It's been pointed out to me recently that we often hold our sports heroes to a much higher standard of morals and behaviour than we do our everyday heroes, like friends or parents. They also suffer far more public consequences for their lapses than do their everyday counterparts, and sometimes far more severe consequences too. But where do we draw the line? When is too much?
The event that brought about this train of thought was, of course, the drink-driving incident involving rising stars of cycling, Jack Bobridge and Michael Hepburn. When you become a professional Australian sportsman, a world champion or an Olympic athlete, you must expect that you're about to become something of a celebrity, and with celebrity of course comes the admiration, the hero-worship, the esteem of the viewing public. On some level these riders must have known they were signing up to become public figures with the expectations of many riding on their shoulders. On some level they've agreed to this, whether consciously or not.
But is it fair of us to place these high expectations on our sportsmen? Jack Bobridge is just 22 years old, Michael Hepburn only 20. How many of us know a 20-year-old male who could live up to the expectations we hold of the young men mentioned above? Conversely, how many of us know a 20-year-old who's made a mistake or a bad decision - or several - along the path to maturity? As someone who's been through university, I can promise that the intelligence to be accepted to one of the top universities in Australia does not necessarily bestow any of the above qualities. In fact, I can regale you with any number of epic stories, many featuring 20-year-old boys, that would thoroughly convince you otherwise. Unless we believe that signing a professional athlete's contract bestows magical powers of self-control, wise judgement and keen understanding, it can't be reasonable of us to have different standards for pro cyclists than we do for everyone else.
So where do we draw the line? Do we acknowledge that most 20-year-old boys we know have made their own mistakes, and that it's part of the process of growing up? Do we take into account that this is the first scratch on a pair of squeaky records that shine with accolades, and dole out a pair of second chances? Or should we reiterate the standard of behaviour expected of Australian role models and hand down a severe penalty as a deterrent from a repetition?
Somehow it seems a little harsh to me to tell a couple of 20-year-olds that the rules have changed just because they're very good at their jobs. After all, they're still human.
Showing posts with label Jack Bobridge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jack Bobridge. Show all posts
Wednesday, 27 June 2012
Tuesday, 26 June 2012
Balancing the Scales of Justice
It wasn't exactly what the clean and untarnished world of Australian cycling hoped to wake up to on June 20th. Stars of the track, professional road cyclists and Olympic gold medal hopefuls Jack Bobridge and Michael Hepburn were involved in what's being described by the media as a 'drink-driving incident' in northern Spain. Involved in a 'minor' car park collision while under the influence of alcohol, though no other cars were involved and no-one was hurt, Bobridge was fined $2,500 by Cycling Australia, $2,000 of which is suspended, and placed on a 12-month good behaviour bond, as well as being fined 700 euros ($880) by a Spanish court, while Hepburn received a 12-month good behaviour bond and $1,000 suspended fine. Without being sanctioned by the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC), both riders will compete as usual in the team pursuit in London, where Australia and Great Britain will once again take up their fierce rivalry for gold.
But is the penalty too light? The AOC recently handed down a much harsher penalty to so-called 'bad-boy' swimmers Nick D'Arcy and Kenrick Monk, which will force the troublesome duo to fly home directly after competing in their Olympic events, missing the Closing Ceremony and the celebrations that ensue. Granted, both swimmers have been in trouble with the police before - D'Arcy was actually excluded from the 2008 Beijing Olympics for beating a fellow swimmer in a bar brawl - but most people would suggest that the punishment should be proportional to the crime. D'Arcy and Monk posting pictures on Facebook of themselves posing with high-powered guns in an arms shop during a training camp in America shows them to be guilty of bad taste, certainly, but guilty of breaking no laws in either Australia or America - except for those of decency. Drink-driving, however, is not only illegal in both Australia and Spain but also endangers the lives of the driver, passengers and any other road users. Of all road users, cyclists should be the most aware of the consequences of poor driving.
One has to wonder what was taken into consideration when the AOC chose not to impose their own penalty on top of the one handed down by Cycling Australia. Did they consider that without Bobridge and Hepburn, Australia's 50/50 chance at a gold medal in the team pursuit goes down the drain? Did they take into account the otherwise squeaky clean records covered in wins, deem it a mistake and decide to give them a second chance? Did they ponder the penitence of the pair, now training hard for the Olympics at the national training camp? How about the serious nature of the offence, and the fact that committing a criminal offence violates Cycling Australia's disciplinary code? And did anyone mention the sanctions of D'Arcy and Monk as a barometer?
It must be confessed that cycling's administration isn't known for its consistency - the stringent enforcing of usually lax rules at the 2012 Track World Championships, or the controversial banning of Alberto Contador for doping while other riders were let off on technicalities - but there are likely some shaking heads amongst the rest of the Australian Olympic team, as well as the general public. It seems a little hard to believe - and more than a little unfair - that D'Arcy and Monk will have to board a plane during the Olympics afterparty for a bad use of social media, while their teammate with a drink-driving conviction joins in all the festivities - albeit without the alcohol, which the cyclist pair are now forbidden from drinking while with the national team. The AOC declined to penalise Bobridge and Hepburn following their court sanctions and the Cycling Australia verdict, deciding they'd been punished enough, but now would be a great time for them to step in and play Lady Justice, balancing the scales to ensure that the penalties handed down to our Olympic athletes have been delivered with consistency.
But is the penalty too light? The AOC recently handed down a much harsher penalty to so-called 'bad-boy' swimmers Nick D'Arcy and Kenrick Monk, which will force the troublesome duo to fly home directly after competing in their Olympic events, missing the Closing Ceremony and the celebrations that ensue. Granted, both swimmers have been in trouble with the police before - D'Arcy was actually excluded from the 2008 Beijing Olympics for beating a fellow swimmer in a bar brawl - but most people would suggest that the punishment should be proportional to the crime. D'Arcy and Monk posting pictures on Facebook of themselves posing with high-powered guns in an arms shop during a training camp in America shows them to be guilty of bad taste, certainly, but guilty of breaking no laws in either Australia or America - except for those of decency. Drink-driving, however, is not only illegal in both Australia and Spain but also endangers the lives of the driver, passengers and any other road users. Of all road users, cyclists should be the most aware of the consequences of poor driving.
One has to wonder what was taken into consideration when the AOC chose not to impose their own penalty on top of the one handed down by Cycling Australia. Did they consider that without Bobridge and Hepburn, Australia's 50/50 chance at a gold medal in the team pursuit goes down the drain? Did they take into account the otherwise squeaky clean records covered in wins, deem it a mistake and decide to give them a second chance? Did they ponder the penitence of the pair, now training hard for the Olympics at the national training camp? How about the serious nature of the offence, and the fact that committing a criminal offence violates Cycling Australia's disciplinary code? And did anyone mention the sanctions of D'Arcy and Monk as a barometer?
It must be confessed that cycling's administration isn't known for its consistency - the stringent enforcing of usually lax rules at the 2012 Track World Championships, or the controversial banning of Alberto Contador for doping while other riders were let off on technicalities - but there are likely some shaking heads amongst the rest of the Australian Olympic team, as well as the general public. It seems a little hard to believe - and more than a little unfair - that D'Arcy and Monk will have to board a plane during the Olympics afterparty for a bad use of social media, while their teammate with a drink-driving conviction joins in all the festivities - albeit without the alcohol, which the cyclist pair are now forbidden from drinking while with the national team. The AOC declined to penalise Bobridge and Hepburn following their court sanctions and the Cycling Australia verdict, deciding they'd been punished enough, but now would be a great time for them to step in and play Lady Justice, balancing the scales to ensure that the penalties handed down to our Olympic athletes have been delivered with consistency.
Sunday, 8 January 2012
The 2012 Australian National Championships - Elite Men's Road Race
Warm sun, a hint of rain and bagpipers under gum trees. It was classically Ballarat, and we couldn’t have had a better day for the Elite Men’s Road Race at the Australian National Road Race Championships.
The day’s action began long before the race. Riders began registering and signing on from around 11am, and astute fans packed the area by the start line to meet their heroes. GreenEDGE stars Stuart O’Grady and Matt Goss were heralded with cameras and autograph pens before making a graceful escape onto the track for their warm-ups, DS Matt White watching attentively nearby.
The journalists were also gearing up for the day. With a live broadcast of the race in the afternoon, the SBS broadcast van was already setting up for a busy Sunday, the day’s commentators, Phil Liggett and Matt Keenan, drifting quietly around the course.
It was extraordinarily exciting to see the peloton take off at the firing of the Sovereign Hill redcoat’s musket, ProTour team jerseys mixed in with local colours and the ever-present green of Australia’s own ProTour team of GreenEDGE. They raced away up the hill and around the corner towards the King of the Mountain banner, full of an enthusiasm that was destined to wane some time later.
Within a couple of laps the peloton had shrunk considerably, many of the local riders falling back on the hills. The European pros certainly weren’t being idle, with GreenEDGE’s Jack Bobridge launching an attack on the very first climb. Teammate Luke Durbridge and Garmin-Cervelo’s new recruit Nathan Haas were game to join, and they held off for a lap or two before the peloton came back. Then GreenEDGE team leader Stuart O’Grady decided to stretch his legs, and took former Leopard Trek teammate Will Clarke with him. Local boy Patrick Shaw put on a show for the hometown crowd and soon joined them. Garmin’s Heinrich Haussler didn’t like this scenario much, and put in the work that saw the break rejoined to the peloton.
By the fifth or sixth lap Mt. Buninyong, small though it was, had sorted the men from the boys and reduced the ‘peloton’ to a handful of riders chasing 20 or so big names that had gone off the front, never to return. Two or three laps later all the riders who would finish the race had migrated forward to join them, and soon enough the games began. Pat Shaw, Will Clarke (now riding for Team Champion System) and Luke Durbridge went on the attack again with new Rabobank sprinter Mark Renshaw and GreenEDGE’s Wes Sulzberger and Matt Wilson, and the six were soon joined by 2010 National Champion Cameron Meyer. Wilson and Meyer attacked and built themselves a lead of over a minute on their pursuers, before Wilson tired and dropped back after a lap. Then began the time trial that held the spectators spellbound.
Cam Meyer launched himself into a solo ride that lasted for 40 or 50 kilometres, building a gap of over two minutes back to the poursuivants of Heinrich Haussler and Luke Durbridge, and three minutes back to the main peloton. Back at the GreenEDGE tent, directeur sportif Matt White was instructing his riders in the peloton to keep the pace low to give Meyer’s stunning breakaway the best chance of success.
Of course, solo rides were not limited to the pro peloton. One of the spectators leaning on his bike near the King of the Mountain point had ridden from the eastern suburbs of Melbourne yesterday all the way to Ballarat just to watch today’s race. “It was hard,” he said with a grin of his 120-kilometre ride. But he immediately agreed that the effort was worth it to watch the top cyclists in Australia compete. “Oh, yes,” he said appreciatively as a few more riders made their way up Mt. Buninyong.
Back on the road, Meyer had an ‘explosion’, as he later described it, and was caught and later dropped by the peloton riding through. Simon Gerrans immediately took over the attack, Lampre-ISD’s Matt Lloyd and Sky’s Richie Porte following. Next it was the turn of Baden Cooke (GreenEDGE) and Will Clarke again, Richie Porte chasing that attack too. The attacks fading, the peloton regrouped as it hit the final two laps, but GreenEDGE was soon on the aggressive again, Stuey O’Grady leaping out the front, trailed by Sky’s Mathew Hayman. After the pair was pulled back into the fold on the climb, Matt Lloyd went again, Simon Gerrans following closely. The two pulled away, soon caught by the chasers of Porte and Bernie Sulzberger, while Baden Cooke and Garmin-Chipotle’s Steele von Hoff bridged the gap. It was another short-lived breakaway, and the 18 leading riders were back in a bunch as they began the crucial final 10-kilometre lap.
Team Sky’s four Australian riders appeared at the head of the peloton, suddenly looking very organised and very dangerous despite their small numbers. Though GreenEDGE started the race with 16, a number of those pulled out around halfway, including defending champion Jack Bobridge. The numbers were beginning to even up, but in the end neither of the big teams made the move. Matty Lloyd attacked on the final climb, Gerrans following him, and Porte chasing them both. Lloyd and Gerrans managed to keep around 30 seconds between themselves and Porte as they scooted around the final half of the course, the tension in the air palpable as 20,000 people watched to see how it would play out.
Ever a good time-trialler, Porte closed the gap on the leading pair and joined them with barely a kilometre left in the race. The three played coy with each other all the way down the final 500 metres, eyeing each other as they danced on their pedals, until Gerrans, tipped as the best sprinter of the trio, shot out from behind Lloyd and bolted across the line to win his first elite national title. The crowd, cheering ecstatically as Gerrans rode triumphantly past chased by a scrum of journalists, offered the same acclamation to the handful of riders trickling over the line to finish the race shortly after, including silver medallist Lloyd and bronze medallist Porte.
Gerrans' national title becomes the first victory on the GreenEDGE men’s team; the women opened their championships account on Thursday with two golds and a silver. With any luck this will be a propitious start to the season for Australia’s first home-grown ProTour team.
The day’s action began long before the race. Riders began registering and signing on from around 11am, and astute fans packed the area by the start line to meet their heroes. GreenEDGE stars Stuart O’Grady and Matt Goss were heralded with cameras and autograph pens before making a graceful escape onto the track for their warm-ups, DS Matt White watching attentively nearby.
The journalists were also gearing up for the day. With a live broadcast of the race in the afternoon, the SBS broadcast van was already setting up for a busy Sunday, the day’s commentators, Phil Liggett and Matt Keenan, drifting quietly around the course.
It was extraordinarily exciting to see the peloton take off at the firing of the Sovereign Hill redcoat’s musket, ProTour team jerseys mixed in with local colours and the ever-present green of Australia’s own ProTour team of GreenEDGE. They raced away up the hill and around the corner towards the King of the Mountain banner, full of an enthusiasm that was destined to wane some time later.
Within a couple of laps the peloton had shrunk considerably, many of the local riders falling back on the hills. The European pros certainly weren’t being idle, with GreenEDGE’s Jack Bobridge launching an attack on the very first climb. Teammate Luke Durbridge and Garmin-Cervelo’s new recruit Nathan Haas were game to join, and they held off for a lap or two before the peloton came back. Then GreenEDGE team leader Stuart O’Grady decided to stretch his legs, and took former Leopard Trek teammate Will Clarke with him. Local boy Patrick Shaw put on a show for the hometown crowd and soon joined them. Garmin’s Heinrich Haussler didn’t like this scenario much, and put in the work that saw the break rejoined to the peloton.
By the fifth or sixth lap Mt. Buninyong, small though it was, had sorted the men from the boys and reduced the ‘peloton’ to a handful of riders chasing 20 or so big names that had gone off the front, never to return. Two or three laps later all the riders who would finish the race had migrated forward to join them, and soon enough the games began. Pat Shaw, Will Clarke (now riding for Team Champion System) and Luke Durbridge went on the attack again with new Rabobank sprinter Mark Renshaw and GreenEDGE’s Wes Sulzberger and Matt Wilson, and the six were soon joined by 2010 National Champion Cameron Meyer. Wilson and Meyer attacked and built themselves a lead of over a minute on their pursuers, before Wilson tired and dropped back after a lap. Then began the time trial that held the spectators spellbound.
Cam Meyer launched himself into a solo ride that lasted for 40 or 50 kilometres, building a gap of over two minutes back to the poursuivants of Heinrich Haussler and Luke Durbridge, and three minutes back to the main peloton. Back at the GreenEDGE tent, directeur sportif Matt White was instructing his riders in the peloton to keep the pace low to give Meyer’s stunning breakaway the best chance of success.
Of course, solo rides were not limited to the pro peloton. One of the spectators leaning on his bike near the King of the Mountain point had ridden from the eastern suburbs of Melbourne yesterday all the way to Ballarat just to watch today’s race. “It was hard,” he said with a grin of his 120-kilometre ride. But he immediately agreed that the effort was worth it to watch the top cyclists in Australia compete. “Oh, yes,” he said appreciatively as a few more riders made their way up Mt. Buninyong.
Back on the road, Meyer had an ‘explosion’, as he later described it, and was caught and later dropped by the peloton riding through. Simon Gerrans immediately took over the attack, Lampre-ISD’s Matt Lloyd and Sky’s Richie Porte following. Next it was the turn of Baden Cooke (GreenEDGE) and Will Clarke again, Richie Porte chasing that attack too. The attacks fading, the peloton regrouped as it hit the final two laps, but GreenEDGE was soon on the aggressive again, Stuey O’Grady leaping out the front, trailed by Sky’s Mathew Hayman. After the pair was pulled back into the fold on the climb, Matt Lloyd went again, Simon Gerrans following closely. The two pulled away, soon caught by the chasers of Porte and Bernie Sulzberger, while Baden Cooke and Garmin-Chipotle’s Steele von Hoff bridged the gap. It was another short-lived breakaway, and the 18 leading riders were back in a bunch as they began the crucial final 10-kilometre lap.
Team Sky’s four Australian riders appeared at the head of the peloton, suddenly looking very organised and very dangerous despite their small numbers. Though GreenEDGE started the race with 16, a number of those pulled out around halfway, including defending champion Jack Bobridge. The numbers were beginning to even up, but in the end neither of the big teams made the move. Matty Lloyd attacked on the final climb, Gerrans following him, and Porte chasing them both. Lloyd and Gerrans managed to keep around 30 seconds between themselves and Porte as they scooted around the final half of the course, the tension in the air palpable as 20,000 people watched to see how it would play out.
Ever a good time-trialler, Porte closed the gap on the leading pair and joined them with barely a kilometre left in the race. The three played coy with each other all the way down the final 500 metres, eyeing each other as they danced on their pedals, until Gerrans, tipped as the best sprinter of the trio, shot out from behind Lloyd and bolted across the line to win his first elite national title. The crowd, cheering ecstatically as Gerrans rode triumphantly past chased by a scrum of journalists, offered the same acclamation to the handful of riders trickling over the line to finish the race shortly after, including silver medallist Lloyd and bronze medallist Porte.Gerrans' national title becomes the first victory on the GreenEDGE men’s team; the women opened their championships account on Thursday with two golds and a silver. With any luck this will be a propitious start to the season for Australia’s first home-grown ProTour team.
Saturday, 29 October 2011
Jayco Herald Sun Tour 2011
The Jayco Herald Sun Tour is the oldest stage race in Australia and is even among the oldest in the world. The UCI Oceania Tour race travels around Victoria over five days and attracts not only the Australian Continental teams, but even some ProTour teams as well. Previous winners include riders like Aussie pros Baden Cooke, Stuart O'Grady and Simon Gerrans, as well as British rider Bradley Wiggins, who won the last Tour in 2009. The JHST was put on hold due to the UCI Road World Championships being held in Geelong last year, but it was back with a bang for 2011 and certainly attracted its fair share of attention.
Stage 1 - Whittlesea to Ballarat included a pair of sprint points at Riddells Creek and Creswick and some categorised climbs in Woodend and Daylesford. By the time the race reached Creswick, around 20 kilometres out of Ballarat, a group of six riders including Drapac Cycling's Rhys Pollock had an eight-minute lead on the peloton. They raced into Ballarat, blowing away the Mocka's predicted arrival times at each check, where Pollock sprinted away to take the stage and the yellow jersey of the leader ahead of Australian National Road Race Champion Jack Bobridge and Team Genesys' Nathan Haas, amongst others.
Stage 2 stepped back in time briefly, with the stage start in the main street of Ballarat's 1850s-era replica gold town Sovereign Hill. The riders crossed the line at the firing of the redcoat soldier's musket and made their way out of the tourist park and onto the main road towards Geelong, by which time the peloton was already losing riders. Two sprint points, a Category 3 climb and a Category 4 climb later, two riders finally got away at 50 kilometres to go, only to be caught five kilometres from the end of the stage in Geelong. The consequent bunch sprint cleared the stage for South African Team MTN Qhubeka's Reinardt Janse van Rensburg to take the stage win, while Drapac Professional Cycling put in the hard yards to keep Rhys Pollock in yellow.
Stage 3 took the riders on a beautiful loop from Geelong down to Lorne and then back up the spectacularly scenic Great Ocean Road towards Port Phillip Heads. The peloton was about 30 kilometres out of Geelong before they let a breakaway of four go, none of them threatening enough in the general classification to warrant a chase. The peloton and particularly the breakaway battled the crosswinds as they rode along the Victorian coast on the world's longest war memorial, but the quartet was caught just 20 kilometres from the stage finish in Drysdale. By this point ProTeam Skil-Shimano had joined Drapac on the front in the pace-making, Drapac protecting their yellow while Skil-Shimano was hoping for a stage win. Both teams got their wish, with German Skil-Shimano rider Marcel Kittel sprinting to his 16th win of the season and Rhys Pollock finishing with the bunch to maintain his overall lead.
But Pollock lost hope of keeping his lead any longer on Stage 4, the 'queen stage' beginning in Sorrento and finishing with a triple lap up and over the Category 1 climb of Arthur's Seat. An early break, aggressively led by Genesys' Patrick Shaw looking to put teammate Nathan Haas in yellow as well as defend his lead in the sprint classification, went off the front and defended an advantage of around three to four minutes until Saxobank-Sungard, Drapac and Garmin-Cervelo banded together and brought the break back into the fold on the second ascent of Arthur's Seat. As the climbs took their toll on the riders it was left to a select few to race for the finish. Russian Katusha rider Egor Silin took his first pro victory with a stage win, while up-and-coming Genesys rider Nathan Haas pipped Jack Bobridge to the line and claimed the yellow.
The final day of the race saw the riders bring it home to Melbourne for the final criterium around Lygon St. The threat of poor weather didn't keep the fans away, and Melbourne's cycling enthusiasts crowded Argyle Square to see the local heroes and overseas legends before the start of the day's racing. By 3pm the women's crit had finished and the crowds began lining the street as the starting gun went for the final time and the riders began racing north up Lygon St. The flat crit-style stage wasn't conducive to breakaways, and though Cameron Wurf, Wes Sulzberger and Adam Phelan, amongst 
others, did try, the peloton made sure they were back in the bunch coming up on the final finish. Despite the bunch sprint, Skil-Shimano's Marcel Kittel was first over the line easily to take his second victory at the Sun Tour and bring his season total up to 17. Nathan Haas, meanwhile, was completely overwhelmed at having won the general classification, sprints classification and young rider classification, while his team of Genesys Wealth Advisors won the teams classification. Talk about rainbow jerseys!
others, did try, the peloton made sure they were back in the bunch coming up on the final finish. Despite the bunch sprint, Skil-Shimano's Marcel Kittel was first over the line easily to take his second victory at the Sun Tour and bring his season total up to 17. Nathan Haas, meanwhile, was completely overwhelmed at having won the general classification, sprints classification and young rider classification, while his team of Genesys Wealth Advisors won the teams classification. Talk about rainbow jerseys!And as a happy ending to a happy tale, Haas has since received a two-year pro contract to ride for Garmin-Cervelo, who seem to love snaffling up good young Aussie talent. If this year is a precedent, he'll be riding for GreenEDGE soon enough.
Friday, 28 October 2011
Jayco Herald Sun Tour - A Fangirl Perspective
The best part about having a crit-style final stage is that the riders treat it differently to a normal stage in a stage race. When your day's racing is 10 laps of the same circuit your warm-up seemingly doesn't need to be as intense as for six hours through small towns in country Victoria, because for until 10 minutes before the start of the race nearly all of the riders were relaxing in their team tents in the small square beside Lygon St and mingling with the fans.
Of course, for the true GreenEDGE fan-in-waiting, the number of Australian riders was brilliant. The number of ProTeams there was also pretty awesome. Needless to say, until such time as the racing started I was having the absolute time of my life running around amongst all the team and sponsor stalls, having my photo taken with every rider I could find.
Of course, for the true GreenEDGE fan-in-waiting, the number of Australian riders was brilliant. The number of ProTeams there was also pretty awesome. Needless to say, until such time as the racing started I was having the absolute time of my life running around amongst all the team and sponsor stalls, having my photo taken with every rider I could find.
But the fun didn't stop there. I found Cameron Wurf, who was an absolute darling with a lovely smile and quite happy to stop for a quick photo with me.
I also found Team Garmin's legendary Jack Bobridge, current Australian National Road Race Champion and former World Under-23 Road Race Champion, who recently broke the world record for the 4000m on the track by a full three seconds. Needless to say, he's also been signed to GreenEDGE next year.
Adam Hansen is, unfortunately, still riding for Omega Pharma-Quickstep, as it's now called, next year. Despite being a very popular rider when I found him he still had a big grin for the cameras.
Jonathan Cantwell rated a photo because he's Australian (though not WorldTour), but also as the winner of a crit in Ballarat last year. He beat both Meyers brothers, which annoyed me at the time chiefly because I'd never heard of Jonathan Cantwell. Can't say that anymore!
Naturally I eventually tracked down Nathan Haas, the rising star that shone brighter than all others at the JHST this year, taking home all bar two jerseys. The 22-year-old has been snaffled up for next year's pro season by none other than - guess who - Garmin-Cervelo, who seem to love snaffling up all the rising Aussie talents (until GreenEDGE snaffles them back, of course).
Steele von Hoff, who like Heinrich Haussler has an awesome European name but looks as ocker as can be, comfortably won the Tour of Gippsland and didn't mind me gatecrashing the 'we're waiting to go onstage and receive our jersey' boy's room to get a photo.
Taswegian Bernie Sulzberger is the older brother of ProTeam FDJ rider Wes Sulzberger. Had I been able to find Wes, I'd've asked him to pass along a message to Jeremy Roy from his Australian fans.
I got so excited when I saw this fellow's name on the start list. Marcel Kittel has ridden the Vuelta a Espana and won a stage this year - How to Win Fans and Excite Fangirls. Speaking of stage wins, he took out Stages 3 and 5 of the JHST too - as a cool-down from the Vuelta, I expect.
It wasn't just individual riders I found floating around, either. As a non-ProTour team and an international team, none of the cycling aficionados there had any idea who these boys were. As such the MTN Qhubeka were relaxing together in their tent and all jumped up and joined the circle when I asked for a photo. Second from the left is current Namibian road and time trial champion Loto Petrus, hence the unusual maillot.
Pat Shaw is a Ballarat boy and hometown hero, thus warranting a photo. But it's not our mutual origins that are the cause of our grins. No, we're laughing because Pat is hiding the GreenEDGE Cycling cap he stole off my head behind his back. No need to tell you which team he's NOT riding for next year, then.
I got so excited when I saw this fellow's name on the start list. Marcel Kittel has ridden the Vuelta a Espana and won a stage this year - How to Win Fans and Excite Fangirls. Speaking of stage wins, he took out Stages 3 and 5 of the JHST too - as a cool-down from the Vuelta, I expect.
Despite having a Russian best friend, I've rarely been so excited over anything Russian as when I saw this uniform riding around. A real-live ProTour team riding around with Tour de France vets? I was stoked, even though Giro, Vuelta and Tour rider Vladimir Isaichev was nowhere to be seen. I did, however, get the above photo taken with Nikolay Trusov on the left, and I was almost speechless to be in the presence of Egor Silin in the centre, who was on this year's Katusha team for the TdF. The Colossus on the right is, oddly enough for the pro-home-nation team, Belgian Stijn Vandenbergh.
I did ask if I could take the sign-on board home as a souvenir, but apparently Lord Mayor Robert Doyle got first dibs on behalf of the city of Melbourne. Sigh. The perks of power.
In the meantime, I was tracking down the SBS journos - Anthony Tan, SBS Cycling Central columnist and post-stage dissecter for the Tour de France.
Even cooler - Matt Keenan commentates the first half of each Tour de France stage, before Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen bring it home.
This familiar face first appeared to me in my press room at the Road World Championships in Geelong last year. Mike Tomalaris, fresh off the set of a live edition of SBS Cycling Central at the Jayco Herald Sun Tour. Is there a higher aspiration?
Saved the most special for last...that GreenEDGE Cycling cap goes remarkably well next to the fellow who's bankrolling the whole venture - Gerry Ryan, owner of Jayco Caravans, has promised funding for GreenEDGE for the next three years. Three years of sheer delight and excitement for me. He more than deserves a photo for that.
Thursday, 22 September 2011
Green Team, Seasoned Riders
So yes, it's about time for another GreenEDGE update. No matter how hard I try to keep up, they're always one step ahead of me, signing up every rider they can find, particularly the Aussies. There are, quite literally, only three Aussies in the ProTour peloton not riding for GreenEDGE, and about 10 or 12 who are! Because it's simply easier in the sheer numbers with which I'm now working (credit to Shayne Bannan and Andrew Ryan for getting my fingers this run down), I'll list the riders joining Australia's new national team:
AUSTRALIANS
Jack Bobridge (Garmin-Cervelo)
Simon Clarke (Astana)
Baden Cooke (Saxobank-Sungard)
Allan Davis (Astana)
Simon Gerrans (Sky)
Matt Goss (HTC-Highroad)
Leigh Howard (HTC-Highroad)
Brett Lancaster (Garmin-Cervelo)
Robbie McEwen (Radioshack)
Robbie McEwen (Radioshack)
Cameron Meyer (Garmin-Cervelo)
Travis Meyer (Garmin-Cervelo)
Stuart O'Grady (Leopard Trek)
Wes Sulzberger (FDJ)
Matt Wilson (Garmin-Cervelo)
OVERSEAS
Michael Albasini (HTC-Highroad - Switzerland)
Fumiyuki Beppu (Radioshack - Japan)
Jens Keukeleire (Cofidis - Belgium)
Sebastian Langeveld (Rabobank - Holland)
Jens Mouris (Vacansoleil - Holland)
Daniel Teklehaymanot (neo - Eritrea)
Svein Tuft (Spidertech-C10 - Canada)
Tomas Vaitkus (Astana - Lithuania)
Pieter Weening (Rabobank - Holland)
The updates are coming in from GreenEDGE HQ thick and fast - every couple of days now. There are even mock-ups of the team jersey floating around the ether, though it's unlikely to remain unchanged. The big news on which everyone is now waiting is the announcement of whether GreenEDGE has a corporate sponsor in the wider community. It's almost surprising, given how ready this team is looking, that someone hasn't already snaffled up the opportunity to put Oz well and truly on the world cycling map.
Friday, 19 August 2011
The Team with the EDGE
The more I hear, the more I'm convinced: this is certainly Australia's year in cycling. Despite being all the way "Down Under", we're following up a maiden Tour de France win with our own first-ever ProTour cycling team - and what a bloody good team it's shaping up to be!
Despite the transfer season still not having opened, news is filtering through the cognoscenti of the line-up of the new Aussie team, which since the last update seems to include every Australian rider on the ProTour circuit.
Rumours were floating about the two big Aussie names the team was looking to sign - Robbie McEwen and Stuey O'Grady. While not a peep has been heard from the Radioshack sprinter, Leopard Trek's O'Grady has indeed signed to GreenEDGE and is probably looking forward to riding in his national team for the first time ever. As suspected, young Tassie rider Richie Porte has re-signed with Team Saxobank Sungard, and as expected BMC's Cadel Evans has also renewed his contract there.
But almost every other Aussie in the professional peloton seems to be jumping on board. Two of my three top picks of the young Aussies were announced as being headhunted by GreenEDGE, and to my utter delight all three of them have been signed! Jack Bobridge and brother team Cameron and Travis Meyer, who have more world titles between them than I can remember anymore (four, I think - two to Cameron and one to each of the others) have all jumped ship from Team Garmin-Cervelo to GreenEDGE, where I'm hopeful at least one of them will be given the chance to make their debut in a grand tour.
While all these signings were foreshadowed if not expected, a new name has appeared on the radar - Simon Gerrans! Team Sky's 'Gerro' is returning to home soil with his national team. As for the other Aussies, Mark Renshaw has left the folding HTC-Highroad team to join Dutch team Rabobank but there is no word on the rest, meaning riders like Matty Goss are still up for grabs.
There are of course a few international riders who've also been signed. Promising young Eritrean neo Daniel Teklehaymanot was the very first rider to join the team, while Dutch talents Pieter Weening and Sebastian Langeveld have both left their national team to help boost GreenEDGE's Spring Classics profile.
Ironically enough, in their guide to rider transfers for this season, Cycling News had to retrospectively add GreenEDGE to the list of teams signing riders due to the large number of riders they were pinching from the other teams. All bar one of these teams are ProTour teams who rode the Tour de France this year. Is it just me, or is this a very promising omen for EDGE?
Rumours were floating about the two big Aussie names the team was looking to sign - Robbie McEwen and Stuey O'Grady. While not a peep has been heard from the Radioshack sprinter, Leopard Trek's O'Grady has indeed signed to GreenEDGE and is probably looking forward to riding in his national team for the first time ever. As suspected, young Tassie rider Richie Porte has re-signed with Team Saxobank Sungard, and as expected BMC's Cadel Evans has also renewed his contract there.
But almost every other Aussie in the professional peloton seems to be jumping on board. Two of my three top picks of the young Aussies were announced as being headhunted by GreenEDGE, and to my utter delight all three of them have been signed! Jack Bobridge and brother team Cameron and Travis Meyer, who have more world titles between them than I can remember anymore (four, I think - two to Cameron and one to each of the others) have all jumped ship from Team Garmin-Cervelo to GreenEDGE, where I'm hopeful at least one of them will be given the chance to make their debut in a grand tour.
While all these signings were foreshadowed if not expected, a new name has appeared on the radar - Simon Gerrans! Team Sky's 'Gerro' is returning to home soil with his national team. As for the other Aussies, Mark Renshaw has left the folding HTC-Highroad team to join Dutch team Rabobank but there is no word on the rest, meaning riders like Matty Goss are still up for grabs.
There are of course a few international riders who've also been signed. Promising young Eritrean neo Daniel Teklehaymanot was the very first rider to join the team, while Dutch talents Pieter Weening and Sebastian Langeveld have both left their national team to help boost GreenEDGE's Spring Classics profile.
Ironically enough, in their guide to rider transfers for this season, Cycling News had to retrospectively add GreenEDGE to the list of teams signing riders due to the large number of riders they were pinching from the other teams. All bar one of these teams are ProTour teams who rode the Tour de France this year. Is it just me, or is this a very promising omen for EDGE?
Thursday, 4 August 2011
The Edge of News: GreenEDGE Cycling
Though the transfer season doesn't officially start until September 1st, most riders have their contracts for the following year sussed by the end of the Tour de France, as do most teams with their roster. This year there was another team on the hunt in France - GreenEDGE, the ambitious Australian cycling team looking to get off the ground for next year.
The project's management team were scouting all the Aussie talent on the WorldTour circuit at this year's Tour, with the intention that Australians make up 80% of the team's cyclists. Much to the delight of eager fans, word is already beginning to leak of the potential team roster prior to the official announcements in September.
The biggest win for the Aussie team is the signing of the Luxembourg team Leopard Trek's 2011 Tour road captain, Stuey O'Grady. Acknowledged as one of the smartest and most experienced heads in the peloton, the Tour de France and WorldTour veteran has been named as the head of the Australian National Team for the London 2012 Olympics and will likely be team leader or road captain at GreenEDGE.
The other big name tipped to be lining up in green in Australia's own triple-green jersey. Though having denied it for the past few days, Robbie McEwen of American team Radioshack is said to be switching to the Australian team as well. McEwen is more likely to join in a management role, having announced 2011 to be his final professional season.
A disappointing hit and miss for the team has been young Tasmanian Richie Porte. The 26-year-old, who made his Tour de France debut this year, has shown increasing skill in the individual time trial, coming fourth to World Time Trial Champion Fabian Cancellara in last year's Road World Championships, and bettering that in this year's Tour de France individiual time trial stage by coming 5th ahead of Cancellara's 8th. Alas for GreenEDGE, Porte has renewed his contract with Danish team Saxobank-Sungard.
Word is also spreading of the untested young blood that GreenEDGE is seeking. Of the number of Australians signed to WorldTour teams, not all are racing at the highest level yet, and of these GreenEDGE has two of my top three young Aussie picks in their sights. Jack Bobridge is a former under-23 world champion and Cameron Meyer is Australian national time trial champion, while his younger brother Travis, despite not being in GreenEDGE's radar, is the former national road race champion. All three ride for Team Garmin-Cervelo, and none have yet made their debut at a grand tour. There has also been mention of Garmin's Australian directeur sportif, Matt White, who could be persuaded to follow his young countrymen across to their new national team.
The closer we get to the beginning of the transfer season and a new season of cycling, the more exciting and real it becomes that Australia is finally beginning to ruffle its feathers on the world stage of this beautiful sport. A Tour de France winner and a potential national team all in one year - who would have thought?
The closer we get to the beginning of the transfer season and a new season of cycling, the more exciting and real it becomes that Australia is finally beginning to ruffle its feathers on the world stage of this beautiful sport. A Tour de France winner and a potential national team all in one year - who would have thought?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)