The Coffee Ride #87, with Reece Homfray
MARK Renshaw’s participation in January’s Tour Down Under will hinge on whether his new team MTN-Qhubeka goes WorldTour next year.
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RENSHAW AND CAV FOR TOUR DOWN UNDER?
MARK Renshaw’s participation in January’s Tour Down Under will hinge on whether his new team MTN-Qhubeka goes WorldTour next year.
To be re-branded Dimension Data in 2016, the African team is believed to be closing in on a WorldTour licence which would guarantee it a start in Adelaide.
Logistically the TDU is believed to be at capacity with 20 teams — 18 from the WorldTour and two wildcards in Drapac and UniSA.
But if Dimension Data does join cycling’s top-tier, Australian cycling fans will be anxious to know whether team bosses roll out their marquee signing in Mark Cavendish at the first race of the season or unveil him in Argentina at the Tour de San Luis where he has started his past three seasons.
Cavendish has ridden the TDU only once in 2011 while Renshaw has only missed it once (2010) in the past 14 years.
Two of the world’s other most exciting sprinters in Peter Sagan and Andre Greipel are not believed to be heading to Adelaide.
World champion Sagan is set to debut the rainbow jersey in 2016 in San Luis while Greipel’s team Lotto-Soudal last week said the German is not expected to race in Adelaide.
Renshaw said he would race the Australian summer and his 2016 program would follow Cavendish regardless of whether or not the Manx Missile makes Great Britain’s track team for Rio.
“It will be more the same sort of thing with Cav, that same kind of program,” Renshaw said.
“Nothing will change for me there.
“I think we’ll do everything (races) that we want to do, having Cav and all the guys I don’t think it will be a big issue but WorldTour (licence) would be a lot easier,” he said.
After what he describes as an emotionally draining year, Renshaw said the decision to change teams by leaving Etixx-QuickStep was based on money and a desire to continue racing alongside Cavendish.
“It was a long year, mentally in that kind of team with big results expected all the time it makes it pretty hard,” Renshaw said.
“That (changing teams) was mainly about (riding with) Cav and money ... I think (former team manager Patrick) Lefevere would have been happy to keep us but he didn’t have the budget.
“It’s well publicised they (MTN-Qhubeka) have some big vision off the bike so it’s going to be a big change from Etixx-QuickStep for sure.”
The 33-year-old will join his new teammates on a training camp in South Africa later this month before returning to Australia for Christmas and the domestic summer of racing.
With a fast and flat course expected for the 2016 world championships in Qatar, Renshaw has already flagged his interest in wearing the green and gold next October.
“That would be nice, the worlds has been well publicised that it will be easier than this year,” he said.
“It’s crazy if they don’t take a leader for some of the young guys, Caleb (Ewan) has shown his class this year, it’s got my name written on it — I’m not going to win it but I think I can play a big part in leadership there.”
OPPY MEDAL DOWN TO FIVE
CYCLING Australia is poised to crown a first-time Oppy Medallist among a host of other awards at its presentation evening in Melbourne next week.
The winner will come from the list of 18 finalists in the people’s choice award: Michael Matthews, Rachel Neylan, Gracie Elvin, Caleb Ewan, Adam Hansen, Alistair Donohue, Carol Cooke, Anna Meares, Annette Edmondson, Janine Jungfels, Troy Brosnan, Tracey Hannah, Jack Bobridge, Glenn O’Shea, Rebecca Wiasak, Richie Porte, Matthew Glaetzer and Rohan Dennis
Last year’s winner Simon Gerrans won’t defend the title after his season was ruined by a series of nasty crashes and the 2013 Oppy Medallist Caroline Buchanan did not make the list of finalists.
For me, it’s down to five — Rohan Dennis, Richie Porte, Alistair Donohue, Caleb Ewan and Michael Matthews and the first three are standouts.
Matthews is an outside chance but he could have almost been a lock had he turned a podium at either Amstel Gold, Milan-San Remo or the world championships into a victory.
Still, his consistency and spread of stage wins throughout the season makes him a contender for the Oppy.
Caleb Ewan was the most prolific winner of Australian cycling this year with 11 victories including a maiden Grand Tour stage win on debut at the Vuelta a Espana. The only query is how the quality of his wins stack up against the likes of Dennis and Porte.
Alistair Donohue is the standout para-cyclist with gold medals on the track and road at world championship level then lining up in the under-23 road race at the elite worlds. Buchanan won world titles in two disciplines to win the 2013 Oppy Medal so Donohue is a big chance.
Anna Meares, Rebecca Wiasak and Annette Edmondson won world titles on the velodrome but trackies have a hard time competing with the road crew for medals like this because their racing calendar is so brief. Their success was as good as Janine Jungfels who became Australia first ever MT Observed Trials world champion in 2015.
But Porte and Dennis had such outstanding road seasons that it really is a race between the two of them.
Dennis won the Tour Down Under, led the Criterium du Dauphine, wore the yellow jersey at the Tour de France, won the USA Pro Challenge, the teams time trial world championship with BMC and broke the hour record.
Porte won the national time trial title, the Queen Stage of the Tour Down Under for a second year in a row and at the Volta ao Algarve, won Paris-Nice for a second time, Volta a Catalunya, Giro del Trentino and then saved the Tour de France for Chris Froome on the penultimate day up Alpe d’Huez.
You couldn’t get two better road seasons than that. Good luck to the judges trying to separate them.
MS RIDE TO THE GONG
THE annual MS Ride to the Gong on Sunday has been hailed a massive success even with organisers left fishing marquees out of the Pacific Ocean on Monday.
A massive storm hit the Wollongong region on Sunday evening and tents from the event were strewn across the beach and into the water.
Still, it dampen the spirits of organisers who were thrilled with the $2m raised by more than 8500 riders in the fight against Multiple Sclerosis.
Supported by big-names Brad McGee and Ben Kersten who led the NSWIS contingent, the ride also attracted former Orica-GreenEDGE rider Matt Wilson.
A series of competitive criteriums were held in the afternoon featuring Aussie superstar Mark Renshaw who finished behind winner Harrison Bailey.
HOUR RECORD DREAM BORN FROM NATIONAL TT PAIN
AUSTRALIAN cyclist Bridie O’Donnell says she’s both scared and confident about tackling the women’s world hour record in Adelaide in January.
The 41-year-old physician has confirmed she will attempt to break the record of 46.274km currently held by American Molly Shaffer Van Houweling around the Adelaide SuperDrome on January 22.
The race against the clock on the indoor velodrome will be held during the Tour Down Under which brings thousands of cycling fans to the city.
O’Donnell has represented Australia at three road world championships but only rode on a velodrome for the first time in July.
Her inspiration for attempting the hour record came from watching cycling legend Jens Voigt achieve the feat in September, 2014, and her motivation was cemented after being “bitterly disappointed” at finishing second in the time trial at this year’s national championships.
O’Donnell is not prepared to publicly declare what distance she thinks she is capable of riding but says recent aero testing has given her “very reassuring numbers” that all is on track for a successful ride.
She also knows the importance of pacing after seeing the pain Jack Bobridge inflicted on himself when he fell short of the men’s record — 54.526km currently held by Bradley Wiggins — in February.
“I do feel scared but I’m highly motivated and have such wonderful support,” O’Donnell said.
“I think anyone who attempts a record their number one task should be to break it but it’s something I know is going to hurt.
“Even Bradley Wiggins said it hurt more than anything he’d ever done.
“But every time I line up in a time trial or criterium I know it’s going to do some damage and there’s a slight unsettling feeling.”
O’Donnell will ride a Cervelo track bike from Adelaide’s Derby Cycle and the event which is run by Cycling Events National has full UCI approval.
She has done roughly 15 hours of track training with Melbourne-based sports scientists at HPTek combined with helping Total Rush Hyster teammate Ruth Corset win the National Road Series this year.
“After the national time trial championships I was quite motivated to find an event and an opportunity to excel,” O’Donnell said.
“This really ticked a lot of boxes. Initially I saw it as a one-hour time trial but with a lot more of the variables in my control.
“That was a naive view and now having spent more time on the track and hearing people like Alex Dowsett talk about his strategy, I understand it a lot more.”
O’Donnell will race her first individual pursuit in the Victorian senior track grand prix at DISC Velodrome next week then back up in the state titles in December.
“That will be important in learning about getting out of the start gate and getting up to speed, it’s all about data collection at the moment,” she said.
The night on January 22 will also feature sprint racing with Australian track stars Anna Meares, Stephanie Morton and Matthew Glaetzer continuing their road to the Rio Olympics.
SILVER LINING TO TRACK WORLD CUP
THE international track season is officially under way after the first World Cup was held in Colombia in the past week.
As always it threw up some interesting results for Australia which has started the countdown to next year’s Rio Olympics.
Anna Meares and Stephanie Morton will be thrilled at riding an Australian record in the team sprint on their way to a silver medal. Coach Gary West is continuing to search for the right TS combination and Kaarle McCulloch is also in contention for a spot.
Matt Glaetzer’s silver medal in the men’s keirin final showed he’s capable of medalling in Rio while Australia took two very young and inexperienced team pursuits to Cali for racing.
The men’s team of Daniel Fitter, Jackson Law, Alex Porter, Callum Scotson and Sam Welsford won a bronze medal with the time of 4mins 01.060secs in their final which would have been fast enough to beat Russia for gold had they qualified quicker.
The women’s team pursuit did not feature any of the four riders who won the world title in Paris in February and instead Isabelle King, Alex Manly, Danielle McKinnirey, Lauren Perry and Elissa Wundersitz combined to finish sixth in the time of 4mins 37secs.
The second world cup of the season is in New Zealand from December 5-6.
CIC CERVELO SERIES BEGINS TOMORROW
WORLD champions on both the track and the road headline the field for Cycling SA’s revamped summer teams series which begins at Victoria Park tomorrow night.
BMC superstar and reigning Tour Down Under champion Rohan Dennis will contest three rounds as a guest of Cycling SA, while Olympians Alex Edmondson, Glenn O’Shea and reigning Melbourne-to-Warrnambool champion Scott Sunderland provide more top-end talent.
A total of 11 teams have signed on for the Cervelo CIC Super Series, which includes eight criteriums, a road race on the Yorke Peninsula and individual time trial up Norton Summit.
“All the feedback we’ve received about the schedule has been positive,” Cycling SA operations manager Sean Turtur said. “And the return of the Norton Summit time trial will really shake things up.”
The 5km Norton Summit record is currently held by Orica-GreenEDGE youngster Damien Howson with a fastest time of 11mins 29secs, but could be threatened by Dennis, who wore the yellow jersey in this year’s Tour de France.
“We’re really excited to have Rohan riding in the series,” Turtur said.
The race for overall honours in the series remains wide open, with last year’s champion George Tansley not returning to defend his title.
Team Lightsview will be led by former series winner and national champion Russell van Hout, while Chris Luxton and Jay Sweet provide options in sprint finishes to the criteriums at Victoria Park, Prospect and Norwood.
“Russell is starting to look good,” Lightsview team manager Michele Primaro said. “The defining weekend will be the Hell of the North road race (at Wallaroo) because it’s double points, and with two gravel sections anything can happen with punctures and mechanicals.
“But Russell has excellent bike skills and should do well there. Then for the criteriums we have Jay Sweet and Chris Luxton. I don’t think we can beat (Scott) Sunderland, but we can be right up there.”
Sunderland headlines ISC/Godfrey Pembroke’s team just two weeks after winning the Melbourne-to-Warrnambool classic, while the South Australian Sports Institute will field a team of young guns including dual track world champion Rohan Wight.
Members of the national track endurance squad are riding for CIC Cervelo. The series begins with a criterium at Victoria Park on Thursday.
Round 1: Thursday, November 5, Victoria Park criterium (6.30pm)
Round 2: Saturday, November 14, Wallaroo Hell of the North road race 77.2km (10am)
Round 3: Sunday, November 15, Kadina criterium (1pm)
Round 4: Thursday, November 26, Victoria Park criterium (7pm)
Round 5: Thursday, December 3, Victoria Park criterium (7pm)
Round 6: Sunday, December 6, Norton Summit individual time trial 5.6km (9am)
Round 7: Sunday, December 20, Victoria Park criterium (7.15pm)
Round 8: Thursday, January 7, Victoria Park criterium (7.15pm)
Round 9: Monday, January 18, Prospect criterium (7.15pm)
Round 10: Thursday, January 21, Norwood criterium (TBC)
QUOTES OF THE WEEK ...
“Prior to heading to France I thought my level of descending was not bad, this was changed pretty quickly in the start-of-season training camp with the boys.”
- Freddy Ovett on his first year with the Ag2R-La Mondiale development team.
“I’m not worried. Of course there could be some disagreements from time to time, but knowing both of those guys, the staff that works with us, the communication is going to be constant.”
- BMC boss Jim Ochowicz tells Velonews about taking Tejay van Garderen and Richie Porte as co-leaders to next year’s Tour de France.
“The goal for Rio is 3 min 50 sec. If you look at each Olympic cycle you’ll see the world record come down each time by two or three seconds. It was 3 min 59 sec in Sydney when I first rode and then it was 3 min 56 sec in Athens, 3 min 53 sec in Beijing and then 3 min 51 sec in London so that’s what we’re working to each day.”
- Bradley Wiggins tells the Telegraph of Great Britain’s team pursuit plans for Rio.
“I am at 2,600 metres above sea level and have climbs that end at 3,500. I can do almost 200 kilometres at that altitude, and that is a very important advantage. Nairo (Quintana) or Rigoberto (Uran) almost always achieve their best results when they return to train in Colombia.”
- Orica-GreenEDGE excitement machine Esteban Chaves tells Cyclingnews.com about his 2015 season.
TWEET, TWEET
Quick drink stop with the guys at 10k to go... #captainsride @swfaustralia https://t.co/hFWnjLDY1i
— Simon Gerrans (@simongerrans) November 1, 2015
— Simon Gerrans quenching a hard-earned thirst on the Captain’s Ride for the Steve Waugh Foundation on the weekend.
Originally published as The Coffee Ride #87, with Reece Homfray
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