Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Honda Hybrid Women's Tour Oct 15-17

TDT Race Women’s Team entered a modified team for the Honda Hybrid Women’s Tour, with the focus of developing our U19 riders (Natasha Langedyk and Stacy Hocking) and giving them the opportunity to experience racing at this level. Joining the U19 girls in her debut ride with the team was new member Rebecca Domange, U23 rider Danielle Nyikos, our favorite Kiwi Rosy McCall, as well as regulars Felicity Wilson and Chloe McConville.

Stage 1- 55km Road Race Anglesea-Anglesea
Stage 1 of the Honda Hybrid Womens Tour began under very overcast skies. 73 girls rolled off the start line under neutral conditions and as soon as the flag dropped the racing was on. An incident at a roundabout approx 1.5km into the race, saw our under 19 riders (Natasha Langedyke and Stacy Hocking) as well as Danielle Nyikos get caught up, however all 3 riders got back on their bikes and finished the race. The QOM climb came 3 km into the race and had an immediate effect of breaking the field in half with a bunch of 35 (including Chloe, Rosy and Rebecca) taking a 50m advantage over the top. Felicity was in the next group of about 10 girls and worked hard to rejoin the leading group a kilometer or so later. Jo Hogan (Prime Estate) made an attack over the false flat section at the end of the climb which saw her away, but always within sight, for a couple of km’s. With the tactical teams racing she was never going to be let go. Rosy counter attacked Jo and a NTID girl went with her, but again only a couple of k’s later they were reeled in. From then on the attacks came from everywhere, but with the strong team of MB cycles looking after team captain Kirsty Broun and the HP Pinarello girls keeping everyone in sight no one was able to get away. The two intermediate sprints had time bonuses up for grabs and Chloe placed 2nd in one to grab a 2sec bonus which proved to be very handy for GC rankings! The final 4 km of the race was pretty much suicide, the heavens had opened and the rain was falling hard while the main peloton of 45 girls were descending down Anglesea Hill (at almost 70km an hour.) The placings were pretty much decided by whoever hit the roundabout first and most likely who was the most insane. Rochelle Gilmore (HP Pinarello) took the win, ahead of Kirsty Broun (MB cycles) and Davina Summers (Felt/City Cycles) Chloe managed to get herself up there finishing 8th in the sprint and with the 2 second time bonus finished up the day 5th on GC. Flick, Rosy and Bec were all given the same time and were in the top 30 on GC


1. Rochelle Gilmore 1.27.53
2. Kirsty Broun same time
3. Davina Summers same time

8. Chloe McConville same time
20. Rosy McCall same time
27. Felicity Wilson same time
30. Rebecca Domange same time
62. Stacey Hocking 1.40.38
64. Natasha Langedyk 1.40.38
65. Danielle Nyikos 1.40.38

Stage 2 - 10km Individual Time Trial Geelong Waterfront
Again the skies were not promising for the start of the 10km IRTT, and the heavens well and truly opened up halfway through the start list, making the tight and technical corners of the course even more dangerous. All of the TDT Race girls managed to stay upright and posted some good times. With the likes of Vicki Whitelaw (HP Pinarello) who has not long returned from the World Championships, it was always going to be tough not losing too much time on GC. However Bec, Flick and Chloe all finished in the top 20, with Chloe’s 12th place (59sec back) the best result she has ever achieved in time trialling.
At the end of the day GC reflected the TT results (due to the bunch finish in the RR) with our highest rider Chloe in 12th place 59.69 sec down on tour leader Vicki Whitelaw.

1. Vicki Whitelaw 15:34.9
2. Amber Halliday 15:37.0
3. Carly Light 15:44.5

12. Chloe McConville 16:34.6
19. Rebecca Domange 16:48.9
20. Felicity Wilson 16:51.1
38.Rosy McCall 17:34.4
53. Natasha Langedyk 18:13.5
55.Stacey Hocking 18:15.1
65. Danielle Nyikos 18:54.5

Stage 3- 45min + 3 lap Lygon St Criterium
Finally the sunny skies were shining and all of the girls were pretty nervous heading into the final stage. The chance for Chloe to move up on GC (and into the money) would rely on getting at least 4 seconds worth of time bonuses. After Stage 2 only 11seconds separated 12th from 5th. After a team meeting prior to the race it was decided the girls needed to get straight out of the blocks and be aggressive, with thoughts that a breakaway was probably the way the race was going to pan out. Chloe lead the attacks early and was off the front of the peloton solo for just over a lap before being chased down. Bec, Rosy and Flick also lead aggressive attacks but again the other teams were just too strong and no-one was getting away. The field was strung out for most of the race courtesy of the high speeds and hot dog corners and resulted in only 35 girls being left in the main peloton. Unfortunately for our younger riders they couldn’t quite hang in with the main bunch but dug deep to finish. Bec gave Chloe a great lead out for the first intermediate sprint, but unfortunately she finished just out of the time bonuses in 4th place. The 2nd intermediate sprint went the same way, with a drag race right to the line that again resulted in a 4th place and no extra seconds! The final 3 laps saw the pace increase even further and position was everything heading around the final hot dog corner. Chloe managed to sprint up into 8th place after just missing the HP Pinarello Steam train lead out off the corner. Bec, Flick and Rosy all raced extremely well to be up there in the main peloton of only 35. Again sprinters dominated the top 3 positions with Rochelle Gilmore just sneaking in ahead of Kirsty Broun and Davina Summers.

1. Rochelle Gilmore 56.14
2. Kirsty Broun same time
3. Davina Summers same time

8. Chloe McConville same time
24 Rebecca Domange. same time
31. Felicity Wilson 56.29
34.Rosy McCall 56.50
62. Stacey Hocking 1.01.25
64.Danielle Nyikos 1.04.30
65 Natasha Langedyk 1.07.35

At the end of the tour, the top of GC hadn’t changed much with Vicki Whitelaw winning overall ahead of Amber Halliday (MB Cycles) and Carly Light (NTID).

General Classification
1 WHITELAW, Vicki (HP Pinarello) 02:39:37.92 00:00:00.00
2 HALLIDAY, Amber (MB Cycles) 02:39:43.99 00:00:06.07
3 LIGHT, Carly (NTID) 02:39:51.52 00:00:13.60

12 MCCONVILLE, Chloe (RACE) 02:40:39.61 00:01:01.69
19 DOMANGE, Rebecca (RACE) 02:40:55.88 00:01:17.96
24 WILSON, Felicity (RACE) 02:41:13.13 00:01:35.21
56 HOCKING, Stacey (RACE) 03:00:18.07 00:20:40.15
59 NYIKOS, Danielle (RACE) 03:04:02.53 00:24:24.61
66 LANGEDYK, Natasha (RACE) 03:06:26.49 00:26:48.57

Thank you to all of our sponsors, without your support we wouldn’t be able to continue racing in tours such as this. Also thank you to all of the people who lent our riders various equipment during the tour and for the cheering on the sidelines and to Kimbo for getting us every step of the way with our training. The girls look forward to getting more great results soon!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Glen Innes to Inverell- NRS- 12th September 2009

On Thursday 10th September, Felicity and Chloe, along with the support of coach Kimbo and Delphine began the epic drive up to Glen Innes for the 5th round of the Women’s National Road Series.



After driving all day Thursday, the girls decided to stop in the small town of Forbes, about 2hrs north of Dubbo for the night. The next morning after an awesome ride in the sun and no wind, the journey continued. By 6pm Friday night the girls arrived in Glen Innes, with plenty of time for a home cooked spag bol and to register. Not to mention the de-bugging of the bikes after 1500km on top of the roof!




The heat set in early on race day, by the start of the race at 9.30am, no arm warmers, undershirts or vests were needed. The beginning of the race was a little less than ideal. Whilst on the start line Flick and Chloe were told that the new UCI wheel regulations would be enforced and unless they changed their Bouwmeester wheels to a set of approved wheels, they would be disqualified. As the support vehicle had already left to go out on the course, the girls were forced to get their training wheels out of the spares van, and race on those… definitely not ideal on a course like Glen Innes.







The race was hard and the profile (which made it look more downhill than up) definitely did not do it justice. The race broke up after the first KOM about 15km into the 95km race. The initial attack over the climb left 3 of the strongest riders dangling out the front for about 8km, the chase group of about 15 which included Chloe, worked hard to bring them back. Flick didn’t quite get onto the back of the chase group and ended up riding hard for the rest of the race with another couple of girls, unfortunately not being able to bridge the gap to get back on.
After pulling back the 3 riders out front, the race settled for a few k’s until the next attack came on a 500m stretch of gravel road. Chloe worked hard to bridge and got across but the rest of the bunch had followed and everything was back together again. Just as Flick had predicted, the race was determined over the 2nd KOM. A lead bunch of 6 broke away, with Chloe missing the break by about 10m and was left chasing in no man’s land for 3km. After not gaining any ground, Chloe sat up and waited for a chase group of 6 other riders and then worked hard with these girls into the finish, not able to bring back the lead bunch. Chloe ended up winning the bunch kick to finish 7th and Flick came in a few mins back to finish 20th. A pretty disappointing day considering the distance travelled and the fact that we drove for 20hours to race on training wheels, but at the end of the day if nothing else it was a good hard training session!
Shortly after the race the girls loaded up and drove straight back to Geelong.. a very very very long 20hrs non-stop in the car… please note: there are no 24hr Maccas between Dubbo and Shepparton!!


Thanks a bundle to the continued support of our sponsors and to Kim and Delphine for the race and driving assistance.


Celtic Country Classic de Femme- Glen Innes to Inverell NRS


1st Lauren Kitchen
2nd Sue Forsyth
3rd Loren Rooney

7th Chloe McConville
20th Felicity Wilson
Sunday, August 30, 2009

New to the Blogging Scene!!

Hi everyone! This blog site has been created to keep everyone informed about the results and adventures of the newly formed TDT R.A.C.E. Women's Cycling Team.

We have been racing as a team since the Australian Road Championships in Ballarat at the beginning of this year. Since then we have had many successful outings at State and National level races. Not to mention Kendelle placing 4th in the IRTT at the World Junior Cycling Championships in Moscow, Russia.

We currently have 7 riders in the elite women's team with the development of another 4-5 U17 riders who, over the coming year, will be moving into the elite team.

The riders come from a variety of cycling clubs, including Carnegie Caulfield, Geelong, Footscray and Bendigo cycling clubs. Kim Howard is coaching the majority of the riders as well as managing the team, with many team training sessions happening around the roads near Geelong.

We hope that over the next few months we can continue riding well as a team, with our main focus on the National Road Series Races, Jayco Bay Crits and National Championships come January.