The Coffee Ride #23 with Reece Homfray
WHAT an unbelievable few days in Ballarat. This year's national championships were the best ever.
LONG LIVE AUSTRALIAN CYCLING
WHAT an unbelievable few days in Ballarat.
Speaking to journalists, riders, officials, fans, you name it, the overwhelming sentiment I got on Sunday night was that this year's national championships were the best ever.
Thanks largely to an epic men's road race, the national titles were a celebration of everything that is so great about Australian cycling at the moment.
Just look at the podium - Simon Gerrans, Cadel Evans and Richie Porte. These guys aren't just OUR best road cyclists but they are among the greatest riders in the world.
And to have them going hell-for-leather for 183.6km in the second week of January says so much about the respect they have for their sport, the fans, domestic competition and the green and gold jersey.
But it was more than just showcasing talent to the 23,000 people who packed the course in a sign of how far the sport in Australia has come.
Sunday's performance wasn't just sport, it was entertainment.
Too often cycling is in the news for the wrong reasons. But on Sunday, nothing else mattered other than arguably the greatest ever race seen at the national titles featuring undoubtedly our greatest ever field.
In one afternoon, we remembered why we love this sport.
Standing at the finish line with the crowd, nervously watching the big screen and listening to the commentary not knowing what was about to happen after five hours of gut-busting racing was as good as it gets.
"That's as good as I've seen on Australian soil," one experienced cycling reporter said post-race.
"I'm on a real high," another reporter told me on the way back to Ballarat that night.
Late on Sunday afternoon I took a phone call from a good mate of mine who has been a footy fan all his life, but who never really bothered to look twice at the sport of cycling or the national titles in his own backyard in Ballarat.
He went to the criterium to see Steele Von Hoff and Sarah Roy win on Thursday night, then watched Sunday's road race live on television.
"I'm hooked," he told me.
"I'm watching cycling all year."
Soon after I hung up the phone, I realised what had just happened.
An estimated 23,000 people bothered making the trip to Buninyong, a tiny town outside of Ballarat, to watch a bike race and thousands more watched it on TV.
Cycling is mainstream and as long as guys like Gerrans, Evans and Porte keep putting on shows like they did on Sunday, it is here to stay.
There were so many other highlights:
- MICHAEL Hepburn announced his intentions to become a fully-fledged road rider and reminded everyone just how powerful he is.
- STEELE Von Hoff finally climbed to the top step of the podium in the criterium after finishing second and third the past two years, and Sarah Roy kickstarted her European adventure in perfect fashion.
- FELICITY Wardlaw reminded everyone that dreams can come true with hard work and dedication.
- CALEB Ewan's star continued to shine and his bunch kick to win the u/23 road race was something special.
It was a great week and for those already thinking about next year, I recommend taking your bike so you can ride to Buninyong (about 10km from the city) and do a couple of laps of the course, watch the race then ride back which will get you about 60km.
There are no shortage of pubs and restaurants, and I can personally endorse The Olive Grove for a great breakfast and Forges for quality pizza.
These are just a few photos I snapped during the week, and if you haven't yet been, put Ballarat for nationals on your to-do list for 2015.
HENDERSON RIDING TO FIGHT CANCER
INJURED New Zealand fast-man Greg Henderson won't be racing next week's Santos Tour Down Under but he's still out on his bike supporting a cause very close to his heart.
Henderson's wife Katie's mother is terminally ill with cancer in Melbourne which is one reason why he has put his hand up to take part in the inaugural 'Beat Cancer Tour' in Adelaide.
The Cancer Council SA will have 16 amateur cyclists riding every stage of the TDU and being treated like the stars with accommodation, meals and massage at The Hilton with the aim of raising thousands of dollars to fight the disease.
Henderson will meet-and-greet the riders and accompany them in riding two stages next week.
"It's pretty close to my heart this bloody cancer, so I think it's a great cause and that's why I've made myself available," he said.
"Katie's mum is terminally ill with cancer at the moment ... she's made her 70th birthday so we're going to have a bit of a shindig (this weekend) so I'll go back to Melbourne and we'll have a nice dinner, then I'll come back (to Adelaide) and do those rides."
Henderson has been in Adelaide this week riding with his Lotto-Belisol teammates at 6.30am to beat the heat.
He had knee surgery last month and expects to be back racing by the end of February.
"I'm just trying to get fit, the guys are doing four and five hours a day and I can tag along but it's when the intensity goes up and they start doing the big-gear stuff on the hills I still haven't really done any of that work yet.
"First I'll get the endurance then work on the intervals later on."
Henderson is usually part of Andre Greipel's formidable sprint train which next week is set to take on the might of fellow German sprinter Marcel Kittel on the streets of South Australia.
"They're the standouts for sure and if those two hit 200m together side by side it will be bloody close racing, no question," Henderson said.
"I think Lotto has brought a very dominant sprint train so it should give Greipel that bike-length head start, and if Kittel has to do too much work on his own to make position it could sway the results.
"(But) it all depends on what sort of condition everyone is in January, it can be hit-and-miss.
"Some people have had a good winter, some a really cold winter, and some prepare differently with more a focus on the Tour de France.
"With Andre he's such a complete athlete, he's ready to go from January and he's such a consistent bike rider he can win races from January to October and there's not many bike riders who can do that."
NRS TEAMS DRAW TOP PRAISE
ONE thing I found really interesting in Richie Porte and Simon Gerrans' press conferences on Sunday was their eagerness to highlight the quality of NRS teams in the race.
They heaped praise on Australia's past and present National Road Series teams who in a small way, helped deliver them to the podium, for it was the NRS teams who got on the front to chase down the break.
Avanti, Budget Forklifts and as an extension Drapac Professional Cycling - an NRS team from last year returning to Pro Continental status in 2014 - were among the most active in the race.
"It would be nice to have more teammates (in the race), but at the end of the day somebody's always going to chase somewhere and it was great to come back and ride and see the NRS teams take it up," Porte said.
"It's not too long now until we see a lot of guys being signed (to WorldTour) from Australia because it is such a good, competitive field.
"There are some strong guys out there riding NRS who don't have (professional) contracts and some of them deserve it because they are much better than the guys riding around in Europe."
Gerrans had just as much praise for rival teams including Pro Conti squad Drapac and other NRS outfits.
"Probably what impressed me today was the way a couple of NRS teams raced," Gerrans said.
"That break that went away, they weren't very strongly represented but they took the race into their own hands and really tried to bring that break back and kept the race exciting.
"I've got no idea really who's who racing the NRS circuit but when you see them line up at the Australian titles there is some real depth in domestic racing as well."
THE KANGAROO VALLEY COACH MAKING CHAMPIONS
ONE of the first people two newly crowned national champions thanked last week was Mark Fenner.
The British coach who has called Australia home since 2004 had Felicity Wardlaw (women's time trial) and Steele Von Hoff (men's criterium) primed and ready when they got to the start line in Ballarat.
And both delivered big time.
Wardlaw, a 36-year-old fire planner who trains around full-time work in Benalla, is now the best female time triallist in the country and looking towards the Commonwealth Games.
Von Hoff is a self-confessed "confidence rider" who was so nervous he was shaking all day before Thursday's crit. He needn't have worried because when he hit out with 200m to go, no one could go with him.
Both cyclists were quick to praise the work of their coach Fenner, who runs FTP Training.
"I'm really pleased with the results, they're absolutely flying at the moment, everyone is hitting PBs and achieving what they came here to do," Fenner told The Coffee Ride in Ballarat.
Fenner, 43, had a 30-year racing career and has been coaching since the 1990s.
He is based at Kangaroo Valley, about two hours south of Sydney, where he hosts training camps for his riders.
Along with associate coach Damian Mason, their stable includes more than 50 riders across all disciplines but it was their road stars who were on show last week.
As well as Van Hoff, who rides for Garmin-Sharp, Fenner will have Jack Haig and Campbell Flakemore in next week's Tour Down Under after they booked a ticket in wildcard team UniSA-Australia.
"I'm super stoked for Steele, it was important for him to get the win under the belt early in the year," Fenner said.
"I've had him up the mountains with all our climbers, just really getting his fitness and condition up so he's here in really good nick."
Fenner revealed Wardlaw approached him about mountain biking but he soon realised that time trialling was her thing.
"She came to me many years ago wanting to be a 24-hour mountain bike rider, and once we started looking at the data we knew there was a lot more under the bonnet than chugging around a mountain bike," Fenner said.
"We got her stuck into the road and particularly the time trial because the data doesn't lie.
"She got on the TT bike and her progression to winning gold at the nationals is the culmination of a massive amount of effort.
"I'm absolutely thrilled, she's coming around later to get some options going with potentially Comm Games or world champs. It's hard to break into the national system but we've got a lot of contacts.
"She's just a hard worker, gets stuck in and does exactly what you ask."
Fenner started FTP in 2009 and bases his coaching around analysing a rider's power.
WIN A TOUR DOWN UNDER T-SHIRT
APRES Velo has released a new range of Limited Edition Tees inspired by the Tour Down Under.
For your chance to win one of five shirts featuring iconic parts of South Australia and the TDU, including Willunga Hill, The Gorge, Victor Harbor, the Barossa Valley and a eucalyptus landscape, head online to advertiser.com.au/competitions.
Terms and conditions apply - see online for details.
SUNDERLAND SET FOR WORLD CUP DEBUT (AS AN ENDURO)
OLYMPIC track sprinter - turned endurance cyclist - Scott Sunderland will make his UCI World Cup debut in the team pursuit in Mexico starting on Friday.
Sunderland, a former team sprint world champion with Matthew Glaetzer and Shane Perkins, will be joined by Tirian McManus, Josh Harrison, Miles Scotson, Callum Scotson, Jacob Schmid, Emerson Harwood and Mitch Bullen in the men's team.
The women's team includes Georgia Baker, Elissa Wundersitz, Isabella King, Taylah Jennings, Stephanie Morton and Rebecca Wiasak.
QUOTES OF THE WEEK ...
(A selection of the best of the best from national champs)
"When Simon went, he kicked like a mule."
- Richie Porte hits the nail on the head after Simon Gerrans rode away from he and Cadel Evans to claim his second national title.
"I'm not going to rank this win and compare it to any of my others, every single win is special in its own way."
- Simon Gerrans on his latest victory.
"It was a little bit hard in January because if I line up at the world championships at the end of the year, at the end of the race they're probably going to be asking what's the matter with me."
- Cadel Evans on going all-out in Sunday's national road race - in January.
"I was quite nervous for today's criterium. I've done many now but this one for some reason I was feeling a bit flat all day and sort of shaking, just getting really stressed over it, so now that it's done I'm happy."
- Cycling's man of steel, Steele Von Hoff on winning the national criterium championship after finishing second and third for the past two years.
"Perhaps Comm Games is an option. And I won't say no, I'm prepared to work really hard, it's a once in a lifetime opportunity and if they want results I'll work really hard to get it for them."
- Felicity Wardlaw on the possibilities for 2014 after winning the women's time trial crown.
TWEET, TWEET ...
Heeeellllo pic.twitter.com/XoFR0uzXvf
— fränk schleck (@schleckfrank) January 13, 2014- Frank Schleck finds a friend in Adelaide preparing for the Tour Down Under.
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