The Coffee Ride #77, with Reece Homfray
CAMPBELL Flakemore admits it has been a soul searching first season on the WorldTour with BMC but after re-charging the batteries in Tasmania he returns to racing on Friday with one eye on 2016 already.
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CAMPBELL CHASING HIS TAIL
CAMPBELL Flakemore admits it has been a soul searching first season on the WorldTour with BMC but after re-charging the batteries in Tasmania he returns to racing on Friday with one eye on next year already.
The 23-year-old who last year became the under-23 time trial world champion has not raced his bike since May and concedes the step up in 2015 has been a major learning curve.
What started with so much promise with a super-impressive fourth place in the road race at the national championships hit a hurdle two weeks later when he broke his collarbone while riding back to the hotel after a stage of the Tour Down Under.
Flakemore who is highly rated by his team and former teammate Cadel Evans this week told News Corp he had been “chasing shadows” ever since the January crash and subsequent collarbone surgery, and he simply hoped to get through the rest of this season and focus on 2016.
He finished the Tour of Romandie and Tour of California in May but has not raced since the Baolise Belgium Tour at the end of that month.
“They (California and Romandie) have taught me that if you want to be good at this level you have to work hard and sacrifice a lot,” Flakemore said.
“The guys going for the GC at races like Romandie are on another level.
“(Afterwards) I had a good break, I went back to Australia for three weeks just for a re-charge and to try and find myself again and get back to basics.
“Next I’m racing the Arctic Race of Norway from August 14 to 17 and it will be a bit of a test coming off such a large break.”
Flakemore said one of the biggest challenges this year was just getting used to living in Europe full-time.
“Living by myself has definitely been the biggest challenge for me, just getting an apartment sorted out and on top of that trying to adapt to a higher level of racing have been tough,” Flakemore said.
“I have found it mentally harder, there is so much change from the under-23s to the WorldTour, especially for the non-European riders from a non-cycling point of view.”
Flakemore said it had been good to have compatriot Rohan Dennis on the team with him this season and next year there will be even more Australian camaraderie when Richie Porte comes on board the American team.
“It’s cool to have Rohan as a teammate and it’s nice having another Australian on the team just to be able to talk to about stuff back home,” he said.
“It’s always nice to race with him and was great to see him wear the yellow jersey in the Tour de France.”
EWAN FOR THE VUELTA?
ORICA-GreenEDGE is believed to be strongly considering starting Caleb Ewan in the Vuelta a Espana which begins on August 22.
Ewan had two top five finishes in last week’s Tour of Poland and was fifth overall in the points classification showing he has form at the right time for the Vuelta.
If the 21 year old is named for the Spanish race it will be his Grand Tour debut.
12 AUSSIES RACING LA ROUTE DE FRANCE
THE women’s La Route de France got under way on Sunday with Annette Edmondson finishing fifth in the 3km prologue.
Edmondson, who rides for Wiggle Honda, was joined by Lauren Kitchen (7th) who rides for Hitec Products in the top 10 on the opening day.
There are 12 Australians in total riding La Route de France including Amy Cure and Carlee Taylor who ride for their respective professional teams while the Australian national team includes Kimberley Wells, Jess Mundy, Ellen Skerritt, Jenelle Crooks, Shannon Malseed, Loren Rowney, Rachel Neylan, Rebecca Mackey and Kristy Glover.
One team which is not racing La Route de France is Velocio-SRAM which is home to Australian cyclists Tiffany Cromwell and Loren Rowney — who is currently racing with the national team.
The pair will be looking for a new team next season with the unfortunate news that Velocio-SRAM will cease to exist beyond the end of the year.
National criterium champion Kimberley Wells then produced a great ride to finish third on Stage 2 behind Italian winner Giorgia Bronzini.
NORRIS WINS IN UTAH
BIG result for long-time Drapac cyclist Lachlan Norris on the weekend when he won the final stage of the Tour of Utah.
The 28-year-old timed his run to perfection to beat BMC’s Brent Bookwalter on the line in Stage 7 which finished in Park City.
“Our first win in the USA, I am so happy for this team,” Norris said.
“We planned today and executed the plan exactly. The pace was hot up the climb and I tried to remain calm and keep my rhythm.”
Norris finished the Tour of Utah sixth overall behind winner Joe Dombrowski.
NRS RESUMES WITH GREAT SOUTH COAST
THE National Road Series resumes today after the June/July winter break with the Tour of the Great South Coast.
The eight-stage race begins with a road race in Mount Gambier and visits Port Fairy, Casterton and Heywood.
Avanti Racing Team’s Patrick Bevan leads the men’s NRS standings on 34 points from Michael Schweizer (28), Patrick Shaw (25), Joe Cooper (24) and Keagan Girdlestone (22).
There are six rounds of the series remaining with this week’s tour followed by the Tour of the King Valley, National Capital Tour, Tour of Tasmania, Melbourne to Warrnambool and Grafton to Inverell.
The women’s NRS continues with the Tour of the King Valley from August 21-23.
TWO MONTHS TO DUATHLON WORLD TITLES IN ADELAIDE
FOUR members of Adelaide’s Fuse Multi-Sport Racing Team are counting down the final two months before representing Australia in the duathlon world championships on home soil.
Fern Davies, Daniel Canala, Jason Matulick and Sarah Short have defied winter’s arctic weather to complete a solid training block leading into the event.
Davies, 16, and Canala, 18, will wear the green and gold in the elite junior race — a 5km run, 20km ride and 2.5km run — on the banks of the River Torrens.
Davies is originally from Wales and has only been in triathlon/duathlon for three years in which she has developed her bike leg to be competitive on the national stage and is working on her run with renowned athletics coach Adam Didyk.
Canala was a talented junior soccer player whose strong bike/run should make him competitive in the dual discipline duathlon world titles.
Their longer-term objective is to race the national triathlon series over summer but coach Steve O’Brien said they were treating the duathlon worlds just as seriously.
“They’re up against some very, very good competition,” O’Brien said.
“Fern will be going into the worlds looking to get something from the experience and push the other two girls from the Australian team.
“With Daniel it’s hard to say because his bike has improved a lot since the qualifying race last year so he could be a surprise packet because he’s an outstanding runner.”
The other two Fuse athletes who have qualified for the world championships are Jason Matulick and Sarah Short who will both race in the 20-24 age group.
Matulick, 22, is an A Grade local cyclist and beat Steve Moneghetti to win the Adelaide half-marathon last year.
Short, 19, is from a gymnastics background and has made significant gains in her run leg since switching to multi-sport racing.
The Fuse squad was formed in 2011 and now has 12 athletes training and racing at national and international level.
Adelaide is hosting the ITU Duathlon World Championships from October 14-18.
QUOTES OF THE WEEK ...
“I’m not leaving because I don’t like it here — I’ve really enjoyed the four years I’ve had here. Basically I’m looking for a fresh environment and a fresh start.”
- Simon Clarke tells Cyclingnews.com why he’s leaving Orica-GreenEDGE.
“For Alex it is a similar scenario to Robert, while he will be missing some important races for the team, the underlying objectives ahead are the clear with the Rio Olympic Games and Australia’s objectives.”
- Australia’s men’s under-23 road coach James Victor on Alex Edmondson and Robert Power’s season-ending injuries.
“I hope to keep the streak going. I just like the rhythm of racing for three weeks. I’d rather do that than travel to two or three separate races.”
- Adam Hansen tells Velonews.com why he’s riding the Vuelta a Espana this month and will keep targeting Grand Tours.
TWEET, TWEET
Party time pic.twitter.com/iC4NDKV00T
— michael matthews (@blingmatthews) August 8, 2015— Michael Matthews swaps his riding kit for something more formal as he celebrated his wedding on the weekend.
Originally published as The Coffee Ride #77, with Reece Homfray
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