Richie Porte wins Australian time trial championship
Richie Porte (Sky) has started 2015 in emphatic fashion, winning the Australian national time trial championship in a star-studded field in Buninyong yesterday. Rohan Dennis (BMC) and Jack Bobridge (Budget Forklifts) rounded out the world-class podium.
Image: Con Chronis
The victory comes as some relief to Porte who struggled with illness throughout 2014 and brought his season to a close in August.
“The problem for me last year was my health and it looks like I’m back on top of it,” Porte said. “I’m thrilled to bits to win this.
“I haven’t done a good time trial on a course like this for a long time,” Porte continued. “We’ve done a lot of work on my time trial position and it’s a credit to Tim Kerrison who’s believed in me even after the disaster which was 2014.”
Porte will now turn his attention to the the Nationals road race on Sunday where he will once again line up as one of the favourites.
Earlier in the day Miles Scotson (SASI) claimed victory in the U23 men’s ITT championship, finishing just four seconds faster than Oscar Stevenson (African Wildlife Safaris). Harry Carpenter (SASI) was third, 1:10 behind Scotson.
| 1. |  |
PORTE Richie
Team Sky
|
00:51:50 |
| 2. | |
DENNIS Rohan
BMC Racing Team
|
0:08 |
| 3. | |
BOBRIDGE Jack
Team Budget Forklifts
|
0:27 |
Click here to read more at CyclingTips.
Shara Gillow wins fourth national title at Australian time trial championship
by Jessi Braverman
Shara Gillow (Rabo-Liv) earned her fourth national title in the individual time trial at the Mars Cycling Australia Road National Championships on Thursday, covering the 29.3 kilometre course in Buninyong in 44:21. Bridie O’Donnell was second, 1:01 behind, while Taryn Heather (Bicycle Superstore) was third, a further eight seconds back.
Image: Con Chronis
“I missed it last year”, Gillow said of the green and gold jersey. “I had won it three times before but to lose it for a year and win it again for my fourth national title — I’ve just realised how special it is to wear the colours over in Europe.”
The event was not without controversy. Gillow powered past O’Donnell in the final 50 metres of the race, and the silver medallist suggested that the newly crowned national champion sat within passing distance over the entire second half of the course. Gillow denied doing anything wrong.
“I was sort of on one side of the road just trying to pass at one stage and only got that bit of opportunity at the end,” said Gillow. “I was riding my own race and just concentrating on my own race.”
| 1. | |
GILLOW Shara
Rabobank-Liv Woman Cycling Team
|
00:44:21 |
| 2. | |
O DONNELL Bridie
|
1:01 |
| 3. | |
HEATHER Taryn
|
1:09 |
Click here to read more at CyclingTips.
Rohan Dennis believes he’s still on course to beat world hour record despite Australian TT nationals defeat
by Shane Stokes
Ending up 7.1 seconds slower than Richie Porte in today’s Australian time trial national championships, BMC Racing team rider Rohan Dennis nevertheless remains optimistic that he can take the world hour record when he attacks it in exactly one month’s time.
Image: Cycling Australia
“It was about a 52-minute effort today and my power levels were better than where they have been, so that is a good indication,” he said after the 40.9 kilometre event.
“I think with the road race on Sunday and then the Tour Down Under, it will take me to that next level where I need to be.”
Dennis was the quickest at the halfway point of the race, leading Jack Bobridge by 25 seconds and Porte by 32. However, according to BMC Racing Team sporting manager Allan Peiper, the lumpy return roads were to prove his undoing as far as the gold medal went.
“There was a main climb halfway through the course and coming back, they did it on the steep side,” he explained. “It was there that Rohan said he dug too deep and got into oxygen deficit, which he never really recovered from. In the last five kilometres he was struggling because of that effort.”
Dennis’ Hour Record bid will be made on February 8 in Grenchen, Switzerland. Bobridge, who finished 26.8 seconds back in third place, will also aim to take the hallowed record in Melbourne on January 31.
Click here to read more at CyclingTips.
High5 Dream Team to provide rider pathway for elite female road riders
A week after it was revealed that Cycling Australia would be closing down its high performance road program for elite women, Rochelle Gilmore — owner of the Wiggle-Honda women’s team and the 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medalist — has announced the formation of a new women’s NRS cycling team.
To quote the team’s press release, the High5 Dream Team was born “when Rochelle Gilmore realised that there were many talented Australian female cyclists in need of professional support, guidance and direction.”
Gilmore reportedly sought out the advice of Cycling Australia’s High Performance Manager, Kevin Tabotta regarding this initiative “to create a professional environment, and pathway to Europe, for Australia’s most talented and promising athletes.”
The team comprises eight athletes selected via Cycling Australia’s state institute network programs; athletes “identified as having potential to represent their nation at Commonwealth, World or Olympic level during the next few years”.
The team will ride the 10 National Road Series events in 2015 and, towards the end of the season, “Gilmore will meet with Cycling Australia’s High Performance Management and the State Institute of Sport coaches to discuss the next step for each of the High5 Dream Team athletes.”
The High5 Dream Team for 2015 is:
- Kimberley Wells: Australian Criterium Champion
- Georgia Baker: 3 x Junior World Champion
- Jess Mundy: Australian Madison Champion
- Tessa Fabry: NRS Battle of the Boarder Winner
- Kendelle Hodges: NRS Tour of the Murray Winner
- Ellen Skerritt: NRS Amy’s Race Winner
-Sam De Riter: Australian Development Team
- Rebecca Wiasak: World Cup IP Series Winner
- Lauren Perry: Junior World Champion (Associate Athlete)
Click here to read more via the High5 Dream Team press release.
Tom Boonen lauds Bradley Wiggins’ final ride at Roubaix
Earlier in the week Bradley Wiggins confirmed he would close out his contract with Team Sky with Paris-Roubaix in April, a decision that one of the race’s greatest champions, Tom Boonen, has heaped praise on.
“I can only say that I really admire the guy for doing it,” Boonen said Thursday. “It shows how big Roubaix is, and how much he likes the monuments, and that he gives the value to the monuments.”
“More GC riders should ride the monuments. We ride the grand tours, so they should ride the monuments. All the big riders should be in all the big races,” Boonen continued.
“Everything is so specialised in cycling these days. It’s a shame, and that’s how it goes. You cannot go back to 40 years when everybody was riding all the races, I like it more, but that’s how it is.”
Click here to read more at VeloNews.
Team Wiggins officially revealed; Wiggins himself to attempt Hour Record in June
Bradley Wiggins’ managagement officially confirmed overnight that the 2012 Tour de France winner has set up his own development team for 2015.
The team will officially be known as WIGGINS — but is listed in the UCI’s documentation as Team Wiggins — and has been set up to aid the world time trial champion transition back to the track ahead of the 2016 Olympics.
“Cycling has given me everything,” said Wiggins. “Now I want to build something to inspire kids and to reach all those people who might be on the fringes of the sport.”
Sky is the team’s major sponsor but the Continental squad will not be affiliated with the WorldTour team bearing that sponsor’s name.
In the same announcement Wiggins’ management confirmed that the rider will attempt the Hour Record in June, seemingly in the colours of his new team.
Click here to read more at Cycling Weekly.
New UCI Points System for 2015
The UCI has rolled out a new points and ranking system for 2015, the main part of which will see riders ranked based on their performances over the previous 52 weeks, rather than for that season or calendar year.
The changes were discovered in a PDF document listing the changes to the UCI road racing regulations for 2015.
The new system features five different ranking systems:
- World Classification: a ranking of all riders and nations
- Continental rankings: all points earned in non-World Tour races will be added up for continental rankings
- UCI WorldTeam rankings: These points are equal to the points won by the three riders having scored the most points during each WorldTour event on the calendar
- UCI Pro Continental rankings: the cumulative score of the eight best riders from each UCI Pro Conti and Conti teams
- National Rankings: best eight riders from each nation will have their points added together to score for their country
If this all sounds a little confusing, we highly recommend you read through The Inner Ring’s article on the subject, which explains how many points are on offer for which races and the significance of the new ranking system.
To quote:
“The changes for 2015 are substantial with a single UCI World ranking that will list all riders. Also there’s greater equality between the World Tour events with equal points for the three grand tours plus the addition of points for wearing or winning a jersey.
Seven Continental teams confirmed for Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race
Seven Continental teams from Australia and New Zealand have been added to the six WorldTour teams already confirmed for the inaugural Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race on February 1.
Avanti (New Zealand), African Wildlife Safaris, CharterMason Giant, Data#3 Symantec Racing, Search2retain/health.com.au, Navitas Satalyst and Budget Forklifts will all field six-rider squads for the UCI 1.1 race.
Six WorldTour teams — Orica-GreenEdge, IAM Cycling, Trek Factory Racing, Etixx-QuickStep, Katusha and Cadel Evans’ BMC — have already been confirmed as starting the race which starts and finishes in Geelong.
Click here to read more at CyclingTips.
New Cannondale-Garmin jersey revealed
The new Cannondale-Garmin squad has its official launch yesterday, revealing its kit and bikes for 2015. What do you think?
Image: Colin Keaveney
Cyclist jailed after fleecing coach for thousands of pounds
A cyclist who bought himself a new bike after reportedly scamming his elderly coach out of thousands of pounds has been jailed.
Daniel Snape apparently stole blank cheques from his mentor Harold ‘H’ Nelson over a six-month period before going on to buy a £2,000 Trek (AUD$3,740), which police found when they raided his home.
Snape admitted stealing as much as £6,650 (AUD$12,440) squandering most of it on horse racing and soccer bets, and was jailed for eight months for his trouble.
Click here to read more at the Manchester Evening News.
Highlights from the Australian National Criterium Championships
As part of its new broadcast deal with Channel Nine/Fox Sports, Cycling Australia is publishing highlights videos from the Australian summer of cycling on its YouTube channel.
A 44-minute highlights package from the criterium championships on Wednesday is now online for viewing here (embedding is disabled, presumably to allow Nine/Fox Sports to use the video exclusively on their websites).
This is the same highlights package that broadcast on Gem/Fox Sports in the small hours of Thursday morning, albeit without the ads.
Top 10 ways to improve your fitness
Here’s the latest “Top 10″ video from the lads at the Global Cycling Network. This time it’s about how to get fitter, something we’d all like to know:
The Rocacorba Recap
And finally this morning, here are a few things you might have missed at CyclingTips: