From here I took it easy for a couple of weeks, looking ahead to a long season of racing I wanted to be mentally fresh and firing! Up to Mt Buller for National round number 4 and I had a surprisingly good first ride on my new Felt Six Team, riding into 3^rd and 1^st U23. It was now time to start the season proper.

Getting stuck into some hard training in our team training camp at Launceston I came down hard with a respiratory illness and was bed ridden for the majority of the middle of the two week camp, only just surfacing in time for national round 5 in Hobart. I was feeling quite strong and came close to pinning back Chris Jongewaard in the last lap, eventually finishing 3^rd and 1^st U23.

Back home and I began to train up a fierce storm. I was starting to feel strong and working on my short power capacities. From this training it was time to head up to Thredbo for the Oceania Titles.

For the second year running I was feeling strong and blitzed the field to take the early lead. I was later reeled in by Dan McConnell but finished second and successfully defended my under 23 Oceania Title. The year had started well and it wasn’t long before our team had assembled in Perth for the first leg of what was going to be an epic block of racing.

I managed to stay very consistent over the first block of racing with some good races in both World Cups and Swiss Cups. In Offenburg I was on the verge of a top 30 result when my legs gave in and I slipped from 32^nd to 52^nd in the last two laps. The speed was there I just had to string together an awesome race. In Houffalize I was unlucky to get tangled in a crash at the start and rode strongly through from the 100’s to 57^th and in Madrid I crashed heavily in training but again had a decent race. From here we headed to Austria to unfold one of the darker chapters of my season.

While training in preparation for the Alpentour Trophy race I found myself hurtling through the trees in what was to be one of the bigger crashes of my life. Narrowly escaping a broken femur I had severely impacted my leg and spent the next three weeks in a world of trouble. Finally back home and slowly out on the bike I underwent another three weeks of treatment to get the bruising out of the tissue but the bone was still bruised and sore at times. I was able to get into some good miles on the road bike as I began preparations in earnest for the World Championships.

I was preparing methodically and coming slowly into very good shape as we headed off for a whirlwind trip to Canada for World cups 5 and 6. A solid race in Mont Sainte Anne was followed by a terrible race in Bromont but none the less some good training was had and it was now home for the final phase of training.

With three weeks to go we moved in to the Altitude house at the AIS in Canberra for a final phase of Intensity and taper before the race. I was feeling tired but in the last week suddenly began to feel good. Sharpening up in the Team relay I was ready to go, more focused now than ever before. I was feeling positive and confident and as the gun went off I hit the gas harder than ever before. Riding to the deafening roars of a home crowd is something I will never forget, as is crossing the line in a personal best 11^th place in front of a home crowd. We did not have long to soak up the highs of the race before it was back into cattle class and off to Europe again.

A terrible race in Champery was understandable and it was good to have another consistent race in Shladming to finish off the World Cup Season. From here I enjoyed a week of travelling before coming home.

With two weeks to train before the Herald Sun tour it was a blow to come down with tonsillitis. Now only one week and I squeezed in a couple of long rides before the tour.

The legs were not feeling great and neither was the hip after crashing heavily in the first 10km of the tour. A broken bike and a lot of chasing left me well behind the pace after stage 1. Our team was in a good position though and the horrible weather of stage three caught me out again with severely windy conditions I missed the split early in the stage. I began to ride better as the tour hit some more undulating terrain and to finish off the season with a bang at the final circuit race stage of the tour on Lygon St in front of a huge crowd was a great feeling.

For now I look for some well overdue r and r and begin to think about the year ahead and what it may hold for my cycling career.

For the thankyous I must begin firstly with the DiscoverTasmania.com MTB Team staff and riders, Neil Ross, Diana Dickenson and my teammates Rowena Fry, Gracie Elvin, Nathan Haas, Charlton Durie and the one and only Paul Van Der Ploeg. Thanks to the team sponsors including Cycling Australia and the Sports Commission, Tasmanian Government, Felt, Scody, Sram and Torq.

Thanks to my personal supporters including Castlemaine Cycles, The University of Melbourne Sport, Oakley, The Victorian Institute of Sport and Reynolds. Thanks to my family and Friends for all of their support and I look forward to another big year ahead!

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