An Post Race travelling

A soignees live

We just went thru the first four stages of the An Post Ras. That means we’re half way.

I have to admit that I had a great job compared to what the riders got to do. Fighting against a 90km per hour headwind along the Atlantic Ocean coast line is an enormous task. A battle in rain and wind against the nature. I don’t think a pro soccer player would survive this. My opinion? Cycling is sport, soccer is a game. You do not agree? Try it out! Some of these climbs in a hectic storm weather look like a mixture of the Belgian spring classics (rain coming down buckets full and wind blowing that hard that you cannot wear a cap, I’ve lost mine by the way. Probably a fish is swimming around with it in the ocean) and the Tour de France (seen some nice walls to climb).

What this got to do with soignees you think. Well for example the young woman (in her 20s) wakes up around 6.30.She goes for a daily run of about one hour and comes back for a shower and a quick breacky. That is about all she does for herself that day! Next job is jumping in a car and go shopping, dead easy of course if you do so in your home town, but more difficult is you are in Castletownbere in the County of Cork somewhere in Ireland. Looking for ham, cheese, fruit, sweets or Vegemite is not easy at all; you can lose a lot of time if you don’t know where to go. Also important are bread rolls. In Ireland it is very normal to walk in a shop or supermarket at 8am and they still have to bake the rolls. Anyway, after getting this, race back to the hotel and prepare the rolls for the staff, and the riders (they need them after the race). I can say they are delicious. Ham, cheese, rucola salad and pesto, is a great combination. She scored high points in the rider’s room with the Vegemite jar! A big yeaaah from the boys. (most of them are Aussies, and I like the stuff too). I was happy to get some orders from Sarah! I had to make the drinks (a job that saved her a bit of time), but remember usually she does that as well. I only jump in at the European Tour. At the moment we have only rainy days which means we only prepare 40 up to 50 bottles per stage. This is enough for 5 riders. Next is loading the cars. Eski’s (Sarah is a Kiwi) and food bags all at their place. Ok we’re off to the start line. Putting all the bottles in the right bikes. One rider likes it sweet, another wants it a bit salty others plain water etc…Don’t get wrong, the boys don’t like it! Extra food is prepared for the riders.

As soon as the race is on, you would think, stress is over. No way, we jump in the car. GPS set for the feed zone. We race to stay before the bunch. It would be great to find the feed zone right in front of a coffee shop. Today in the fourth stage we are lucky. On top of a mountain, a stormy wind, raining and no shelter! Freezing cold to! Isn’t this the end of May? Not to believe, some smart Irish lad builds a coffee shop on top of Moll’s Gap. Wonderful. Handing out feedbags and bottles and back in the van driving like hell down the hill, taking a shortcut to get to our hotel before the riders. We hoped to bring all the suitcases in the rooms so the riders could find all their gear without too much delay. Nah, police always thinks different. Our B&B was 1km behind the finish line and they wouldn’t let us go thru. Sarah and later, myself argued but a no was the “Garda’s” answer.

Sarah then waits for the riders to come in with rain jackets and drinks at the finish line, at the same time giving directions towards the hotel or B&B. As soon as we arrive at the accommodation she starts giving the boys a well deserved massage, that takes about 30 minutes per rider. By the time she finished this job it is time for dinner. A shower and sometimes a quick drink in the bar and her day is over. In the mean time I have washed and cleaned the bottles and the protein shakers for her and refilled them with water for the next day. If I am not there that is also her job!

You call this an easy job? No way. There is no such a job in a professional cycling team that is easy. Being in a tour looks fun, don’t misunderstand it is fun but hard work too. But the fun is made by the people in the team. With a great bunch of good riders, a top mechanic and a DS who knows to run the show and If you’re on the road like a family, like the Drapac team, it is great.

O and didn’t I forget the soignée?? She deserves the flowers after the race!

An Post Race travelling

An Post Ras day 1 and 2

No racing so far cause day 1 and 2, Friday and Saturday were travel days. I drove from Destelbergen at 6.15am to Leupegem. From the B&B of Christ and Hilde it was about two hours drive to Calais. Once on the boat we could enjoy a nice cup of coffee (not bad the coffee brand on the vessel). A long drive (approx 600 km) across the UK, passing London, Birmingham and Wrexham. Staying at the Travellodge in Holyhead could be a mistake after what Ago and Sarah told me about this village. And they had right, the woman (read: b…..) was not in the mood to be helpful. Explaining us ten times that you cannot book a family room for three persons unless you ask for a twin room if only two people want to sleep in that room. Or something like that. Lachie got a bit nervous and raised his voice a bit. Finally she sorted it out and we got three keys. At the beach of Holyhead Sarah knew a nice restaurant. For lunch I had fish and chips in one of the motorway resto’s in England. I thought mmm not bad. Bud that was nothing special compared with the dinner we had in the restaurant at the beach. A nice piece of hake with scampi’s and wonderful al dente cooked veggie’s. Combined with a nice white wine this was perfect. A shame Lachie didn’t get his dessert.

The next morning, Saturday woke up early for a five minutes drive to the docks. Getting on board took only ten minutes. Missing the breaky (on purpose) in the hotel, we we’re happy to order eggs and bacon on the boat. Looking forward to a almost three hours of sailing across the Irish Sea, we got some comfy seats with view on the water.

Just before entering the port of Dublin we hit our first rain cloud. And a strong wind too. A nice surprise was waiting for us when we arrived at our hotel in Dunboyne. Dunboyne Castle Hotel is set in a splendid location, surrounded by countryside, about 18km from Dublin.

As we arrived, we had some nice rolls, thanks to Rhys who went shopping in the morning, thanks for that mate.

After the short lunch break the boys went for a ride, Lachie, Stu, Rhys, Floris, Adam and Ago. They left the park just when it started drizzling. In the mean time I could meet Mister Dawson and Miss Brona. Tomorrow we have our first stage and we are looking forward to it. Our riders are keen. The staff Is ready, so……thumbs up and good luck to the boys.

The team: Lachlan Norris, Rhys Pollock, Stuart Shaw, Adam Semple and Floris Goesinnen.

The staff: Agostino Giramondo, Jonathan Breekveldt, Sarah Blake and meself.

About a fortnight in the life of Dirk

About a fortnight in the life of a fanatic cycling fan.

The month of May should be a rest period after the Spring Classics. I should take a break after Paris-Roubaix just as my mate Mitch did. But he had good results and great rides in every single big race so far. He has been on television at the right moment and that is what the sponsors, the fans, the girlfriend likes. We’ve been even witness (live!) to see Dockers smiling at his Lydia on cobblestone section number seven, 27km from Roubaix. Still don’t know where he gets the courage to do this. I wonder if that was because of the “stoverij met friet” or the Westmalle Triple few days before.

Anyway, no rest cause after picking up Tom Palmer, Alex Smyth and Matt Bishop, the reds were about to fly in. Only Matt arrived on a descent hour, somewhere in the arvo. The other two boys preferred to spend six hours at the Heathrow airport in London before flying to Brussels.

Airport pickups are always a kinda thriller, will they be on time, and will the luggage arrive at the same time? But more important, will the bikes be there too. So Sarah and I could drive the whole family back to Oudenaarde. Riders, bikes, suitcases, bags all packed in two vans and off we went.

In the first weekend we travelled to two races in Holland, Omloop der Kempen and the Ronde van Overijssel. The temperature on both days was far above the normal value this time of the year. And some of our Drapac boys loved it. With good results of Floris, Rhys, Adiq we could look back to a good start, not to forget that these guys just got off the plane after a 40 hours trip. By the way in the Omloop a motorbike rode into Floris (pic of bunchkick) with less than 10 km to go and still managed to get back on and take part of the bunch kick. The bad news in this sunny weekend was that Tom got ill.

A nice meal was deserved. Sarah booked a Japanese “wok” restaurant in Sint Martens Latem I admit that this meal was a lot better than the Egyptian stuff we (read: Jono, Craig and me self) had to eat in Eindhoven. Lucky Ago did not join us that night.

Also, do you know Adam Semple of the Drapac team? No? He is not only a good bike rider, he is also a great water bottle carrier and what is even more spectacular is the way he’s taking them from the car. Never seen such a confident rider picking up, was it eight or nine bottles, from the car. Not even paying attention on the cobblestones neither speedbumps nor even 90° bends. Just brilliant, I was impressed by this action of the young Western Australian.

While the team goes training all week (with few coffee stops at Or in Ghent) I went back to work as usual, counting down the days to the next race. I missed the race in Houthalen but was present at Verrebroek last Sunday,where Ago “upgraded” me to DS. Probably he had enough “klicks” on his mileometer. I bet you could see on my face that I was happy to do this, but what really made my day was that I draw team car number 1 in the convoy. That is almost the dream of every DS to get that number. 150 riders at the start with some old friends as Loh, Tobyn, Bert de Backer, Dan and others. Although everybody was talking and expecting rain, it stayed dry all day. But the wind was the spoilsport. Every lap (10 of 16.9km) had a long straight with headwind which created echelons in the bunch. Almost every lap about 20 riders got in trouble because of this. We had at least 3 riders in every break except…. in the last one. No matter how hard Rhys, Stu, Floris and Adam tried, with the help of Greg Van Avermaet, they couldn’t catch the 16 leaders.

Tomorrow, Wednesday our boys race in Puivelde, one of the biggest kermesses in Belgium. Hopefully Tom and Adiq are back after their cold. We go to Puivelde with the full team and hope a top ten placing.

Never mind, we’re looking forward to the An Post Ras in Ireland that starts on the 22^nd, the riders fly to Dublin (Rhys, Adam, Stu and Floris) while Ago, Sarah, Jono, Nokkers and me self drive all the way. First catching a boat from Calais to Dover and then the next day from Holyhead to Dublin. We come back on the 30^th with hopefully a bag full of jerseys, flowers, cups and whatever a winner gets!

You think this is all I did this week, no? I also checked every result on the net! Looking for Australian men and women who finished races. What started as a joke became really serious. The Aussie Cup is full on. (The women’s is sponsored by SCM !) So I have to stay attentive cause some of the riders really follow this competition seriously. One of the ladies already messaged me that I made a mistake in the points score. I must admit that she was right too!

Matthew Goss is still leading the men’s Cup. Since the last update on May the 1^st not much has changed in the top 5, but right behind the top it is really moving. Sutherland, Sulzy, Richie are slowly moving their way up.

1. Goss Matthew – 120 pts

2. Haussler Heinrich – 112 pts

3. Renshaw Mark – 11O pts

4. Matthews Michael – 107 pts

5. Evans Cadel – 96 pts

First Pro Conti rider is Rory Sutherland (8^th – 74pts) and first Conti rider is Adam Semple (14^th – 64pts)

Rochelle Gilmore still leads the women’s Cup with a comfy lead, but the battle is on behind her with some of the girls coming closer. Only Ruth hasn’t been scoring points since the Dutch Ronde van Drenthe.

1. Rochelle Gilmore – 113 pts

2. Shara Gillow – 61 pts

3. Ruth Corseth – 57 pts

4. Vicki Whitelaw – 47 pts

5. Bridie O’Donnell – 43 pts

Oh! if you’re really interested in a full ranking, just let me know. A short e-mail is enough to following address: thealice40@gmail.com

the women's Aussie Cup is an exciting match

A tense competition is the least you can call the Aussie Cup for women. After eleven races we have a new leader. Rochelle Gilmore of the Lotto Ladies team (reading the Aussie Cup flyer with Vicki on the picture) took over the lead from Ruth Corset after the Energiewacht Tour in Holland. On top of that she scored another five points in the Drentse 8.
A group of six girls formed at the top with more then 30 points now, and then closely followed by a whole bunch of riders that take points at a regular time in the European races.
In the coming weeks the girls will be racing in Belgium and Holland.
It is about time that an Aussie girl can drab the flowers in Belgium, cause for the moment the races have been dominated by Marianne Vos and Emma Johansson.
the actual ranking:
1. Gilmore Rochelle - 66 pts
2. Corset Ruth - 56 pts
3. Gillow Shara - 47 pts
4. Rhodes Alexis - 39 pts
5. Whitelaw Vicky - 35 pts

Amy Cure also scored her first point. But she raced the track before come to Belgium, same for the pointless Katherine Bates and Jospehine Tomic.

Matthew Goss still leading the Aussie Cup

Despite the fact that Matthew Goss hasn't scored any points since Milano-San Remo, he still keeps the leaders position of the men's Aussie Cup. Heinrich Haussler is closing the gap slowly and after taking few points in the Belgian classics, he's still 8 points down. Also Mark Renshaw only took some points inthe 3 days of De Panne. and kept the third spot in the ranking. The biggest jump forwards comes evantual from the continental riders of the Drapac team. No less then 3 guys of the Reds nestle in the top 15. That thanks to a awesome performance in the Tour de Taiwan.
But if we look back to the West European Spring Classics, one name comes back in as well the Ronde van Vlaanderen, Gent-Wevelgem as in Paris-Roubaix. What a performance of the 24 year old Victorian Mitch Docker (see picture). Lots of questions by Belgian television-commentator when he saw Mitch in the break. But he look trough his notes and found out that Mitch was already seen last year at the 3 days of West Vlaanderen. Less was his surprise when few days later he saw the Aussie sprinting for a podiumspot in Wevelgem. Sixth in a bunchsprint with Tom Boonen as the winner. And then the rememberable Paris to Roubaix, where he rode to the track in company of people like Hushovd, Cancellara and other Ballan's. A 15th place was his trophee. But i bet ya, we will see MD back next year and the tear after.... Man to follow.

Aussie Cup ranking:
1. Goss Matthew - 120pts
2.Haussler Heinrich - 112pts
3.Renshaw Mark - 99pts

7.Semple Adam - 64pts (first continental rider)

21.Sulzberger Wesley - 46pts (first pro continental rider)

38.Jory Chris - 27pts (first elite rider)

Gold! - Apeldoorn March 27 - 12 noon

in the coming weeks it will be hard to find gold in Europe. Most of it will be shipped to Australia.
The reason for this huge transport is the participation of the Cyclones at the Worldchampionship Track Cycling in Apeldoorn (The Netherlands). Yesterday, saterday March 26th, they took 3 gold medals out of 4.
That Anna Meares won the women's individual sprint was not really a surprise. She really left the Lithuanian Simona Krupeckaite behind her without giving her one single chanche.
Gold: Anna Meares (11.984 and 11.453) (AUS)
Silver: Simona Krupeckaite (LTU)
Bronze: Victoria Pendleton (11.682 and 11.682) (GBR)
4th: Olga Panarina (BLR)

The second succes was earned by Shane Perkins. With 3 Australians in the semi finals, only Shane got a ticket for the final. The eleminated Scott Sunderland and Jason Niblett won their race for 7th up to 12th spot.
Gold: Shane Perkins (AUS)
Silver: Chris Hoy (GBR)
Bronze: Teun Mulder (NED)

Six races for one title, you need to be a rider of all disciplines to become a winner. After the first round, the flying lap it didn't look all that good for Michael, he had the 12th time. But from then on all went better. A fifth place in the points race, elimination and the individual pursuit and a win in the scratch race brought him to the top position. Now he needed a good result in his TT race. And his 6th place secured him a golden medal.
After the race he told me, that he was working hard only to get in a national selection. So it was a little surprise to be in Apeldoorn and surtenly to win the world title.
Gold: Michael Freiberg (AUS)
Silver: Shane Archbold (NZL)
Bronze: Gijs Van Hoecke (BEL)

Only in the fourth event, the women's scratch race, Katherine Bates had to be happy with silver.
Local rider, Marianne Vos was faster in the final sprint.
Gold: Marianne Vos (NED)
Silver: Katherine Bates (AUS)
Bronze: Danielle King (GBR)

total medals for Australia (so far!): 6 gold / 2 silver / 1 bronze

While writing this, Anna Meares just qualified for the next round women's keirin title. Kaarle Mc Culloch and Emily Rosemond going to the repachage.

keep in touch!

Apeldoorn - 40km pointsrace - 25 March

After a thriller in the men's individual sprint where sir Chris Hoy was send home by fellow countryman Jason Kenny. The other finalist is Gregory Bauge.
With 18 riders at the start we withness the final pointsrace. A full house with 6000 people. The atmosphere is great!
We've done five laps and two riders trying to take a lap, Morgan Kneisky and Sergiy Lagkuti. Now the local crowd gets crazy when home rider Peter Schep attacks. In the meantime we had two sprints with Lagkuti and Scully leading with 5 points.
With a full pack the speed gets up for the third sprint, won by Aussie Cameron Meyer. Scully is leading now with 7 pts.
125 laps to go when Kupeshov tries to escape. He will win the 4th sprint, leading by 1O meters.
No change in the top 3, Scully 7pts, Lagkuti 6pts and Meyer 5pts.
Five riders now trying hard, 116 laps to go. But no luck, all togheter again. And again Kneisky escapes. One lap before the 5th sprint. Kneisky takes 5 pts. Scully remains leader with 1O pts.
60 laps done and Meyer wins the sprint, so we have two leaders, Kiwi Scully and Aussie Meyer.
Bunch in splits in two parts for a while but all one pack again.
Columbian Edwin takes suddenly half a lap! If he takes a lap he gets a bonus of 20 pts !! With 87 laps to go one leader: Avila Edwin of Colombia 25 pts.
In the meantime Peter Schep takes 50 meters. The Dutch guy moves further away from the bunch.With 77 laps to go, Peter Schep realized that he is not strong enough to lap the field.
Choi of Hong Kong is struggeling in the back of the field.
70 laps remaining? Edwin still in the lead with a comfy 25 pts followed by 3 riders with 13pts.
Now it is the Swiss Dillier who tries to slip away.
Colombian Edwin sees the danger of the Swiss rider taking a lap too and takes the lead in the chase.
Edwin leading with 25 pts , second place for Kneisky with 16pts.When Belgian Depoortere attacks the field splits up in 3 parts.
Kiwi Scully gets dropped from the field and will loose his third position! Thomas Scully leaves the race with 43 laps to go.
3 quarters of the races done. And Schep wins the sprint. Meyer has now 18pts only 7pts less then Edwin. But it looks like the Colombian controls the race. He stays in the wheel of Cameron.
Meyer attacks with 32 laps to go. He is now 5pts behind the Colombian.
What a race, the Colombian doesn't give up. What a battle.
Edwin leads with 28pts , Cameron 23. But Edwin wins the sprint with only two sprints to go.
A thriller.
17 laps to go , Meyer goes again, while the Colombian is last wheel in the bunch. He is suffering!
And Cameron sees this!
The little South American is in the second group now, Meyer in the first.
With one sprint to go, Avila Vanegas Edwin Alciabiades is World Champ Pointsrace 2011!!
Gold : Edwin Alciabiades - Colombia - 33pts
Silver : Meyer - Australia - 29 pts
Bronze ; Kneisky - France - 23pts

Apeldoorn 6.30pm

Finally got here. Not the 240km trip from Ghent was a hard one, but i did not realize that the hotel i booked was a half hour drive from the track. A great track, called "Omnisport ". Not that it belongs to me or my boss Langers or "kakkerlak" Ken. Every year around this period we're happy to find an indoor race because of the European cold, rain or even snow. But.... it is 18 degrees and full sunshine outside. But never mind, here we are. Just had a quick dinner (pasta bolognaise) in the press catering zone.
So now it is waiting for a second gold medal or do we have to say a fifth one. Yesterday the pursuit team won the event from the Russians. Jack, Rohan, Luke and Michael put down a 3.57.832, the Russians didn't get under the 4 minutes.
The finale for the individual pursuit will be held between Jack Bobridge and the Kiwi, Jesse Sergent. For bronze it is a full Aussie race with Michael Hepburn against Rohan Dennis.
The women's team pursuit turns out to a race for bronze, Amy Cure, Kat Bates and Jo Tomic have to beat the New Zealand trio.
In the meantime the riders are warming up and crowd is getting bigger altough i see lots of empty seats. Still tree quarters of an hour to go.
Talk to ya soon.
Gold and gold, Jack, Anna and Kaarle won their final races. The only bummer was that the girls of the teamspursuit got beaten for bronnze by the Kiwis!
Anna Meares and Kaarle Mc Cullogh finished in a time of 33.237 (speed average 54.155km), beaten the British girls Pendleton and Varnish.
The finale between Jack Bobridge and Jesse Sergent turned out to be a start to finish lead of Jack. Over 2 seconds faster then the Kiwi Jack won in a time of 4.21.141. (the World Record is 4.10.534 also owned by Jack) But the slower time got all to do with the track, who's not build to beat records he said to me before the race.
Well done Cyclones!
and tomorrow: AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE, OUI, OUI, OUI.

Gossie and Ruth C remain leaders in the Aussie Cups 2011

Matt Goss could hold the lead in the men's Cup with taking 18 points in Paris-Nice. Matt won the third stage and that only was good for 10 points. In the race to the sun Heinrich Haussler was the big points taker with 35 points. Good enough to ensure a second spot in the Aussie Cup only 9 points away from the HTC rider.
The most succesfull Aussie rider of the last two weeks will be Cadel Evans. Former world champion won stage 6 and GC in the Italian Tirreno-Adriatico. No less then 13 Aussies at the start in Marina di Carrara and only Mc Ewen didn't make it to San Benedetto del Tronto. Big jump forwards also of "Burt" Lancaster. Brett is now placed 24th.
In Belgium, Malaysia and Uruguay the Continental riders could finally gather some points. In the Jelajah Tour in Malaysia the best results were for the Genesys men. Especially Steele Von Hoff was
present in this race. With his performance in Malaysia he enters the top 10 of the Aussie Cup.
Also David Kemp (pic at start of the Omloop van het Waasland), Nathan Haas and Patrick Shaw (in Malaysia) took their first points.
Looking forward now what the classics will bring for the Pro Tour / Pro Continental riders. But also looking out for the Continental men who will race allover the world in the coming two weeks.
the ranking:
1. Matthew Goss - 110pts
2. Heinrich Haussler - 101pts
3. Mark Renshaw - 85pts
4. Michael Matthews - 83pts
5. Robbie Mc Ewen - 65pts

The Women's Cup didn't change at all the last two weeks. Only Tif Cromwell of the Belgian Lotto team took a point in the classic Tielt-Winge in Belgium. That means Ruth Corseth is still in the lead.
the ranking:
1. Ruth Corset - 43pts
2. Joanna Hogan - 33pts
3. Vicki Whitelaw - 28pts
4. Alexis Rhodes - 27pts
5. Rochelle Gilmore - 26pts


The women's Aussie Cup is sponsored by S.C.M.Services
if you are interested in a detailed exel file of both Aussie Cup rankings, you only have to send an email to: thealice40@gmail.com

the Belgian cycling opening weekend

The Aussie Cup, finaly in Belgium! haha!
And the winner of this weekend is of course Chris Sutton (pic). He won in Kuurne, beating the other fast guys, Hutarovitch, Greipel and Farrar in a bunch kick. A surprise everybody says! Not for me tho. Didn't he win the G.P.Cholet 2006 beating Nico Eeckhout, not a slow one i would say. Another Sky rider who was in the picture the whole weekend (third in Ghent, just behind Langeveld and Flecha) was Matt Hayman. Matt scored only one point less then Chris.
And far away from the rain and cold, in South Africa, it was Fabio Calabria (Type 1) who took 13 points home and moved up to rank 30.
Top 5 at Feb 28th:
1. Matt Goss - 82 pts
2. Michael Matthews - 68 pts
3. Heinrich Haussler - 66 pts
4. Mark Renshaw - 57 pts
5. Nathan Earle - 49 pts (first continental rider)
13. Matt Hayman - 31 pts
16. Chris Sutton - 26 pts

This weekend we started also the women's Aussie Cup 2011.
One 1 days race (Omloop het Nieuwsblad) and one tour (Tour of New Zealand) finished on sunday.
Ruth Corset took over the lead of Alexis Rhodes. Alexis (national road champion) who didn't race in Kiwiland gathered her points in Qatar, while Ruth took no less then 32 points in New Zealand!
With the next races in Belgium, it will be hard to tell if some off the Aussie girls will take part of these competitions.
Top 5 at Feb 28th:
1. Ruth Corset - 43 pts
2. Joanna Hogan - 33 pts
3. Vicki Whitelaw - 28 pts
4. Alexis Rhodes - 27 pts
5. Rochelle Gilmore - 26 pts

the women's Aussie Cup is born!

the first ranking after the Nationals, Qatar, Het Nieuwsblad and New Zealand Tour:

CORSET Ruth	TOWNSVILLE CC	43
HOGAN Joanna	ST KILDA CC	33
WHITELAW Vicki	LOTTO	28
RHODES Alexis	GARMIN	27
GILMORE Rochelle	LOTTO	26
GILLOW Shara	SUNSHINE COAST	24
HOSKING Chloe	H.T.C.	22
NEYLAN Rachel	DIADORA	19
CROMWELL Tiffany	LOTTO	16
KITCHEN Lauren	PORT MACQUARIE	16
SPRATT Amanda	PENRITH CC	14
HODGES Kendelle		13
CARLE Alexandra	VIKINGS CC	10
RYAN Carla	GARMIN	9
TAYLOR Carlee	TIBCO	9
MC CONVILLE Chloe		9
MEADLEY Laura	CANBERRA CC	8
LOCKE Rebecca	COBURG	8
GOSS Belinda		7
BROUN Kirsty		6
ORLIC Nikolina	H.P.R.W.	6
O'DONNELL Bridie	FASSA BORTOLO	5
WATTERS Zoe		5
WILLIAMS Naomi		5
JACOBS Lisa		5
NITIS Shanice		5
BRADLEY Amy		5
TROTTER Ingrid		5
VIT Maddison		5
KAUFMANN Anna		5
ASTIER Delphine		5
WHITBURN Nicole		5
MACKIE Emma	TIBCO	4
VAN DER STRAATEN Trudy	BICISPORT	3
NOONAN Sinead	STURT HOLDFAST	3
MULLENS Peta	BENDIGO CC	3
MAC LEAN Jessie	CANBERRA CC	3
LUXFORD Annabel	LIFECYCLE CC	3
HEMSLEY Samantha	CANBERRA CC	3
HEATHER Taryn	MILDURA CC	3
HALLIDAY Amber	NORWOOD CC	3
ELVIN Gracie	CANBERRA CC	3
RILEY Sarah		3
MC CLURE Angela	KLEO LADIES	1
WIASAK Rebecca	CANBERRA CC	1
TURNER Caitlin	PELOTON SPORTS	1
SULZBERGER Grace	WEST TAMAR CC	1
O'SHEA Katherine	DIRT RIDERS	1
MC LEAN India	N.SYDNEY CC	1
LUXFORD Laura	LIFECYCLE CC	1
DALLAT Clare	CARNEGIE	1
TOMIC Josephine	LOTTO
SUMMERS Davina	BIZKAIA
BATES Katherine	ABUS

g'day all,
today the last cyclocross race was a fact. The last heat of the GVA trophee took place at Oostmalle, about 5km away from former Aussie pro David Harrigan's residence. To start the day Lieve (my wife) and i went for a nice Aussie "caffé latté" to Harro's place. Jess and Dash (his nearly 5 year old little cute daughter) welcomed us inside. Outside the snow came down and it was freezing cold. Chatting away and few new ideas for the Omnisport International "Aussie Cup"later, we hit the road again towards the race. The U23 race was won by the worldchampion Lars Van der Haar (NED) and the women's was also won by a Dutchie, Daphne Van Den Brande. At 3pm the elite riders, all ready to start and no more snowing. We saw a relaxed Stybar, Albert and Nys getting cold, while waiting for the startgun. Anyway, Kevin Pauwels only needed two points to win the GC of the GVA trophee. But then he had to beat Sven Nys. But the experienced Nys controlled the race and didn't even payed attention on Niels Albert when he rode away alone and won the race. No matter how hard Zdenek Stybar and Bart Wellens tried to help their teammate Pauwels, it was SvenNys who won the trophee! So once again a cyclo cross season was dominated by Sven Nys, together with world champion Stybar and Belgian champ Niels Albert.

In the meantime 3 road races finished where Australians could score lots of points for the Aussie Cup. Matthew Goss scored enough points in the Tour of Oman to stay leader in the OSI Aussie Cup, also Haussler rode well enough to keep his third place in GC. In Portugal, the Volta ao Algarve, the big winners were "Bling", Cookie, Gerrans and Allan Davis. The third race only saw 3 aussies at the start and Mitch Docker stopped in the second stage. The other two, Travis Meyer and Richie Porte only took 3 points each.
So, on GC, it means that Matt Goss is still in the lead with 82 pts, in second Michael Matthews with 67pts one more then Heinrich Haussler. Still two Continental riders in the top 10! Nathan Earle (49pts) of the Genesys team and Lachlan Norris, the Drapac rider with 36 pts.
Next weekend we're off to the opening classic in Belgium and the following day, Kuurne - Brussels - Kuurne. C'mon Aussies go for it!!!

omnisport international Aussie Cup

over the years i went to lots of races with Aussies. Almost every time on the way up to the race the boys argued who would be first Aussie today. (we talk about the 70s and 80s now, when it was not so commun that an Australian pro won a race as it is today).
After a while they start to call it the Aussie Cup, which means even if you finished 49th in the race and first Aussie, you won the cup!
Well this is what i like to introduce here:
RULES:
1) you must have Aussie nationality!
2) only races on UCI calendar count + Belgian pro kermesses (hahaha)
3) points system
first: 10pts, 2nd 9pts, 3th 8pts, 4th 7pts, 5th 6pts.
places 6 up to 10: 5pts
places 11 up to 20: 3pts
every finisher: 1 pt

the first ranking you see on my blog is the one after TDU / Vuelta San Luis / Tour of Wellington / Tour of Langkawi.
these are the only races with Australian riders at the start

		Langkawi
GOSS Matthew	H.T.C.	50
EARLE Nathan	GENESYS	44
MATTHEWS Michael	RABO	36
NORRIS Lachlan	DRAPAC	30
MC EWEN Robbie	R	30
DAVIS Allan	ASTANA	29
MEYER Cameron	GARMIN	29
LANE Patrick	JAYCO	25
ROBERTS Luke		23
MORTON Lachlan David	SLIPSTREAM	21
HILL Ben		21
CLARKE Hilton	UNITED	19
SEMPLE Adam	DRAPAC	19
VON HOFF Steele	GENESYS	18
BROWN Graeme	RABO	16
JORY Chris		15
DONATI Reuben		15
CANTWELL Jonathan		15
PALMER Thomas	DRAPAC	13
SHAW Stuart	DRAPAC	13
LANG Richard	JAYCO	13
GERRANS Simon	SKY	13
WILSON Matthew	GARMIN	13
COOKE Baden	SAXOBANK	13
LOCKE Deon	CHAMPION	11
PELL David	DRAPAC	11
POLLOCK Rhys	DRAPAC	11
MENZIES Karl	UNITED	11
RUDOLPH Malcolm	JAYCO	11
GRENFELL Phil		11
RENSHAW Mark	H.T.C.	11
OBST Ryan		10
WITMITZ Sam	LETUA	9
PHELAN Adam	DRAPAC	9
SUTTON Christopher	SKY	9
SULZBERGER Wesley	FDJ	9
PORTE Richie	SAXOBANK	9
O'GRADY Stuart	LEOPARD	9
SUTHERLAND Rory	UNITED	9
GRIMSEY Stuart	DRAPAC	7
AITKEN Nick	JAYCO	7
WURF Cameron	LIQUIGAS	7
TANNER David	SAXOBANK	7
ROGERS Michael	SKY	7
ROE Timothy	BMC	7
MEYER Travis	GARMIN	7
LANCASTER Brett	GARMIN	7
HEPBURN Michael	JAYCO	7
HAYMAN Matthew	SKY	7
HANSEN Adam	OMEGA	7
DURBRIDGE Luke	JAYCO	7
DOCKER Mitchell	SKIL	7
CLARKE William	LEOPARD	7
CLARKE Simon	ASTANA	7
BOBRIDGE Jack	GARMIN	7
LOVELOCK Jonathan	GENESYS	6
RUTHERFORD Sam		6
PHELAN Michael	DRAPAC	4
MARSHALL Matthew	GENESYS	4
MC CARTHY Jay	JAYCO	4
STRAUB Geoff		4
MC KENZIE Aidan		4
WALLIS Dylan		4
BOMBALL Stephen		4
WILLIAMS Marc		4
BAKER Michael		4
MALONE Alex		3
DONALD Tom		3
DEERY David		3
SULZBERGER Bernard		3
BROOKS Hayden	V AUS
DAVIES Zachary	V AUS
FREIBERG Michael	V AUS
MC DONALD Peter	V AUS
SHELDON Taylor	V AUS
SULLIVAN Sean	V AUS
WALKER Nick	V AUS
WINN Chris	V AUS
SANDERSON Nic	AMORE & VITA
EVANS Cadel	BMC
BENSON Matthew	BUD
COLE Brendan	BUD
CUPITT Michael	BUD
ENGLAND Michael	BUD
FRIEBERG John	BUD
HERZIG Peter John	BUD
MC LEOD Brian	BUD
WINDSOR Blair	BUD
WOOD Matt	BUD
WILLIAMS Christopher	CHAMPION
DRAPAC Patrick	DRAPAC
ANDERSON John	ENDURA
FLAKEMORE Campbell	GENESYS
GIACOPPO Anthony	GENESYS
HAAS Nathan	GENESYS
MARWOOD Kyle	GENESYS
RIGG Jason	GENESYS
WALKER Kane	GENESYS
WALKER Tim	GENESYS
HOWARD Leigh	H.T.C.
CARVER Alex	JAYCO
DONNELLY Aaron	JAYCO
HOWSON Damien	JAYCO
KERBY Jordan	JAYCO
LOVELOCK FAY Mitchell	JAYCO
DICKESON William	JELLY BELLY
LOUTIT Alistair	JELLY BELLY
HALL Stephen	JILUN
HARRIS Glen	JILUN
IRVINE Mathew	JILUN
ROBSON Brad	JILUN
MITCHELL Nick	MARCO POLO
LLOYD Matthew	OMEGA
PRETE Joshua	PSK
DEMPSTER Zakkari	RAPHA
MUNRO Casey	RAPHA
WINDSOR Dean	RAPHA
NANKERVIS Tommy	REALCYCLIST
O'BRIEN Mark	SP.TABLEWARE
LEWIS Joseph	TREK
CALABRIA Fabio	TYPE 1
KING Benjamin	TYPE 1
CLARKE Jonathan	UNITED
POOLE Liam	W.S.A.
KEMP David	WILLEMS