He did it again: Brendan Canty (Team Budget) repeats his overall victory in the Victorian Road Series, that he claimed with search2retain last year. The up and coming climber, who probably might have raced a few of his last events for Team Budget here, secured his second VRS title with his victory in the Warburton Road Race. His first win came in the opening round: the Tour of East Gippsland. Canty further added GC-podiums in the Mansfield Tour and the Tour of the South West.
Things went perfectly right from the start: after Canty took the East Gippsland tour with a solo move in the race's longest stage from Metung back to Metung, Team Budget also took the second stage race when Brodie Talbot and Canty completed an one-two in the mountainous Mansfield Tour. Also Tommy Nankervis (3rd in the Philipp Island Grand Prix) added a podium result for his team, so after some narrow misses on series-titles, Team Budget finally took overall primes in Victoria!
Darcy Woolley (African Wildlife) was the most consistent scorer, also adding a victory in the Midlands Tour. Brad Evans (Pat's Veg) showed some promises as the overall winner in the Tour of South West, while premium climbers like Matt Clark (Avanti), Keagan Girdlestone or Nick Katsonis (Charter Mason) ended up high in the rankings as well. Also US boy Alder Martz (search2) seemed to enjoy his first appearance in the VRS: taking the Philipp Island GP with a solo move and finishing as 9th overall.
Thanks, sutty! Canty definitely enjoyed this state series
Next up is my favorite state series. We are heading further north east..
Queensland Road Team Series Preview
The Brisbane Camperland Queensland Road Teams Series (QRTS) is Queensland’s premier road racing series where teams of the leading riders in the state compete over five rounds to decide the winning riders and teams across a number of categories.
In 2015 the Series escalated in momentum to include 18 teams competing in five two day tour events throughout southern Queensland, taking in some of the most beautiful and challenging courses the country has to offer. The Brisbane Camperland QRTS series returns in 2016 featuring 5 exciting rounds, with the points for each race allocated as follows:
Place
Race
1st
15
2nd
12
3rd
10
4th
8
5th
6
6th
5
7th
4
8th
3
9th
2
10th
1
The following five events will be raced - each of them will feature either two or three (mainly hilly) road races or a timetrial. This makes for a total of 11 races:
Round 1 - Lockyer Valley 3 Races (including an ITT) Round 2 - Scenic Rim 2 Races Round 3 - South Burnett 2 Races (including a mountain race) Round 4 - Gympie 2 Races Round 5 - Yarrabilba 2 Races
Teams
Favorites
Jack Anderson
Kristian Juel
Sam Volkers
Ryan Thomas
Jayden Copp
Nick Miller
Alex Grunke
Ben Carman
Jackson Carman
Daniel Fitter
Dylan Newberry
Trent Carman
Team Budget's Jack Anderson and Kristian Juel (lining up for Brisbane Camperland here) are amongst the top-favorites for the overall victory of this series. While Juel will race all five events, Queensland's best Jack Anderson will skip the first. Also Sam Volkers (racing for McDonalds Downunder) will miss one event, but those three are considered the most promising riders nevertheless.
Some more contenders like Ryan Thomas or Alex Grunke (Data#3), as well as the Carman brothers (all racing for Erdinger Alkoholfrei here) can be threats though. Jayden Copp (Mainline) is another NRS-rider (usually riding for Charter Mason) with higher ambitions.
Brisbane Camperland
Jack Anderson*
Kristian Juel
Daniel Fitter*
Jacob Restall**
Mitchell Sutton
John Freiberg
Joshua Beikoff
Ryan Cavanagh
Chris Luxton
*won't race first round
**will only race first round bolded Team Budget members
The Brisbane Camperland squad opened the Queensland Road Team Series with two victories: Macey Stewart will be proud to her boyfriend Jacob Restall taking the opening timetrial around Gatton. A kinda surprising victory with top-favorite Kristian Juel only riding to an 8th place for minor points. Team Budget's puncheur bounced back in style though, as he took the first road race in Gatton just a few hours later!
Juel attacked the leading group inside the final 4km, accompanied by Sam Volkers (McDonalds) and Trent Carman (Erdinger). The trio could only establish a small gap on their chasers, but another acceleration from Juel would make him take the race ahead of Volkers and Jackson Carman (Erdinger), who was the fastest in the chasing group.
Sam Volkers answered on this "loss" with his victory in the Gatton South Road Race on next day: launching his winning attack with just 3km remaining, Volkers dropped a late attacking Jayden Copp (Mainline) and held off a small chasing group with Kristian Juel and two Carman brothers. While Jackson Carman sprinted for 2nd, Juel had to settle for a still good 3rd place after failing to catch Volkers in this final few kilometres. Good news for Budget though, as Juel took the provisional series-lead by just one point on Volkers!
Restall timetrials to a nice victory ahead of Ryan Thomas (Data#3)!
An early breakaway and the riders already suffered on steep climbs..
Juel, Volkers and T Carman attacking inside the final 5km..
Juel with another acceleration to drop Volkers close to the finish..
..for the win! Juel takes out the Gatton North Road Race..
Volkers goes clear late into the Gatton South Road Race..
Copp and group Juel/Carman(s) trying to bridge across Volkers..
Juel seemed to come closer on the finishing stretch..
..but Volkers takes the race and Juel comes in 3rd eventually!
VOLKERS TAKES SERIES LEAD, ANDERSON WINS IN ROADVALE
Sam Volkers has taken over the series lead from Kristian Juel: thanks to winning the first race in this second round in Scenic Rim, Volkers goes past a struggling Juel, who failed to score bigger points in the two races here. His Budget teammate Jack Anderson, who skipped the first round in Lockyer Valley, did better though and took out the Roadvale Road Race!
Volkers, who was just one point off Juel in the QRTS rankings, scored a crucial victory in the Mt Alford Road Race. While an early breakaway with three riders almost made it to the win, Volkers late attack saw him flying past this trio inside the final kilometre of the challenging race! Luke Cunningham (Podium Life) and Sebastian Scott (TLD) lunged in for a great podium ahead of Ben Carman (Erdinger) and Kristian Juel then! Key points for Volkers.
The Brisbane Camperland boys bounced back on the next day though: Jack Anderson and Daniel Fitter attacked the peloton with 6km left, accompanied by only Ryan Thomas (Data#3) and Jayden Copp (Mainline)! While Fitter provided some great support for Anderson, Budget's premium puncheur dropped the others to sprint to his first victory in the QRTS this year. Volkers came in 6th and extended his series lead thanks to Juel struggling as 9th on the day.
Volkers, Anderson and Juel trying to catch the early break..
Volkers did so under the kite!
The chasing group with Juel, Fitter and Anderson..
Volkers went for line honours ahead of two early escapees!
Anderson and Fitter attacking late with Thomas and Copp..
Anderson with another acceleration on the final short climb..
Opening up a gap on Thomas, Copp and Fitter..
..to take an important victory in the Roadvale Road Race!
Volkers extended his series-lead as 6th on the day..
Thanks for the feedback, guys. Always nice to see former DSs stopping by, TMM
Queensland Road Team Series Rd3 | South Burnett
JUEL AND ANDERSON WITH VICTORIES IN SOUTH BURNETT
In the abscence of QRTS leader Sam Volkers, Team Budget's Kristian Juel took the opportunity to reclaim the lead in the series! He kicked off this two days in South Burnett with a victory in the Murgon Road Race, where his teammate Jack Anderson completed an one-two on the day. Anderson had attacked the leading group inside the final 5km, but Juel easily went past him on the finishing stretch. Reuben Donati (Erdinger) came 3rd.
The Brisbane Camperland/Budget boys rounded up two perfect days with Jack Anderson winning the only mountain race in the QRTS: a challenging 100km parcours from Kingaroy up Bunya Mountain! The top-favorite, who already had won a race in the previous round, took the race in a thrilling battle against Trent Carman (Erdinger). The duo broke clear from the leading group with more than 10km left and held on to a minute-gap on the first chasing group, where Jackson Carman completed the podium and Daniel Fitter finished 8th (after providing some great support for Anderson on the challenging climb before).
Juel couldn't add further points, but reclaims the series-lead with four points on both Sam Volkers and Jack Anderson! With still two rounds to come, we're set for an entertaining battle particularly between those three at the front. Also up and coming Jackson Carman could be well in the mix though.
A 9-men-breakaway group in the Murgon Road Race..
Anderson catching up to the last two escapees Drake/Rolfe..
..but he had nothing left in the tank when Juel went past him!
A valuable victory for Juel, while Anderson tumbled in for 2nd!
Anderson/Fitter and Carman going clear on Bunya Mountain..
It would come down to a two-men-sprint eventually..
The first chasing group with Jacko Carman and Dan Fitter..
Anderson holding off Carman despite being worse positioned..
..and he takes this prestigious win to move up to 2nd in the series!
Jack Anderson continued to leave his mark in the Queensland Road Series by taking his third win in his third event: his victory in the Gympie Road Race would also help him claiming the series-lead, despite current leader Kristian Juel completing an one-two in this first race of the fourth round of the series. The three-men battle for the overall victory is still thrilling with also Sam Volkers making the podium in the Gympie Road Race!
Anderson launched his winning move about 4km before finish, when he broke clear from a small leading group and held on to a 15-seconds-gap til the end. Juel would complete a great result for the Brisbane Camperland squad and collected valuable points as 2nd on the day.
Anderson then tried to repeat this success in a challenging road race from Gympie to Maleny: after going clear with 5km left, Budget's premium puncheur almost held on to a small gap, but ran out of gas with only a few hundred metres to go. A small chasing group with Sam Volkers would caught up to Anderson close to the line, but it was David Melville (Data#3) taking the primes on the day. Trent Carman (Erdinger) and Nick Miller (McDonalds) completed the podium, while Anderson lunged in for a still decent 4th place - thus collecting crucial points with Volkers (7th) and Juel (11th) missing out on (big) points!
Anderson launching his winning attack with 4km left in Gympie..
Juel opening up a small advantage over the chasing group then..
Anderson dominated the race and added another victory!
Series-leader Juel sprinted for 2nd ahead of Volkers!
Again on the attack: Anderson in the road race to Maleny..
Melville leading the chasing group, closing up to Anderson..
Anderson is empty, Melville finally catches up..
..for a clear win ahead of the leading group!
Juel would lose his series-lead by finishing 11th on the day!
The Brisbane Camperland team let it's muscle play: scoring five of six podium places in this final round in Yarrabilba, the team proved it's strength and probably secured the overall victory of the QRTS this year. While he didn't add his fourth win in the series, Jack Anderson did well to prove he's worth the leader-shirt, as he rode to two 2nd places in the final two events of the series.
His teammate and former series-leader Kristian Juel opened the final round with a bang, when he finished off a 12km solo-ride with another victory for the Brisbane squad! Things couldn't have went better, as Jack Anderson and Daniel Fitter completed an 1-2-3 on the day, therefore destroying all hopes for Sam Volkers (7th) to reclaim the lead in the series.
Volkers bounced back in the very last event though: a challenging criterium by Yarrabilba would come down to a bunch sprint, where the best puncheurs would battle for line honours. Anderson and Fitter once again finished 2-3 on the day, but it was Volkers who took line honours this time. With Kristian Juel coming in as 8th eventually, Volkers may at least hope to move up to 2nd in the individual's rankings. Speaking of rankings: stay tuned!
Juel attacking 12km before finish - a tactical move..
He overtook the last early escapee and held off the bunch..
..where Anderson and Fitter were at the front in the sprint..
Juel finished off his solo-ride with another victory!
Anderson and Fitter made it a huge 1-2-3 for the Brisbane boys!
Fitter kicking off the criterium sprint from the front..
Volkers and Anderson join him for a tight sprint..
Volkers sprinting to an advantage over Anderson..
And he took this final criterium with Anderson coming in 2nd!
After missing out on overall series titles for most of the 2016 campaign, Team Budget can be considered on fire now: with Brendan Canty most recently repeating his Victorian Road Series title from last year, the team can now celebrate another overall victory in a state series. Jack Anderson is the crowned QRTS champion 2016 and his teammate Kristian Juel narrowly held off Sam Volkers (Team McDonalds Downunder) to complete an one-two in the final individual's rankings!
Five rounds, eleven races: Jack Anderson (three), Kristian Juel (three) and Jacob Restall (one) managed to take out 7/11 for their Brisbane Camperland squad! The team, that was further strengthen by a promising Charter Mason professional (Daniel Fitter) and a few more Queensland based talents, pretty much dominated the action. Anderson did also add three more runner-ups and should be the well deserved winner of the series.
Credit where credit is due though: Sam Volkers gave the strongest teams/riders a huge fight and was unlucky to miss out on the overall second place by just one point eventually. He did win two races and was often amongst the most dangerous threats for the top-favorites Anderson and Juel.. a special mention should go to the three Carman brothers, who all finished inside the Top-10 in the final rankings. While Ben Carman already left some impressions in the past few NRS-seasons, Jackson Carman (4th overall here) certainly is someone to watch out for in the coming years.
The Trust House North Island Team Series is back, we invite you to follow the only Teams Cycling Series in the North Island. After an exciting Southern Island Series earlier this year, we're looking forward to another bunch of races - with a few of New Zealand's best cyclists battling for a prestigious title.
For each round, points are rewarded as follows:
Place
Individuals
Teams Bonus
Teams
1st
25
6
12
2nd
22
4
10
3rd
20
2
8
4th
18
5th
16
6th
14
7th
12
8th
10
9th
9
10th
8
11th
7
12th
6
13th
5
14th
4
15th
3
Round 1 - Gladstone Circuit Round 2 - Masterton - Martenborough - Masterton Round 3 - Carrington Circuit includes cobbles Round 4 - Gladstone - Te Wharau - Admiral Hill Round 5 - Masterton - Alfredton - Matahiwi State
Teams
Favorites
Sam Horgan
Michael Torckler
Michael Vink
Regan Gough
Fraser Gough
Nick Bain
Andy Hagen
Hamish Schreurs
Ryan Christensen
James Williamson
Tim Rush
Gordon McCauley
After finishing as runner-up in the Calder Stewart Elite Series (Southern Island) earlier this year, Budget's Sam Horgan (riding for Bike Manawatu here) will aim for the overall victory in this North Island series. The strongman certainly should be considered the favorite and has some strong support with an upcoming Ryan Christensen (winner of the REV classic earlier in the season) or Joel Yates.
His Budget teammate Michael Torckler rides for team Rocket Switch and is another threat for the overall win. Just like Avanti's brothers Reagan and Fraser Gough (racing for Homestyle), reigning Kiwi road champion Hamish Schreurs or Nick Bain (Nature Valley) or good old veteran Gordon McCauley (GMC Coaching). Also former Budget-rider Michael Vink (Rivet Racing) or Andy Hagen (2nd in the New Zealand Cycle Classic this year) should aim for the title.
A great start for Team Budget's Sam Horgan (Bike Manawatu) into the Nort Island Team Series: the favorite won an action-packed race on the Gladstone Circuit, thanks to his late attack inside the final 5km paying off. He narrowly held off the bunch sprinting Regan Gough (Homestyle), Scott Ambrose (GMC Coaching) and Michael Vink (Rivet Racing) to kick off his title-mission with a bang.
Rainy and windy conditions made for a tough race on a partly hilly, partly flat circuit. An early break was caught with more than 50km left and a first serious wave of attacks would follow soon after: a group with several favorites like James Williamson (L&M), Nick Bain (Nature Valley) and Brett Grieve (L&M) tried to break clear first.. when they got pulled back inside the final 10km, veteran Gordon McCauley (GMC) would give it a solo-go then. Also empty-handed.
Horgan, who's teammates did well to control the race, waited until the final 3km and then launched his first (and winning) attack! He opened up a small gap quickly and despite losing some ground on the sprinting peloton then, the strongman held off Gough to bring home the victory!
A promising group with Bain and Williamson was pulled back in time..
Also Gordon McCauley's attempt to escape was empty-handed..
Horgan didn't wait for the bunch sprint and went clear with 3km left!
Gough, Vink and Ambrose came close with the line approaching..
..but Horgan held off Gough to take out the first round!
Horgan celebrating his win - will he defend the lead til the end?
Yeah, Budget certainly enjoying some late season success!
Trust House Team Series Rd2 | Masterton
HORGAN WENT TOO EARLY, BAIN TAKES THE WIN
Heavy crosswinds up to 60kmh would make for a race for the strong men and Nick Bain (Nature Valley) appeared to be the strongest, taking a great victory ahead of Gordon McCauley (GMC) and Regan Gough (Homestyle). Crucial points for Gough, as series-leader Sam Horgan (Manawatu) burned himself with a solo move from 8km outside the finish - eventually finishing 6th in this brutal race.
Again some early action from the big guns, as Kiwi road champion Hamish Schreurs (Nature Valley) and Fraser Gough (Homestyle) attempted to break clear from a more and more reduced peloton with 26km remaining. The duo was caught by a 27-men-bunch with still 10km to go and Sam Horgan pulled the strings hard at the front. The winner of the first round kept pacing to open up a notable gap on the small leading pack then!
Only 8 riders would remain in the first chasing group, that managed to fight it's way back to a more and more suffering Horgan then: 1.5km before finish, Horgan had nothing left to counter on those five, who eventually went past him on the finishing stretch. Bain would sprint to a dominating victory, while Horgan at least held off the next small group with Andy Hagen and Michael Vink. Still the series-lead goes to Regan Gough now.
Schreurs and Fraser Gough giving it a go with 26km remaining..
They were pulled back from a small bunch with Horgan pacing..
..and establishing a gap up to 50 seconds inside the final 10km..
The first chasing group of eight would keep fighting though..
Horgan is totally empty when five of the chasers kick off the sprint!
Nick Bain took the win ahead of McCauley and Regan Gough!
