The Spirit of Tasmania Cycling Tour is held across five grueling days through some of the most picturesque countryside anywhere in the world.
This year will see the Tour once again based in Northern Tasmania, which will provide a great mix of spectacular views and tough hill climbs along with some potentially unpredictable weather. It's sure to be one of the absolute highlights of the 2017 Subaru National Road Series.
Tasmanian terrain is renowned for being the toughest and past winners of the Tour of Tasmania include the legendary Cadel Evans, Richie Porte, Nathan Haas, Bernard Sulzberger, Cameron Meyer, Mark O'Brien and Jack Bobridge:
The last stage race in the NRS this year comes with a great course (again): a new prologue in Launceston's "Alp d'Huez" - short, but challenging. The new queen stage will feature a tough climb up to Poatina. It's the only real mountaintop finish in the series this year.
So we need to consider the climbers as the top favorites: Ben Dyball (Mobius), Chris Harper (Swiss Wellness) and Dylan Sunderland (State of Matter) as the biggest threats for Avanti's armada. Will Joe Cooper be able to attack Pat Shaw's NRS-lead here? He certainly needs to. Cooper ain't the best climber though, so how will Avanti handle the leadership?
A few interesting riders can be named, too: Bernd Sulzberger (TIS Racing) should be motivated on home soil. The former race-winner may have something left in the tank. Same goes for Jai Crawford (JML Racing), who used to be one of the better pure climbers in the NRS when racing for Drapac a few years back. He's certainly a great guest rider for the young team. Also Matt Clark or Lachlan Norris (Satalyst) are/were known as good climbers and may finally give the team some success this season.
Joe Cooper (Avanti) is leading the Tour of Tasmania after 3 of 5 stages. Taking the prologue in Launceston and adding two more podium finishes, the Kiwi had a great start into his mission to score points towards the NRS rankings. The GC is still quite open with Jake Klajnbat (JML) currently a strong 2nd with the same time as Cooper and Chris Harper (Swiss Wellness) on 3rd just a few seconds behind.
Cooper took out the prologue in Launceston ahead of teammate Chris Hamilton and Daniel Fitter (State of Matter). The short "Alp d'Huez" climb didn't make for huge gaps, but of course it's been key points for Cooper and his GC-victory goal here.
On second day, the GC-favorites would wait for the final short climb to Grindelwald to make for some action: Chris Harper was the first big gun to attack and the talented climber held off Cooper, Angus Lyons (Jayco) and Dylan Sunderland (State of Matter) til the finish. The stage-win would lift Harper into yellow and those four riders also gained 13 seconds on a group with 26 riders, that included JML's Jake Klajnbat and Jai Crawford.
A more action-packed and windy stage three from Devonport to Penguin would than lead to another GC-change: Cooper would finish 3rd on the day to re-claim the leader shirt from Harper. But the biggest smile would go to Jake Klajnbat (JML) and his team: after a first attack from Jai Crawford was brought back by a group of 33 riders (mostly led by Mobius Future Racing), his teammate Klajnbat launched an attack from 5km outside the finish. Just when it looked like the leading group would settle down to wait for the flat and fast finish, Klajnbat went away. He succesfully held on to a small 18 seconds gap, taking the team's (and his) first NRS stage-win and almost grabbing yellow! Huge result for the squad.
Tomorrow's queen stage to Poatina will likely shake up the GC though. While Klajnbat may suffer, JML is hoping for Crawford to deliver. He did well to stay within reach for notable GC-result so far. Will Cooper manage to defend yellow on this tough climb then?
Joe Cooper did what he hoped for: winning the prologue!
Chris Harper (Swiss Wellness) as the first favorite to attack on #S2..
..to take the stage ahead of Cooper for yellow!
Jai Crawford (JML) attacking the bunch on #S3's toughest climb..
..empty-handed, but Klajnbat with another attempt with 5km left..
..powering into the fast finish in Penguin, still leading..
..for the win and almost yellow! A huge victory for JML!
Cooper with key points so far. Will he survive the mountain stage?
Yes! Fantastic stage win by Jake! I know tomorrow's stage will probably be too tough for him, but a stage win for the team before the end of the season is excellent! Looking forward to seeing what Jai can do tomorrow Should be inspired by Jake's win today!
Thanks guys! Definitely a great stage win late in the season. A fun stage as well, I can only recommend to try it by yourself
Tour of Tasmania Stages 4-5
SUNDERLAND TAKES THRILLER AHEAD OF HARPER!
Dylan Sunderland (State of Matter) is the newest winner of the Tour of Tasmania, beating Chris Harper (Swiss Wellness) by just one second eventually! A strong showing from Matt Clark (Satalyst) made him earn the final podium spot ahead of Ben Dyball (Mobius) and veteran Tasmanian Bernd Sulzberger (TIS Racing). Former race-leader and NRS-contender Joe Cooper (Avanti) couldn't follow in the queen stage, dropping to 12th in the GC. Avanti went all-in for Cooper and paid for it: anyone remember a NRS-race with no Avanti in the Top-10?
The queen stage to Poatina would bring what it promised: the best climbers fought for the GC-lead. In a tough selection-race, a group of 6 riders was leading the race to fight for line honours. Sunderland, Harper, Dyball, Sulzberger, Clark and Angus Lyons (Jayco). GC-leader Cooper got all the support from his team, but eventually lost almost 4 minutes. Behind the leading group, a few riders tried to hang on: Jai Crawford (JML) as one of those, eventually finishing 11th on the stage to jump onto 10th in the GC. The stage would go to Dylan Sunderland, who beat Clark and Dyball in a thrilling sprint, taking yellow from Cooper.
The final criterium through Devonport had heavy crosswinds again, but no major GC changes this time: Daniel Fitter beat teammate Jesse Kerrison (State of Matter) in the sprint, with Jackson Mawby (JML) finishing 3rd for another strong result for his team here. The overall winner Sunderland avoided any drama to finish a second ahead of Harper in the GC. Cooper misses out on valuable GC-points and might have lost the chance to grab the NRS-title this year.
Matt Clark initiating the first big moves with 6km to go..
The leading group with six riders would fight for the stage..
..Dyball against Sunderland with a few metres left..
Sunderland takes the queen stage ahead of Clark/Dyball!
Jai Crawford (JML) finishing 11th, suffering from his efforts..
GC-leader Cooper cracked and lost a high GC-result here..
Fitter/Kerrison ahead of a strong Jackson Mawby (JML) in the crit!
Dylan Sunderland with his first race-win in the NRS. Huge!
Joseph Cooper missed out on a huge points haul in Tasmania, but thanks to a stage-win and a couple of stage podiums, the Kiwi remains the only one, who will battle against teammate Pat Shaw for the NRS crown. It's a huge challenge though: with one classic (Melbourne to Warrnambool) remaining, there's 125pts to be gained for a victory. So Cooper needs to win the final event and Shaw has to finish not higher than 15th.. both veterans are strong on flat courses, so it will be interesting to see, how Avanti handles the fight.
Dylan Sunderland made a jump onto 4th and if he finishes at least 2nd in Warrnambool, he can achieve the overall podium. Given his skillset, the climber/stage racer may struggle to achieve a big result like that though. Also Chris Harper is in the Top-10 now, thanks to his runner-up in Tasmania. For JML Racing, it's been five great days in Tassie: a stage-win for Klajnbat (30pts), a stage podium for Mawb (10) and the 10th overall for guest rider Crawford (35pts).
Crawford's GC score would also see JML making a small jump in the team's classification, that is - despite their rather disappointing outcome in Tasmania - still dominated by Avanti. State of Matter with a key race to jump on 2nd, while Subaru NSWIS or Pat's Veg will need a huge final race to contest Mobius Future for a podium in the final rankings.
The Subaru National Road Series edges closer to its thrilling climax when the 101st Melbourne to Warrnambool classic takes its 279km journey on October 17.
The Melbourne to Warrnambool Cycling Classic is an iconic Victorian sporting event which is the second oldest one day cycling event in the world and the longest one day race in the Southern hemisphere.
It used to be a race for the strongmen or sprinters, where heavy crosswinds of course the brutal distance can make for several kinds of scenerios for the race to unfold. Two years ago, the race came down to a bunch sprint, where Alex Edmondson took the primes. Last year though, a solo-move from Van der Ploeg made him win by minute on runner-up Kent-Spark:
A classy field for a classy classic: several top-riders subscribed for this iconic event and so we can expect another thrilling edition of the Warry. Of course there's the big question, if Joe Cooper will somehow manage to claim the NRS crown from teammate Pat Shaw. He needs to win here, while Shaw would have to finish outside the Top-15. Both should be considered strong on this course though.
Avanti with the best team, but a few individual riders came to ride the event this year: Brenton Jones (former NRS champion in 2015 and riding for Drapac), Scott Sunderland (former NRS-leader earlier in the season, winner of the Great South Coast Tour), Nathan Elliott, veteran Tommy Nankervis should be considered threats. And of course we have some usual suspects like Subaru NSWIS's ever strong core of classic riders (Toovey, Law, Kauffmann). If we get crosswinds, things should become interesting anyway.
JML Racing will hope to continue the better results from Tasmania. Jake Klajnbat is strong on the flat and may aim for a Top-15 here.
Avanti Isowhey concluded the season just like they opened it: Pat Lane took the primes in the final race of the year, soloing to a victory ahead of former NRS-leader Scott Sunderland and Jesse Kerrison (State of Matter). The fight for the NRS crown did not happen, as Joe Cooper (13th) finished just behind NRS leader and teammate Pat Shaw (12th) with no attempt to attack his road captain.
Tough conditions made for a brutal day in this epic 280km classic: heavy rain in the first half of the race and crosswinds up to 45km/h. An early breakaway group with four riders was caught inside the final 35km, just when the first serious attacks in the pack would occur: Matt Ross (Pat's Veg) launched a move with still 45km. The climber still had a chance to overtak Cooper for 2nd place in the NRS rankings.
His attempt was short-lived though, as he got caught by the already quite reduced leading bunch (30 riders) just a few kilometres later. Pat Lane went away with 17km to go and his move always looked like a promising attempt. Avanti's teammate would not chase for obvious reasons and so other teams (like State of Matter) or individual riders (mainly Nathan Elliott) desperately tried to bring him back.
When Elliott ran out of gas and Lane still had a notable gap on the leading group, the remaining favorites would try to bridge across Lane with now only just two kilometres from the finish. Lane did not have the speed, Kerrison/Sunderland came pretty close. But it was enough for Lane to hold on. JML Racing couldn't compete with the best, as Jake Klajnbat finished as 34th eventually. Still a respectable result in his first Melbourne classic.
Matt Ross (Pat's Veg) attacking with 45km left. No luck though..
Just 30 riders remain in the leading group, a few teams pacing..
Pat Lane launching his winning move 17km before finish..
JML's Klajnbat could not hang on with the fast pace then..
The chasing group launching the sprint with Kerrison leading..
..but Lane held on, beating Sunderland and Kerrison!
NRS leader Shaw finished together with NRS contender Cooper..
A huge win for a huge talent: Pat Lane on the podium!
Yap. A race too tough for us.. no good daily form either..
That's the NRS 2017 already.. here come the final rankings.. and the winner is:
PAT SHAW WINS HIS SECOND NRS TITLE
In 2010, seven years ago, Pat Shaw won his first National Road Series title, winning three races as still a young cyclist aged 24. Now that he's been one of the most experienced riders in the peloton, Avanti Isowhey Sport's road captain managed to repeat his success and take the NRS crown in 2017. A huge season for the veteran, who is going to end his career in style.
Shaw kicked off the season with a bang, taking the Grafton to Inverell classic and finishing two further events (King Valley Tour and Gippsland Tour) on the final podium spot, adding multiple stage-wins and key points through stage podiums. After Scott Sunderland (not racing for a NRS team this year) took over the NRS lead after his GC-win at the Great South Coast Tour, Shaw reclaimed the lead just in the next event (King Valley).
While Sunderland would go to finish a strong 4th in the NRS (with only two events raced), Shaw's teammate Joseph Cooper would be his biggest contender for the crown. The Kiwi, who already finished as the NRS runner-up last season, has once again to settle for 2nd, as he missed out on huge GC results except of his win in the King Valley and his podium in the National Capital Tour. He will surely aim for the NRS next year, already being confirmed to continue riding with Avanti Isowhey, if they find a new main sponsor.
NRS comebacker Jesse Kerrison finishes 7th overall and his new team State of Matter complete the season as a strong but clear second behind a dominating Avanti squad. A few promising talents may finally put some pressure on Avanti's dominance in the next year: Matt Ross (Pat's Veg) as 3rd overall, Chris Harper for Swiss Wellness or Dylan Sunderland (State of Matter).
JML Racing made it's first steps in the NRS and had quite a mixed season. While the team couldn't really score too many points towards the team's rankings (as only the rider's Top-15/20 GC results count), the guys had a few good stage results, with the highlight definitely Jake Klajnbat's stage-win at the Tour of Tasmania. Jai Crawford added a nice 10th in the final GC there, while Klajnbat had a Top-3 stage finish at the Great South Coast Tour, where he also claimed the KoM-shirt eventually. The future of the team remains uncertain though, as there's still no confirmation whether the main sponsor will continue or not. Which counts for many NRS teams, by the way. Even Avanti's future ain't certain yet.
I think my comment from a few days ago was deleted (or I pressed the wrong button or something) so I'll repeat what I wanted to say then which was fantastic effort by Jai getting 10th overall at the Tour of Tasmania! Was excited to see how he would fare and he did not disappoint
Crossing my fingers that JML will continue next season. Tough season for the newcomer but they proved they have some promising riders in the squad to build on.
Thanks for the feedback, Ollie. Pretty sure I will run another season, but we will see..
Off to Norway for a week, so I am finishing this NRS season now:
JML'S FIRST NRS SEASON IN REVIEW
The bads
Hard to count anything bad in our debut season on the NRS level. Of course we had secret hopes to finish higher in the team's rankings, but with the new system (where only the riders' GC results would count towards the team rankings), this was always going to be a tough challenge. One thing is for sure though: we lost GC hopes in a couple of timetrials, so this is something to work on.
The goods
A few highlights for sure: the second event (Great South Coast) started awesome for the team. Jake Klajnbat finished 3rd on stage two, sitting high in the GC for two days before dropping from the peloton in a windy stage to Casterton. Klajnbat fought back in style, joining the breakaway one day later and get the team the KoM-shirt. Jackson Mawby had a few notable bunch sprint results, including a podium finish at the Tour of Tasmania late in the season.
Speaking of Tasmania, the race definitely became our highlight in the year: while guest rider Jai Crawford climbed to a decent 10th in the final GC, Jake Klajnbat (picture below) would solo to our first stage-win on a challenging stage from Devonport to Penguin. Attacking the leading group with 5km to go, Klajnbat hold on to a small gap to take the stage. Awesome and gutsy ride.
