Mark O’Brien Hopes To Help Budget Forklifts To NRS Four-Peat

Mark O?Brien will carry unrivalled momentum into this week?s Lakes Oil Tour of Gippsland but the pre-race favourite is not focused on his personal aspirations. Instead, it?s all about trying to ensure that Team Budget Forklifts keeps its perfect National Road Series (NRS) record intact. O?Brien has started Cycling Australia?s Subaru NRS with a hat-trick of victories in the Mersey Valley, Toowoomba and North Western tours. The series leader ? a noted climber – is not confident he will extend the streak at the Tour of Gippsland, which starts Wednesday with a criterium at fishing village San Remo. But he does believe Team Budget Forklifts is primed for another triumph. “I?m hoping that having the pressure on me will take the pressure off the rest of the team and we?ll be able to throw a few surprises in there,” he said. “Personally, I think that out of our team, there?s probably two of us who aren?t suited to the course but the others have the potential to win it. “I have huge faith in my teammates but that being said, there?s going to be great competition out there.” Coming up against such a quality field, the 24-year-old is hoping he can clinch a stage win. “But the main goal for me is to make sure that Budget Forklifts keeps winning,” he said. The team consists of Marc Williams, Luke Davison, Ryan Macanally, Peter Herzig, Samuel Witmitz, Luke Ockerby and Peter Loft.

Budget Forklifts will face stiff opposition

Budget Forklifts will face stiff opposition, with the likes of Drapac Professional Cycling and Genesys Wealth Advisers part of a record-breaking field of 170. “It?s fantastic,” O?Brien said of the quality of the field. “I think every year it gets stronger and stronger. “The level of racing is getting to a similar level to overseas, so it?s easier for riders from Australia to step into a European peloton. “(The SCODY Cup) is going to bring out a worthy winner.” Last year it brought out a worthy winner in Steele Von Hoff and a worthy runner-up in his Genesys teammate Nathan Haas. Tour of Gippsland reigning champion Haas has secured an international contract with Garmin-Sharp-Barracuda, which he partly attributes to his SCODY Cup success last year. “You really learn to fight for position in Australian racing with so many crits and fast finishes,” Haas said. “Having done a tour like Gippsland, your skills are on par with what?s required at the world tour level. “Australian racing may not be as fast, but it’s as competitive and that?s what makes it such a good breeding ground for good riders.” The cyclist described the Tour of Gippsland as one of the most challenging courses in the NRS. “The teams are really starting to hit form at this point in the year, so if you?re not up to scratch on such demanding road courses and super-fast crits, you will be having a very hard week,” he said. “The course itself suits a rider who can climb but still has the ability to compete for intermediate sprints. “It’s a perfect mix between a really tough terrain and really fits teams, which makes this race such a tough one to win.” Haas ? who is preparing for the Tours of Utah, Colorado and Britain – believed that riders had to be consistent throughout the Gippsland race or they would slip back too far to claim GC honours. The Lakes Oil Tour of Gippsland features nine stages, wrapping up with a waterfront Paynesville criterium on Sunday. The event is supported by Tourism Victoria and four municipal councils – Bass Coast, Latrobe City, Wellington and East Gippsland. The tour is the opening chapter of the $130,000 SCODY Cup, which also features the inaugural Budget Forklifts Tour of the Great South Coast (August 15-19), the Tour of the Murray River (September 2-9) and the Caterpillar Underground Mining Tour of Tasmania (October 2-7). All of the four races are part of Cycling Australia?s Subaru National Road Series.