The Coffee Ride #88, with Reece Homfray
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FLAKEMORE POISED TO QUIT BMC
AUSTRALIAN under-23 time trial world champion Campbell Flakemore has walked away from his WorldTour contract with BMC.
The Tasmanian who graduated from Cycling Australia’s WorldTour Academy last year has returned home and has decided he won’t be returning to Europe next year.
Flakemore is regarded as one of the most promising young Australian cyclists to have emerged in recent years and began the season with a super-impressive fourth place in the elite men’s road race at the national championships in Ballarat.
He then crashed out of the Tour Down Under with a broken collarbone after Stage 2 and could not continue.
Flakemore won the under-23 time trial world championship last year which led to a contract with one of world cycling’s biggest teams.
Flakemore said he had thought long and hard about his decision to walk away from the sport and he had no regrets.
He will most likely have a year off cycling in 2016 rather than ride the National Road Series with his former team Avanti Racing.
“No regrets really, it’s just nice to be back and see what’s next,” he told News Corp from his Hobart home.
“I haven’t got any plans (to keep riding), maybe after 12 months.
“I’ve ridden my bike once in the last 10 weeks so I haven’t really got any drive to do it.”
Flakemore said he began questioning his decision to turn professional after breaking his collarbone in Adelaide in January.
“It wasn’t something that happened overnight, even last year I was umming and ahhing whether to go another season, then you get a professional contract and it’s pretty hard to turn down,” he said.
“It was something I owed to myself and sadly it didn’t work out but I’m happy.
“Luckily I had Allan Peiper there and he was really good about it, he gave me plenty of time and was easy to talk to.
“Living overseas, missing things back home, it was bloody hard to step up to WorldTour and probably doing my collarbone was the beginning of the end, maybe I was already not quite up to it and then to do that set myself even further back.”
He has not raced since the Vattenfall Cyclassics in Germany in August.
MARATHON STAR HELPS AMY SETTLE IN
IN CASE you missed this great story during the week, here’s another look at how Amy Cure settled into Adelaide thanks to a host-family arrangement with Commonwealth Games marathon bronze medallist Jess Trengove. Warren Partland reports...
The daunting move to Melbourne was made more comfortable for Jack Trengove when the Demons allocated him to a family home after being drafted with the second pick as an 18-year old in 2012.
That is how the system works for most AFL clubs when they recruit interstate youngsters.
Appreciative of the treatment for their son, Jack’s parents Colin and Deb were keen to provide a similar service in their Adelaide home. However, because they reside in the eastern suburbs they were told they were too far from training venues.
There was another option though. A young Tasmanian cyclist moving to Adelaide to work with the AIS program was seeking accommodation and Amy Cure accepted the Trengoves’ kind offer in 2011.
“Amy was aiming to make the London Olympics the following year,’’ Jess Trengove said.
“I had not run a marathon yet and my ultimate dream was to make the Olympics.
“It is incredible the impact Amy has had on my career, just having someone there whose mind was on the Olympics and that made it almost seem more of a potential reality for me.
“Just watching her go about her routine and cycling is obviously very time consuming. She is really diligent with the one percenters.
“Having lived with Amy and Jack, you can see what athletes from other sports experience. If anything, there is a bit less pressure on athletes. Jack is in the public eye and while footballers get the financial rewards, it can be tough.’’
Cure was a member of the women’s pursuit team which smashed the world record to claim the world crown in Paris in April.
The champion cyclist said it has been tremendous living with a family who understand sport.
“They understand my dietary needs and if I’ve had a hard day of training, I might not want to socialise and just lie down,’’ Cure said.
“They understand training and what it takes to be an elite sports person and that is important.
“I now see Jess as a sister and it is great to have that relationship when I’m living away from my family.’’
OPPY MEDAL ON FRIDAY
AUSTRALIA’S best cyclists will gather in Melbourne on Friday night for the sport’s annual awards including the presentation of the Oppy Medal.
Finalists in each category including male and female track and road cyclist of the year were announced on Monday and the winners will be crowned on Friday night.
Favourites for the Oppy include Richie Porte, Rohan Dennis, Annette Edmondson, Michael Matthews, Caleb Ewan and Alistair Donohue.
JARS’ EPIC RIDE
ANDREW Jarman played 110 AFL games and won an SANFL Magarey Medal but says his 970km ride for charity last month tested him like never before.
The 49-year-old took part in the inaugural six-day ‘Road Raise’ ride from Adelaide to Melbourne which raised money for CanTeen.
“Mentally and physically it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life,” Jarman said.
“Basically because of the lack of preparation for a ride like that.
“The appreciation I have now for these elite cyclists who climb those mountains ...”
Jarman dropped 5kg on the ride and said it took him two weeks to regain feeling in the little finger on both hands after holding on to the handlebars.
At times when his legs and back were “in agony”, Jarman put his headphones in, head down and just concentrated on one pedal stroke after another.
“There were times where I just needed my own space to try to get through,” he said.
“Initially I thought if I got through the first day from Adelaide to Meningie I would have achieved something.
“I’d never gone more than 60km doing 22km/h and we were riding 100km and 200km a day getting up to 45km/h in a peloton — hello.”
Apart from raising more than $130,000 for CanTeen which supports teenagers and their families living with cancer, the other positive from the ride is it has kept Jarman on his bike.
“I did 70km yesterday which I never would have done before,” he said.
“Now I’ve put my hand up for GreenEDGE.
“Mentally it makes you a better person and doing the ride with my daughter Charlie is something I’ll never forget.
“And it was all for an outstanding organisation CanTeen, I’m still trying to comprehend what we achieved as a group.”
CHAPMAN ROLLS THE DICE AND COMES UP TRUMPS
TOM Chapman rolled the dice in an eight-man breakaway and was rewarded by winning the opening round of the CIC Cervelo Super Series at Victoria Park last week.
Riding for the Swiss Wellness Team, Chapman was the beneficiary of the chief commissaire’s decision to call an early end to the criterium due to wet weather.
He jumped the seven other riders in the breakaway and held on for a narrow win in a sprint finish from Shaun O’Callaghan (Van D’am Racing) and Tristan Jones (Lightsview).
Together they upstaged world track champions including Alex Edmondson who tried to bridge the gap from the peloton to the escape group, Glenn O’Shea, Mitch Mulhern and Miles Scotson.
“I’m stoked,” Chapman said after the round win also put him in the series lead.
“I got on the podium a couple of times last year but it’s good to finally break through with that first win.
“We’ve (team) had our best year in terms of results and now we’re looking forward to having a great series.”
Cycling SA’s elite teams series continues with round two featuring the ‘Hell of the North’ road race on the Yorke Peninsula on Saturday.
RIDING FOR SICK KIDS
A PELOTON pedalling for Ronald McDonald House Charities leaves Port Lincoln bound for Adelaide this weekend.
A group of 24 riders will cover 1000km from November 15-21 and visit regions which are home to families with seriously ill children who use accommodation provided by RMHC when in Adelaide.
In the past three years the Ride for Sick Kids has raised $500,000 and this year’s target is to raise a further $150,000.
As well as cycling more than 100km each day, riders will attend community events including fundraising dinners in Port Lincoln, Whyalla and Mawson Lakes on November 20 which will be hosted by former cycling world champions Kate Bates and Stuart O’Grady.
Among those taking part in the ride is Mohan Bala, 61, who moved to Australia from Malaysia 25 years ago and read about the Ride for Sick Kids in a cycling magazine.
He took part in last year’s event and said he was keen to help out again and has been riding 200-250km a week in preparation.
“We have a daughter who is 24 and healthy so we’ve been very blessed that we never had to use these facilities,” Bala said.
“Charity starts at home and it is my turn to give something back to a community that has been very good to me.”
To donate to the fundraising efforts or for more information on the Mawson Lakes dinner, visit the website at rmhcrideforsickkidssa.com.au.
QUOTES OF THE WEEK ...
“The line-up is our most exciting to date and it shows a team that really has it all — from the most significant talent in the sport to seasoned winners.”
- Orica-GreenEDGE team owner Gerry Ryan on his 2016 squad.
“I’m 30 and I felt like a 40-year-old over the last nine months. It’s one of those things that’s been in the back of my mind all year. It’s so bloody painful — it was a bit worrying.”
- Richie Porte tells AAP about being treated for piriformis syndrome.
“There’s no reason for me to leave this team. I’ve had a few teams talk to me but as long as Orica-GreenEdge is happy with what I’m doing and keeps supporting me, there’s no reason for me to leave.”
- Michael Matthews tells Cyclingnews.com he has no intentions of leaving Orica-GreenEDGE post 2016.
TWEET, TWEET
Yep, I'm a Doctor of Science! 😄 What a privilege to receive an honorary degree from @uochester. Thank you so much. pic.twitter.com/eyGrXR2slo
— Mark Cavendish (@MarkCavendish) November 5, 2015
— Mark Cavendish swaps his cycling kit for something much more formal.
Originally published as The Coffee Ride #88, with Reece Homfray
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