MEN -
Only Australian men there and not all of them. Bit different from previous years as Whitey didn’t give a talk about each rider, so I didn’t get much new info. Scott McGrory interviewed some riders individually though.
L to R: Whitey, Heppy, Durbo, Gerro, Howson, Docker, Power, Hayman, Edmondson.
Notes:
Hayman winning Roubaix seems to have had big effect on ambitions of some of the team. Edmondson, Durbo and Docker all talking themselves up as possible winners now.
Edmondson seems to be targeting classics as rumoured so will be interesting to see how he goes this season.
Docker going with 80s look has a big mo mullet combination. He might have some nasty scars after Roubaix crash so mo may stay.
Docker said that one of the things that makes Roubaix a unique race is that it is the only race where all the riders race all the way. Noone is content to just finish in a group. They will race to the line to finish 87th rather than 88th or 89th.
I asked Shayne Bannon about Kreuziger’s program - he said he will ride Ardennes classics, tour of romandie and TDF.
L to R: Van Vlueten, Allen, Manly, Crooks, Neylan, Baker, Garfoot, Roy, Elvin, Spratt.
Notes:
Neylan very skinny I don’t think I have seen her that light before.
Not sure what the strategy is for this team. It seems to be the weakest Orica-AIS team I can remember, except for Garfoot in ITT. Perhaps their budget has been reduced.
For fans:
Dan Jones now has a drone with camera that I hadn’t seen before so we can expect to see more use of that in future backstage pass.
They are also cutting a feature documentary from all the backstage pass footage since team started - expect a theatre release via madman (distributor) in 2017.
Fantastic report - Kreuzeger is doing the races I expected which suggests Chavez is riding the Giro - Usually the women’s program has 2 overseas riders - One who is a top level rider and one who is developing - Van Vleuten climbed better in 2016 as evidenced in the Olympics and Garfoot can get up some climbs - They will be the two main riders, though Roy/Neylan and Spratt can get results - Van Vleuten has been in Australia for a while as she finished the Crocodile Tour 2 weeks ago.
This move is good for one day races/classics which are usually ridden at a higher tempo, but potentially will make stage races more boring - I can see more breakaways in stage races as GC Teams will try not to burn their matches too early.
Woo hoo. Herald Sun Tour seems to have moved towards north east victoria and set a course with a lot more climbing this year - perhaps to get commitment from Esty Chaves to ride. Note that race director is John Trevorrow who has close attachment with OBE and is employed by Gerry Ryan for various activities.
Good for me on a personal note as I should be able to get to a few stages. Stage 3 goes into Strathbogie Ranges, up Harrys Creek Road and down Kelvin View descent which is all sealed. My only disappointment is that they didn’t take the opportunity to get on some of the excellent gravel roads there.
Bit concerned about a mass sprint finish “inside Michelton Winery” - driveway is only 1 car lane wide with a patchy road surface and will include 2 x 90 degree right hand turns in last 500m - could be a bit of carnage. If I owned a cycling team I wouldn’t be making them sprint there in one of first races of the year.
Ah yes. Hatching plans to hack and rebroadcast audio of stage finishes live to the internet like I did 2 years ago … just to f*** with c***y mcc***face culbert who has media contract.
It’s exciting to see if two gun GT riders in the Herald Sun Tour - It’s also a great opportunity for Haig and Power to build on their first year. It had to happen one day there would be a finish at the Mitchelton Winery.
Interesting interview with Kreuzeger in Cycling News - Matches up with information from the Winery Ride and info I had that Kreuzeger approached the team to join OBE, which of course is a good recommendation for their program.
Leaders for the GCs are still yet to be determined - Chavez and the Yates brothers are clear on their preferred targets - Seems like head management and sponsors have other ideas - You can join the dots - Not the first time a cycling team has had conflicting ideas.
Woo hoo. Herald Sun Tour seems to have moved towards north east victoria and set a course with a lot more climbing this year - perhaps to get commitment from Esty Chaves to ride. Note that race director is John Trevorrow who has close attachment with OBE and is employed by Gerry Ryan for various activities.
Good for me on a personal note as I should be able to get to a few stages. Stage 3 goes into Strathbogie Ranges, up Harrys Creek Road and down Kelvin View descent which is all sealed. My only disappointment is that they didn’t take the opportunity to get on some of the excellent gravel roads there.
Falls Creek stage now going right up to the resort. A reasonable climb test now.
Gerro confirmed for the race as well.
