A late call out to entrants in the 101^st Melbourne to Warrnambool has resulted in a strong field for the second official women’s category in the iconic race.

Headlining the start list are current Individual Pursuit World Champion, Rebecca Wiasak and former 24 hour MTB World Champion, Jessica Douglas.

For Douglas, the race is an opportunity to realise a 27 year dream. ‘I have always wanted to do the Melbourne to Warrnambool,’ says Douglas. ‘It’s been on my radar since I was 16 and riding the Great Victorian Bike Ride. As soon as I saw that the race needed more female entries, I got butterflies in my stomach and then I knew I just had to enter. So I did.’ Douglas’ endurance background gives her confidence in covering the distance, but her focus will be on the finish line. ‘My goal is to finish and enjoy working in a good bunch all day long,’ said Douglas.

The timing of the race coincides with summer season preparations for Wiasak, but her expectations for the race are modest. ‘I am only a couple of weeks into my pre-season training so the Melbourne to Warrnambool will get me a lot of base kms!’ said Wiasak. Before taking a short break last month, Wiasak was showing strong form by winning the overall at the Amy’s Otway Classic and stage wins at the Sam Miranda Tour. Wiasak will be joined by her High5 Dream Team team mates, Tessa Fabry and Kendelle Hodges.

Race insiders will be looking to two underdogs to shine, particularly as the race nears Warrnambool: South Yarra resident Purdie Long and Cairns based rider Fiona Yard. Long has had an ideal preparation, with her season built around a performance peak for the Melbourne to Warrnambool. A finisher in the 2015 edition, this second attempt is to address unfinished business. ‘I am here to race it again with the learnings and knowledge gained from last year,’ says Long, ‘and to ultimately improve on my result.’

For Yard, preparation in the north of Australia has been ideal, avoiding much of the spring rain and wind facing the southern states. She has also been able to train with a contingent of six members of the Cairns Cycling Club, led by former Victorian resident Duncan Murray. ‘He conned all six of us (to enter)’ admitted Yard. Those familiar with Yard recognise her pure determination whenever she gets on her bike, a trait that will become essential when the race clocks over 200km.

At 277km the race distances surpasses distance regulations for both male and female cyclists in Australia, with the race requiring an exemption to the distance rulings in order to be sanctioned. It is also unique in world cycling, where men and women all line up together at the start line.

Cycling Victoria CEO Kipp Kaufmann is pleased to see the women’s event strengthened with equal prize money support from the State Government and support from Warrnambool business, Anchor Point Village. ‘The Women’s Melbourne to Warrnambool has quickly established itself as an iconic event in the cycling calendar’, said Kaufmann. ‘We look forward to working with all stakeholders to continue to grow the women’s race.’

The race begins at Eagle Stadium in Werribee on Saturday 15^th October from 7:30am, with riders expected to finish around 3pm (depending on the conditions) in Warrnambool. You can follow the women’s event using the hashtag #WM2W16 or from the dedicated twitter account: www.twitter.com/anchorpointM2W

Women’s entries

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With two races to be run on the day the kermesse was first up, early in the morning, featuring three laps of a 20 kilometre circuit around Canberra. The riders took off from the start/finish at Mt Stromlo in chilly conditions with almost no wind to speak of to break up the race. The placid conditions, combined with nature of the course on wide, open roads that the nation’s capital is renowned for saw a relatively controlled race.

High5 Dreamteam were the main team that took on the responsibility of working to keep the peloton in check and they brought back attacks from the other teams that were looking to be the aggressors.

Georgia Catterick (Roxsolt) launched the first move of the day with Mikayla Harvey (Mike Greer Homes) bridging over before the pair were swallowed up by the bunch. Other riders tried their luck in short-lived attempts, before Rebecca Stephens (CBR Women’s Racing) jumped off the front and built a lead of 20 seconds on the third lap before being caught just before the riders turned off the circuit to return to Mt Stromlo.

That prompted the launch of an attack by Lucy Bechtel (Specialized) who joined forces with Grace Anderson (CBR Racing) in a dangerous looking attack. Again High5 Dreamteam worked hard to bring the riders back and by the time they reached a rain-effected Mt Stromlo circuit it was clear that the race would end in a bunch sprint. In the dash to the line it was Kendelle Hodges (High5 Dreamteam) that paid off the efforts of her teammates, with Rebecca Wiasak coming home in second to make it a 1-2 for the team. Mikayla Harvey came home for third, finishing off impressively after attacking earlier in the stage.

After the stage Kendelle Hodges spoke to Peloton Café about how the stage panned out.

“It’s a pretty special team when your teammate can come up to you with 15-20 kilometres to go and say to you, ‘It’s your turn today”. That was really special, when ‘Beck’ (Wiasak) said ‘We’re riding for you at the finish. I had to win when she said that! She was on my wheel anyway so I knew she’d cover if anything went wrong.”

“We had Lucy Kennedy in the lead with just over a twenty second gap to Ruth Corset and with the criterium in the afternoon, we knew we just wanted to keep it together. We wanted Lucy to finish with Ruth to confirm the GC lead going into the criterium this afternoon.”

Hodges is back in Australia after racing extensively in the criterium series in the United States, coming back for the last few NRS races of the season and grabbing her first NRS victory of the season in the National Capital Tour.

“I had a really great time in America, I got a few wins and that was what I was training for this year. I’ve come back, to support the team really, and I played that role, so to be given the chance to go for the win is really nice.”

The second stage of the day was conducted in wet and miserable conditons on the Mt Stromlo criterium circuit, with the racing coming down to a will-they-won’t-they game of cat and mouse between the peloton and three rider break.

Louisa Lobigs (Holden) was the first of the aggressors, with the Amy Gillet Foundation scholarship winner springing off the front of the race, soon to be joined by Grace Anderson (Mike Greer Homes) and New Zealander Rylee McMullen. The trio worked well together, albeit with Lobigs taking the longest turns in the pace-making.

Behind the big teams of the peloton looked a bit disorganised in establishing a regular chase with Kate Perry (Specialized) doing most of the work on the front of the peloton for teammate and national criterium champion Sophie Mackay. Other than that, the pace really slackened off and coming into the final eight laps, the group of three had a 25 second lead and looked like they could well hold off the chasing pack to take the win.

Sensing the race getting away, Rebecca Wiasak tried an attack with three laps remaining only to be brought back by Sophie Mackay. Then yellow jersey wearer Lucy Kennedy went to the front, pulling a strong turn that brought the break back to within a makeable distance and Wiasak launched a stunning attack. It appeared to be essentially two sprints within the final kilometre, the first catching the leading pair within the final 400 metres before kicking again through the final corner into the finishing straight to win convincingly.

Canberra-based and clearly ecstatic to take another win on the course she has had a lot of success on in the past, Wiasak spoke after the stage to Peloton Café.

“It’s incredible to win at home! My teammate Kendelle Hodges won Stage 3 this morning and we went 1-2. I know this criterium course very well, we race here every week, so it’s so exciting to be able to throw both hands in the air.

“There was a break of three riders away and our team wasn’t represented, the High5 Dream Team had the leader’s jersey so we had to protect Lucy Kennedy from any counter attacks from Ruth Corset. Towards the end when the break was still away I had to just put my head down and attack. I was able to catch the break and I’m really excited to win.”

After successfully navigating the two stages and finishing on bunch time, Lucy Kennedy confirmed her overall victory and spoke about the win after the stage.

“I’m really really happy to win the tour, and for the High5 Dream Team to win every stage of the tour,” said Kennedy. “It was an incredibly successful tour, we cleaned up again!

“I’ve been up there in the mix all season, but haven’t quite been able to get over some of the top competitors before, so it’s been great for me to step it up a notch this tour. For the last few tours I’ve been getting really close, so I’m happy to be able to finish it off today!”

With another strong performance in the race , High5 Dreamteam proved the truth of their name, easily winning the overall National Road Series teams classification.

“I’m so happy to have been able to contribute to the continued success of the team, we’ve now one the Subaru National Road Series team’s classification in the team’s first two years. We have the best sponsors and best support of anyone, so it’s really great to be able to go out there and perform right at the top of the series.”

The other big winner was Lisen Hockings (Holden) who finished third overall in the race to secure the title of the best individual rider in the National Road Series, a remarkable achievement in her first year racing in the NRS.

“I’m pretty relieved and very grateful to the Holden Women’s Racing team supporting me,” said Hockings. “For Louisa (Lobigs) and Shannon (Malseed) to be out here riding for me when conditions were pretty miserable and it would have been nicer to have been at home was amazing. They both got out there and did brilliant rides. The whole of the Holden team have been absolutely fantastic all season.”

The self-effacing 37 year old has made her a massive impact in her debut season and has been a formidable rider in the time trials and climbs throughout the season.

“My first race was at Mersey Valley and all I wanted to do was not get dropped from the bunch, so I’m pretty overwhelmed and excited about winning the series. If Holden will keep having me come along, I’d like to keep having a crack as it’s lots of fun and I’m still learning heaps as we go along.”

With the final stage win, Rebecca Wiasak also won the sprint jersey, Jessica Pratt confirmed her promise by winning the young rider’s classification and Lisen Hockings shared the mountains jersey with Lucy Bechtel after the pair finished equal on points. Hockings would have won on countback but the judges opted to award two jerseys after Bechtel was disadvantaged by the lengthening of the course on the previous stage.

The morning kermesse saw the peloton go fast as soon as the flag dropped, maintaining a bilstering 50 km/hr average over the 20 kilometre circuit around central Canberra. Racing on rolling, wide roads, the peloton didn’t give the riders keen on a breakaway much leeway at all, with several short-lived attacks coming to nothing.

A likely looking move containing Jake Klajnblat (JML Racing), Harry Carpenter (SASI), Ben Hill (Attaque Team Gusto), Sam Phipps (GPM Stulz) and Rien Schuurhuis (Oliver’s Real Food) went off the front on the final circuit of the course. Despite the powerful riders present in the move working well together, the move was shut down by the teams of the sprinters with a touch over 10 kilometres remaining.

On the slight rise that leads the riders to the finish at Mt Stromlo, Ben Hill and Anthony Giacoppo (Avanti IsoWhey Sports) attacked hard from the bunch, coming into the final kilometre with a small lead on the peloton. There the cooperation between Giacoppo and Hill broke down, with neither wanting to lead the other out and the pair being caught on the final corner.

As the catch was made, there was a crash near the front, with Cyrus Monk (Pat’s Veg) coming down on the fast and slippery final corner with a number of riders including stage favourite Jesse Kerrison (State of Matter/MAAP) held up behind the fall. The front riders were unaffected however and it was the locally-based veteran Stuart Shaw (Subaru NSWIS) who lead out of the final corner and had enough time to post up and celebrate as he crossed the line in first. Pat Shaw (Avanti IsoWhey Sports) came in second, with New Zealand national team rider Campbell Steward in third.

After the race, Stuart Shaw spoke to Peloton Café about the win.

“It’s been a while, I think it was 2007 when I won the NRS series and the past few years I’ve spent my time riding for a lot of young guys… the Paddy Bevins, the Tom Palmers and the Adam Phelans. Today our sprinter wasn’t feeling so good, so they said ‘have a go if you want’ and they gave me a bit of help and I got the chance to sprint for myself. It was good fun.”

“The bunch was a bit nervous but to be honest I think everyone rode pretty well today, obviously the final was a bit hectic. In the last kilometre it’s always hectic. I’m a local boy, we race this every Wednesday night and I knew once you get out of that corner you just have to go full gas and commit to the sprint from there.”

“There were a few attacks, I think a lot of people thought a break would go today but at 69 kilometres it’s unlikely that a break was going to succeed. It was aggressive, yesterday was a hard stage but it was only one day and the average speed was really high.”

In the afternoon’s criterium the elements set in heavily with conditions miserable for all the riders throughout the race. Starting out fast were Avanti IsoWhey Sports who went hard from the gun to try and slim the field down in addition to keeping general classification leader Joe Cooper out of trouble. Cooper wasn’t able to stay entirely out of trouble however, crashing on the back half of the course as riders went down in front of him. He got straight back up and returned to the bunch after a lap out.

There was plenty of attacking racing, with Ben Hill again the catalyst of many of the moves and it was unsurprising that he was a member of the most dangerous move of the day where he was joined by Rien Schuurhuis (Oliver’s Real Food) and Marcus Culey (SwissWellness) in a move that was only shut down in the final few laps.

In the bell lap it was Subaru NSWIS who were on the front, again trying to set it up for Stu Shaw, but it was the young New Zealander Campbell Steward who took the flyer out of the final corner and powered away to take the win ahead of Jesse Kerrison and Sean Whitfield (Oliver’s Real Food).

“Yeah it’s awesome to be able to come over and race it with the big guns for the first time,” said Steward. “I’m really happy with how the weekend and how it went with me and my teammates.”

“I didn’t know what it was going to be like when I came in and when I got here the level was even higher than I thought. Obviously it’s been fast and hard but it’s been good to get a bit of racing under the belt.”

Steward will be racing the junior world championships and together with outstanding young prospects from Mobius Future Racing, James Fouche and Robert Stannard, the New Zealanders will field a formidable squad.

“That is my strength, to finish off the sprint and that was what I was aiming for. We’re going to Doha for the worlds in about three weeks time and it’s a flat course, so that’s the main reason why this Tour has been such good build up for the race for myself and Robert (Stannard).”

Joe Cooper secured the overall victory of the National Capital Tour to take his third successive overall win in the NRS and spoke to Peloton Café after the stage.

“Noone really wants to race in these conditions and then everyone wants to take risks and then I end up on the ground because two got tangled and took me out. It’s pretty average racing when they do that, I’m not 20 anymore and I don’t enjoy crashing.”

“After that, everyone sort of calmed down a bit. If it takes the yellow jersey to fall off for everyone to calm down then so be it.”

“It’s good to go back to back to back, that three NRS tours in a row now, I don’t know if it’s been done before… I’m all about doing things for the first time.”

Cooper finished ahead of youngster Robert Stannard (Mobius Future Racing) and Dylan Sunderland (State of Matter/MAAP) on the podium, with Stannard also claiming the young rider’s jersey.

Jesse Kerrison won the sprints jersey with Harrison Bailey (GPM Stulz) taking the mountains jersey and Avanti IsoWhey Sports winning the teams classification.

With the lone breakaway rider Lucy Bechtel (Specialized) caught just at the base of Black Mountain to ensure that it would be the main climbers who would fight it out for the win.

From the bottom of the climb Ruth Corset, who came into the stage in 3^rd position attacked hard from the base of the mountain to try and take as much time as possible on her rivals. Lisen Hockings and Lucy Kennedy were the only ones able to follow, with Hockings taking over the pace-making to make sure that the dropped riders remained dropped, moving her up on the general classification. Lucy Kennedy attacked hard as the climb grew steep again, creating a gap that lasted through to the line, taking the win by five seconds over Ruth Corset with Lisen Hockings third, 23 seconds adrift. Kennedy spoke to Peloton Café after the stage.

“That was hard work! It was always going to be hard work, so I was prepared to suffer for 10-12 minutes.

“My High5 Dream Team teammates were absolutely incredible! Beck (Wiasak) in the yellow jersey was driving the bunch, Kendelle (Hodges) was all over the place chasing everything, and Tessa (Fabry) finished awesome as well.

“I needed to win that for the team because they had worked so hard for me, and I just had to deliver for two kilometres at the end. I felt really good, I’d just been eating and drinking all day, and coming into the climb Kendelle delivered me right to the front so I was right where I needed to be going into the climb.”

The peloton started on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin, with the majority of the race comprised of circuits of the Yarramlumba area which contains many of the foreign embassies to Australia. The rolling course wasn’t too hard and the initial saw High5 Dreamteam control the racing action before Lucy Bechtel threw the proverbial cat amongst the pigeons.

Bechtel was very much the animator of the race, jumping away from the main bunch on the third lap of the 7 kilometre Yarralumba circuit and quickly stretching out the gap to the peloton. She would remain by herself for the remainder of the race despite a number of other riders trying to bridge across, with Shannon Malseed and Louisa Lobigs (both Holden) being particularly aggressive.

‘I wasn’t riding for the finish today, I was riding for my teammates, so the plan was to take the points and time on the QOM and sprints each time around as there was a lot up for grabs there. From the first few laps you could see that it was working in the High5 Dream Team’s favour as they were controlling the sprints and QOM’s, then sitting up at the top. I figured we needed to do something different!

“I knew my team were waiting in the bunch and I had full confidence that they were conserving energy, and I knew the moment I got caught they would be ready to go, so I just emptied the tank. The plan wasn’t to conserve until the end, it was just to go as hard as I could for as long as I could, until the gig was up.”

The other major story of the race was the fight for the overall National Road Series lead. Lisen Hockings entered the final event of the women’s NRS with a healthy 13 point advantage on her nearest rival, Ruth Corset. A below-par time trial threw that position into threat, but Hockings hit back with a performance that will, barring misfortune or a truly extraordinary performance by Corset or Kennedy, guarantee her victory. After the stage Hockings shared her thoughts on the race.

“The Holden Girls were just amazing, with Louisa (Lobigs) and Shannon (Malseed) riding like that I just had to do my best to get a result after a pretty ordinary TT by my standards yesterday. I got a bit ‘owned’ in the TT yesterday, which was very disappointing because it’s something that I like and try to be good at. But I’m very new to it too, tactically I had good power but all at the wrong times and I blew up.

“On the climb Ruth floored it from the bottom, as I knew she would, then sat up a bit and I knew I had to keep going. It would lose me the stage, but give me a chance of moving up on GC. I just kept going hard up the hill, trying to put a gap into the people behind. I knew that Lucy and Ruth were outstanding climbers and would go around me, they did and I did my best to try and hold on. It was pretty good fun and pretty hard work.”

“That’s always a little bit in the back of your mind (the NRS overall) but this is only my 4^th or 5^th NRS race. It’s just so much fun racing against girls of this calibre, I’m learning loads.”

After just completing the stage atop Black Mountain, Hockings joked when the question was put to her about the upcoming stages.

“I’m just happy to have finished today first! I was a bit miserable about it being a three kilometre climb up to the finish today as being one of the tallest in the peloton, I have a few more kilos than everyone else to carry up a mountain!”

“We’ll talk to our DS (Julian Knuppel) and come up with some plans for tomorrow and I’m sure Shannon and Louisa with their experience riding in Europe will be able to help me out.”

There was an unusual bit of controversy in the race as well. As lone attacker Lucy Bechtel got deeper into the race her lead began to diminish from the 50 seconds maximum that she had established earlier, as the race prepared to take the turnoff past Old Parliament House and head out to Black Mountain. At that stage there was a lot of confusion between the race organisers and the commisaires with the result being that an extra lap of the circuit was ridden by Bechtel and the field, extending the total race distance by seven kilometres.

“That extra lap was a little heart breaking, I’m not going to lie! I was worried that I was going to be the only one doing an extra lap, so I was slowing down and talking to the motorbike scouts which does break the rhythm. I think that the peloton got a lot closer in that time. I knew it wasn’t right, so I wondered if I should go through the motorbikes, or just follow what they say. It was a little disappointing, but that’s just what happens sometimes.”

After the race, Peloton Café reached out to the race organisers and commisaires for an explanation of the incident, but confusion reigned even after the finish on whose responsibility the mistake was, with none prepared to go on the record.

The race continues tomorrow with a double stage day, with a morning kermesse followed by an afternoon criterium. Last year the same stages were both won by Beck Wiasak and with her hot form at the moment she will again be hard to beat.

After finishing second in the opening stage time trial to teammate Rebecca Wiasak, Kennedy was pleased to be able to keep the yellow jersey in the team.

‘That was hard work! It was always going to be hard work, so I was prepared to suffer for 10-12 minutes.

‘Lucy Bechtel got away from us on around Lap 3 and there wasn’t a huge amount of urgency in the peloton, but I think because she was away for so long it was a bit inevitable that she would slow down eventually.

‘My High5 Dream Team teammates were absolutely incredible! Beck (Wiasak) in the yellow jersey was driving the bunch, Kendelle (Hodges) was all over the place chasing everything, and Tessa (Fabry) finished awesome as well.

‘I needed to win that for the team because they had worked so hard for me, and I just had to deliver for two kilometres at the end. I felt really good, I’d just been eating and drinking all day, and coming into the climb Kendelle delivered me right to the front so I was right where I needed to be going into the climb.

‘We’ll see what happens tomorrow now, with the time bonuses we’re 1st, 4th, and 5th on GC so we still have options and we’ll go and make a plan!’

With one day and two stages of racing remaining, Kennedy leads Corset on General Classification by 21 seconds.

For race reports, photos and updates follow the High5 Dream Team on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

Youngsters Dylan Sunderland (State of Matter/MAAP) and Robert Stannard (Mobius Future Racing) filled out the podium positions just 5 seconds behind the Albury-based rider, with race leader Joe Cooper retaining his yellow jersey with a ride to fifth. After the finish Featonby spoke to Peloton Café about the victory.

“It came together at the bottom of the hill and Ben Dyball, one the best climbers in Australia hit out really hard at the bottom of the climb. I managed to follow him then hit out nearer the top.”

“I had a pretty bad day yesterday, I didn’t perform as well as I expected but I knew today would suit me a lot better, being a hilltop finish,” said Featonby. “I used to live in Canberra so I know this climb like the back of my hand. So I knew where was the right spot to hit them.”

Featonby is a former world-class triathlete, only really transitioning over to the road at the 2015 Tour of Bright, where he immediately turned heads with a series of top performances on the torturous climbs of that course.

“I’ve only really been racing for seven months, I had some good results but then there I had some issues with crashes and injury. I couldn’t be happier though, getting a win in the National Road Series. It was only a year ago that I was racing the world championships in the triathlon, so to be winning at the top level of road cycling in Australia, it’s pretty cool.“

“You never really know how well you’re going, I know I’m climbing well but going up against the best riders, it’s very different.

Jake Kauffmann (Subaru NSWIS) was the lone animator of the laps around the Yarralumba circuit, staying away from the peloton all the way into the early slopes of the climb after riding on his own for over 60 kilometres. He managed to grab the sprint jersey for his trouble but it was far from his target, later describing the move as a spontaneous one.

“There wasn’t really that much thought process in it,” said Kauffmann. “I went for a sprint, was third on the line and the two guys ahead of me sat up and I went on with it and instantly had a 15 second gap because the bunch had sat up and let us go a bit for the sprint. Getting the gap is the hardest, so when it happened almost by accident I decided to go on with it. At least I got a training day out of it, I was never going to win up the climb.”

The initial closed circuits around Yarralumba were very controlled apart from Kauffmann’s attack, which suited the Subaru NSWIS rider just fine.

“It was really great actually, smooth and flowing and it was nice to have it all to myself. Picking my own line and avoiding the surging that they were probably doing back in the bunch.”

The bunch never let the gap get above a minute, wary of the former rugby league player’s strength after his second on the previous stage.

“Yeah, even though I’m not a climber, the climb wasn’t long and if I’d hit the bottom of the climb with a minute I’d grow an extra leg and might have held them off.”

In the end the gap was at 30 seconds when the peloton raced past Old Parliament House and over Lake Burley Griffen to skirt around to the base of Black Mountain.

Joe Cooper (Avanti IsoWhey Sports) finished only seven seconds down on Featonby for fifth on the stage, but conceded a bit of time to young prodigy Robert Stannard, who moved into second overall and cut Cooper’s lead to 20 seconds. Dylan Sunderland confirmed his talent with a second place on the stage also moving him into third on the general classification. After the stage Cooper spoke about how the race panned out.

“A good team performance out there today, we kept the race quite controlled for the fourteen laps, then hit the base of the hill. I found myself with ‘Hamo’ (Chris Hamilton) for company and we set about riding to my upper limit for most of the climb, and then I had to push for the last 300 metres to stay in contention.”

“For GC, you never know until the fat lady sings, so tomorrow we’ll keep doing what we do best and keep things under control, making sure we’re never on the back foot.”

Harrison Bailey (GPM-Stluz) was the main rider hunting the points on the KOMs around the Yarrlaumba circuit and did enough to take the polka dot jersey despite Kauffmann’s move taking away a lot of points.

Tomorrow’s double stage day will see the peloton tackle a kermesse in the morning before an afternoon criterium on the Mt Stromlo circuit.

The New Zealander finished 23 seconds faster than Jake Kauffman (Subaru NSWIS) in second with Harry Carpenter (SASI) a further two seconds back and a clump of riders only seconds behind them.

The opening stage of the National Capital Tour was held in blustery conditions, with the sun doing little to warm up the riders on the hilly, exposed course. Featuring a fast descent, where the fearless dropped to the top tube and touched speeds of over 100 km/hr the descents were matched the tough, steep climb coming back to the start/finish line on the out and back circuit.

Ben Marshall (Oliver’s Real Food Racing) in particular will be thankful that nothing worse happened after he got the ‘death wobbles’ midway down the descent, thankfully avoiding a nasty crash. Aaron Bicknell was one casualty, in odd fashion, tumbling off at the top of the starting ramp and having to start at the tail of the field, rather than his official slot.

Young New Zealander Robert Stannard (Mobius Futures Racing) set the early pace on the course with his time looking like it might be very hard to beat, but it was once again it was Joe Cooper who weathered all the potential difficulties of the course though, powering to yet another victory in the NRS and leaving many in the field wondering if he is in fact beatable. Cooper spoke to Peleton Café after the race.

“The seven kilometre distance is what I train for, day in, day out,” said Cooper. “I’m pretty happy with how it went and now me and the boys have to come up with a good plan for tomorrow.”

“It was pretty windy out there today, but I’m from Wellington and the wind was nowhere near as strong as there, so today felt fairly normal for me, just another day on the bike.”

The New Zealander has been a terrific exponent of the time trial discipline in recent years and provided some insight into what goes into making up a successful battle against the clock.

“For me my pacing strategy is in two parts and when you have a course like today it’s more simple with the way out and the way back. My goal is always to make sure I can go out and come back even quicker. So you have to work out what the wind’s doing, how your legs feel when you’re on the start ramp and just know where your upper limits are… how much pain and suffering you can inflict on yourself.”

“Over the last four years of NRS races these prologues have been my bread and butter, so to speak. Once you’ve done one you can always replicate that feeling of being in absolute hurt and you have to enjoy in being in that much pain to want to do. Some people can reach that but once they do, they shy away from actually hurting themselves. I think my strongest point is getting to that point of hurt and then ‘just keep poking the bear’.”

Looking ahead to tomorrow’s summit finish atop Black Mountain, Cooper was understated about his chances but still confident.

“I’d like to say yes, I’ll be in the mix again, the climb’s about eight minutes, two minutes shorter than this time trial and it will just be another of those cases of finding that level of hurt and just going from there.”

Jake Kauffman was very pleased and a bit surprised at himself after finishing second on the hilly course.

“It was pretty windy in spots, a few guys came back and said maybe don’t use the disc wheel but I rolled the dice, thought it was worth the extra speed,” said Kauffman. “I nearly paid the price at the bottom of the descent where we turned right and the wind caught it pretty hard but I held it up. Yeah it was a good day, a bit unexpected.”

“It definitely felt fast, I looked down and I was doing 94 km/hr and was still accelerating but I didn’t dare look down after that, just holding on for grim death really.”

Not traditionally a rider that excels in races with prominent hills, Kauffman revealed that he was even considering not having a concerted effort to ride a competitive race.

“Today was not a course that would traditionally suit me, I was umming and ahhing over whether I should save my legs but I had a go and went pretty good, pulled one out of the bag.”

For tomorrow’s stage, Kauffman’s 2^nd on GC won’t be a priority for the team with the final climb expected to be more for the power to weight climbers that the Subaru NSWIS squad boasts.

“We’ve got young Sam Jenner, back from the World Tour Academy, Ayden Toovey and Liam Magennis who could all pull something out of the bag for tomorrow, so we’ll be looking after them. Then maybe on Sunday I can have a go myself again.”

Tomorrow’s stage finishes atop Black Mountain with the stage expected to be decisive in the battle for the overall classification.

Tour with another win at the Tour of King Valley showcasing her latent form from her track racing preparations.Wiasak was the last rider down the starting ramp and finished in a time of 12.56, just beating out

Kennedy into 2 nd and impressively closing in on National Road Series leader Lisen Hockings who had started a minute ahead of her. Wiasak spoke to Peloton Café after the stage.

“When I turned… I had no idea what was happening with time checks, but I kept trying to close it down on Lisen,” said Wiasak. “She got away from me at the top of the climb a bit and I wasn’t sure if I could hold on once I saw the finish I was just trying to keep it above 300 watts whilst my legs were screaming at me.”

Wiasak’s ability on the climbs hasn’t been her strength in the past, but after winning the notoriously hilly Amy’s Otway Tour people have had to reassess that opinion. Wiasak explained how six weeks out of track preparations have changed her physiology.

“Our last gym session was at the Olympic staging camp and we all did PBs in the gym QRM box squats, I think I did 120-something kilos, so I’ve been carrying that weight and I’ve been a bit slow because of that amount of work that we have to do as track riders in the gym. Now I’ve shed some of that weight and non-functional muscle and it’s that much easier on the climbs.”

Looking ahead to tomorrow’s road stage which will take place in the centre of Canberra, Wiasak was optimistic about the racing and her team’s chances.

“I absolutely love racing at home, I think the event is really beautiful taking in some iconic landmarks in Canberra. We’ll hopefully keep the jersey tomorrow, maybe I’ll trade with Lucy as she’s got the sprinter’s jersey!”

Cool and breezy conditions around the rolling hills of the southern ACT were the scene of the opening stage of the women’s National Capital Tour. With the 7.2 kilometre prologue over a tricky,hilly course the usual suspects, like series leader Lisen Hockings (Holden), Kate Perry (Specialized),

Ruth Corset, Lucy Kennedy, Tessa Fabry and Rebecca Wiasak (High5 Dreamteam) all expected to challenge.

The short, demanding circuit saw Madeline Park (Mike Greer Homes) emerge as the early pacesetter, before her time was blitzed by Jessica Pratt (QAS), 36 seconds off the eventual winning time. Pratt’s time stayed as the benchmark until the big names of the NRS came out to play, with

Tessa Fabry coming home in a smart time (+25 off Wiasak) to best the young Queenslander.

Kate Perry (+30) came in with a time that wasn’t on par with her early season performances in the nationals time trials and the Tour of Mersey Valley, although the windier conditions haven’t suited her as well as the bulkier riders of the peloton.

Lucy Kennedy stopped the clock at 12.58 and that looked to be the time to beat with the Queensland-based rider clearly peaking at the right time to challenge for the overall win at this race,which should suit her capabilities well.

Ruth Corset came home with a strong performance to finish just 15 seconds off the time of Wiasak and Verita Stewart produced one of the best results of her season, finishing fourth, just 25 seconds off the winner.

Lisen Hockings may be a bit worried about her lead at the top of the series after conceding 32 seconds on the stage to Wiasak. She currently holds a handy points buffer, but will need to add to that with a high finish overall, as Wiasak, Kennedy and Corset are all putting the pressure on to try and take that top spot.

Lucy Kennedy spoke after the race about her thoughts on how the time trial stage panned out and her nerves at sitting on the finish with the best time, waiting for riders to come in.

“It was a bit of a nervous wait for me with still ten riders to finish after me. I was obviously hoping to hold on but to have Beck take it instead is just as good, now we’re sitting one and two with a decent buffer over Ruth (Corset).

I’ve been pretty disappointed about some of my time trials at recent tours so be right up the pointy end is really satisfying.

Like Wiasak, Kennedy was optimistic about her and the team’s prospects for the overall classification for the race.

“Ever since the course came out for this tour I’ve really targeted it. Even though there’s not a lot of climbing in it, they are really decisive climbs, so it’s definitely the race I’ve been focusing on.“We’ve got a couple of different cards to play in the upcoming stages so it should be really exciting.I’m really excited to finish up Black Mountain, we’ve had hilltop finishes before, but I’ve never reallyfound it tough enough. I think we’ll race it pretty aggressively.”

Stage 2 finishes atop Black Mountain and should be decisive in the battle for the general

classification.

Known more for her sprinting prowess than her climbing, Wiasak used the inspiration of the leaders’ jersey to climb with the best riders in the National Road Series, picking up bonus seconds to extend her general classification lead to forty-three seconds as she crossed the finish line victorious.

‘It’s been an exciting weekend for the High5 Dream Team, we won the Queen of the Mountain, Sprint Classification, two stages, overall General Classification and Teams General Classification, so it was a brilliant weekend all around.

‘In the commentary yesterday Ian Maher said I couldn’t climb over a cherry nut so I wanted to prove him wrong, and I think the leaders jersey gives you super powers! I was on a pretty light Willier bike and I had my teammates around me as well in support.

‘It was fairly controlled up the first climb, I was positioned well, and I was kicking myself that I didn’t go for the QOM points there so I made sure I picked up some time bonuses at the sprint point and second QOM as well. Once it was all together approaching the Great Ocean Road I just needed to stay relaxed and focussed on the finish to pull off the second stage win.

‘In the last 10 kilometres I was really nervous, my legs started to cramp a bit on the approach into Lorne. It’s a little bit undulating so every time the road rose up someone tried to go away. There was a really solid attack with about five kilometres to go, but the bunch had been whittled down by then, and it was Ruth (Corset), Lisen (Hockings) and I just following each other’s wheels. Ruth and I were on either side of Lisen (Hockings) and both went at about the same time, but I was able to get the jump first and go head down. I didn’t even salute today, I wanted to make sure I finished it off,’ said Wiasak.

Lucy Kennedy has made a habit of taking Queen of the Mountain jersey home from National Road Series events, and she continued that tradition today, picking up points on both intermediate climbs on the stage.

‘I’ve gotten into the habit of winning the Queen of the Mountain jersey now, so I always want to win it now.

‘The first climb today was a strange climb as everyone was still together, so it wasn’t until the last 500 metres that I found a good spot to attack. That one was a pretty clear win, then for the second one Justine (Barrow) was up the road so it was a bit more of a fight for second, but I needed the points to take the jersey.

‘It was a really successful weekend for the team, Beck had an absolute blinder, and it was really fun to support her towards the end today when I was doing a lot of work to chase down anyone who attacked , so I had a lot of fun doing that. It’s good fun when you have a really strong teammate that you’re working for and I had a lot of confidence that she would pull it off today.

‘I’m really excited about the National Capital Tour next weekend, it’s a short turn around, I’ll go home for three days, then pack up and head to Canberra. It’s going to be an interesting tour because there is a hilly time trial then a stage finish up Black Mountain, then the rest of the tour is pretty flat, so again it will be interesting to see which cards we play,’ said Kennedy.

The High5 Dream Team will be back in action from Friday 16 September at the National Capital Tour, where hometown hero Rebecca Wiasak will look to continue her winning ways.

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Scott Law overcome a chaotic final lap on the final stage of the 2016 Australian Paper Tour of Gippsland, part of Cycling Australia’s Subaru National Road Series to claim his second stage win of the tour. His Subaru NSWIS & MS teammate Cameron Scott was second, with Oliver’s Real Food Racing’s Nicholas White third.
Avanti IsoWhey Sports’ Joe Cooper finished safely in the peloton to win the yellow jersey ahead of teammates Pat Shaw, Pat Lane, and Sam Crome.

“I’m absolutely ecstatic, the Subaru boys rode really well today. We had a few cards to play out there on the road which was good,” said Law.
“We all rode really well and got together towards the end and came away with a great victory. We couldn’t be happier!
“Two stage wins in a tour, I don’t think I’ve ever done that before, so I’m really stoked with that and it’s definitely up there with one of my highest achievements on the bike.
“I knew if you were first into the roundabout at the end you pretty much had the stage win pretty much sewn up, so I used the momentum from the hill and pushed as hard as I could to get a gap before the roundabout.
“I kicked with about 150m to go and was able to cross the line with my hands in the air,” added Law, a multiple national champion on the track.
Sprint leader Pat Shaw lead the peloton off the line in front of a joyous Father’s Day crowd in Kay Street, Traralgon. From the opening lap the peloton was strung out with the mobius Future Racing squad controlling the tempo early.
Harry Carpenter took out the first sprint of the day, with Chris Hamilton second and Mathew Ross third. The trio pushed on and tried to open a gap, however the peloton deemed the make up too dangerous and quickly closed them down.
Rylee Field of GPM Stulz was the next rider to get away, opening up a seven second gap at the halfway point of the race. He was soon joined by Shaw, young rider classification leader Cyrus Monk, and Jake Oliver of TIS Racing. Try as they might, they couldn’t get away, however Field was rewarded for his efforts with the most aggressive jersey for his stage.
As the laps ticked down the pace stayed high, making it impossible for anyone to get away. Although there were no bonus seconds up for grabs on the second sprint, it was still hotly contested, with SASI/Callidus Cycling Team’s Harry Carpenter making it two from two.
With seven laps to go, Avanti IsoWhey Sports moved their train to the front, controlling the peloton for the final laps. With all seven riders controlling the tempo for the final three laps, Subaru NSWIS slotted onto the back for Law who came through and take the stage win.
For tour winner Joe Cooper, the win was a moment to savour after a complete team effort all week.
“Without Andrew Christie-Johnson, Neil Walker and the team, I wouldn’t be up here. Big ups to the boys over the last five days, we’ve been in everything and if we weren’t, we were on the front chasing it back. I can’t do it all by myself, they do 99% of the work while I sit there and wave to the crowd,” Cooper said.
The 2016 Subaru National Road Series continues with Amy’s Otway Tour on Victoria’s Great Ocean Road from September 10.

By Cycling Australia

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