The Coffee Ride #86, with Reece Homfray
ONE of Australian cycling’s great warriors Brett Lancaster is in talks with Orica-GreenEDGE about the possibility of extending his professional career into a 14th season next year.
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AUSSIE CYCLING FRESHLY BREWED EVERY WEDNESDAY MORNING, EXCLUSIVE TO ADVERTISER.COM.AU
LANCASTER MAY RIDE ON
ONE of Australian cycling’s great warriors, Brett Lancaster, is in talks with Orica-GreenEDGE about the possibility of extending his professional career into a 14th season next year.
The 2004 Olympic gold medallist is a founding member of Australia’s first WorldTour team but at 35 remains without a contract for 2016.
OGE general manager Shayne Bannan said the door was not yet closed on Lancaster’s time with the team and a decision would be made by the end of the month.
“At this stage we’re still in discussions so we’re just weighing up his options,” Bannan said from Abu Dhabi this week.
“We’ve had discussions about the future so he’s just weighing up all of his options and I would imagine that something will be resolved one way or another by the end of October.
“He’s been a really valuable asset as all of our guys are.”
Lancaster rode the Giro d’Italia with OGE this year where he was part of the successful team time trial on Stage 1 but has not raced since August.
With his career nearing an end, OGE is about to introduce even more youth into its program for next year with Jayco AIS WorldTour Academy graduates Robert Power, Jack Haig and Alex Edmondson all coming on board.
“First of all we’re really excited about the young group we have currently in the team and then to have talent such as Haig and Power and Edmondson makes it even more so,” Bannan said.
Much of the excitement at OGE surrounds the future of Colombian Esteban Chaves who won two stages on his way to fifth overall at the Vuelta a Espana last month.
At just 25 and with his best still in front of him, OGE moved swiftly to re-sign him until the end of 2018.
“Those discussions were had early in the year with him, he really enjoys the team, the team gets the best out of him and he gets the best out of us so we’re pretty excited,” Bannan said.
“We understand there is still a lot of work to do in developing him into a grand tour rider for the Tour de France but we’ve got time.”
OGE will hold its annual training camp and rider testing in mid-November before joining with fans for the annual River and Ranges Winery Ride at Nagambie on November 22.
RECORD NUMBER OF WOMEN FOR THE WARRNY
HISTORY surrounding the time-honoured Melbourne to Warrnambool Cycling Classic is well known but what perhaps isn’t is the involvement of women in the prestigious race.
Since 1979 when Pauline Walters became the first woman to ride in the event, only 13 women have officially finished inside the time cut.
The full list is below but it includes current UCI Oceania president Tracy Gaudry and Olympic silver medallist Katie Mactier.
On the eve of the 100th edition of the ‘Warrny’ this Saturday, organisers have announced that there will be 25 female starters in the 267km epic - five times the previous best of just five.
Among them will be Adelaide cyclist Annabel Cox who has been training 400km a week in the hope of making it to the finish and recording an official time.
“I’d read about it and it’s a special race which has been going for such a long time,” she said.
“I was thinking about a challenge and something to look forward to with my riding.
“My ears pricked up when they were trying to promote women in the race and I thought I’d have a go at it.”
Annabel, 45, who works in primary industries with the state government races C Grade open and A Grade women in Adelaide.
“The aim is to get inside the 100 minutes (of the winner’s time) but it’s such a hard race so I’ve got to be prepared to pull out if I need to,” she said.
“It’s not the distance I’m worried about, it’s the speed because the time is taken from the first across the line.
“I was a bit scared at first but I’m looking forward to it now.”
Organisers are holding a dinner to celebrate the 100th edition of the Melbourne to Warrnambool Cycling Classic on Saturday night where special guest is Olympic gold medallist Brad McGee.
Official female finishers of the Melbourne to Warrnambool:
1980 - Beryl Burton (finishing 105th) and Pauline Walters (107th)
1994 - Tracey Gaudry (56th)
1999 - Katie Mactier (71st)
2001 - Helen Kelly (77th)
2002 - Vanessa Crawford (77th)
2004 - Kate Nichols
2005 - Olivia Gollan
2006 - Kate Nichols (84th)
2008 - Nicole Whitburn (111th and fastest female finisher of all time) and Turi Berg (148th)
2009 - Kirsty Broun (68th and 1st place in D grade) and Rebecca Locke (89th)
2012 - Nadine O’Connor (140th)
RENSHAW TO RIDE THE GONG
BIG news for NSW cycling fans with WorldTour star Mark Renshaw to race a criterium in Wollongong on November 1.
The MS Wollongong Criterium will follow the annual MS Sydney to the Gong Ride which attracts some 10,000 recreational cyclists raising money to fight Multiple Sclerosis.
The race to be held at Flagstaff Hill will feature a number of graded rides as well as Renshaw taking on the NSWIS cycling squad and elite riders from the National Road Series.
“This is a significant development for the event and provides an opportunity for us to work with the cycling industry to develop a weekend of nationally recognised events on the cycling calendar, as well as increase our capacity to raise funds to support people with this chronic disease. It’s a win win situation,” MS chief executive Robyn Hunter said.
QUOTES OF THE WEEK ...
“It was a great feeling to get the win. When you have the reigning world champion in your final you know it’s going to be tough racing.”
- Stephanie Morton after holding off Anna Meares in the keirin final at the Oceania track championships.
“Being a Tasmanian, it is great to be back on home soil, to be riding for an Australian team and still have the opportunity to race around the world.”
- Nathan Earle after signing with Drapac for next season.
“I might not be the best bike rider in this race, but I think we’ve proven that we have the strongest team.”
- CharterMason Giant Racing’s Ben Hill after retaining the leader’s jersey at the Tour of Tasmania last week.
TWEET, TWEET
#MentalHealthWeek Might be time to wear a yellow jersey. Doing it for @blackdoginst + @tourxoz. @CadelOfficial pic.twitter.com/gDHVEsh2O2
— Michael Tomalaris (@miketomalaris) October 10, 2015
- Mike Tomalaris enters Katherine on his ride to Darwin to raise funds and awareness for mental health.
Originally published as The Coffee Ride #86, with Reece Homfray
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