Perth SmokeFree Criteriums

TDT Race/Bikeforce took a team of 4 riders and 2 development riders to Perth for the Perth SmokeFree Criterium Series.
Chloe,Sarah ,Miffy and Delphine rode as TDT RACE and Nik and Stacey were riding as Bikeforce

Stage 1: North Bridge
With a new rider added to the start list (Emma Pooley- Garmin Cervelo )all the girls knew they were going to be in for a tough ride!
The race started with 1 neutral lap and then it was on.. Pure Tasmania attacked from the word go, splitting the bunch within the first couple of laps. Then Pooley attacked and that was the last anyone saw of her. Rowena Fry managed to hang onto her wheel for 2 two laps before she came back to the remaining bunch containing Sarah, Miffy and Chloe.
Emma Lawson (Pure Tasmania) managed to get herself a handy split from the bunch after attacking our team after a chase. She managed to stay away and bag 2nd for the day.
Miffy put on an awesome few laps of pace to keep the time gap down to a minimum but with the race running a little longer than calculated, it was all a little too early and with 2 to go the bunch started preparing for the sprint finish for 3rd.
A little too much heat on the final corner saw Gracie Sulzberger wipe out herself and the barriers not to mention stuff up the line of most girls behind her including Sarah and Chloe. Sarah finished the sprint well considering and got up for 9th place. With Chloe finishing in 11th and Miff in 12th.

Stage 2: Victoria Park
Another hot, gusty day in Perth today with a P shaped circuit challenging the riders. First to make the break: Sarah Riley (TDT Race), Kate Finnigan and Sarah Holland, kept a solid pace out front using the advantage of the gap from the bunch, allowing technical cornering. After a few laps in the breakaway Sarah came back to the main bunch to support her team mates.
Pure Tasmania Team were riding to mark Emma Pooley and did a great job at keeping the current TT world champion at bay, getting onto her wheel every time she attacked up the climb. The constant attacks caused the bunch to splinter with 10min to go and Chloe managed to make this lead group of 10.
Sarah and Miffy were just behind in a chase group, which were within meters of rejoining before another attack by Pooley meant the race was strung out again. This group rejoined on the last lap after some cat and mouse from the lead group and some hard chasing on their behalf!
The finish came down to an uphill bunch kick and with cooked legs Chloe managed 9th place. Emma Lawson (Pure Tasmania) got the win from team mate Rowena Fry with Pooley placing 3rd.

Stage 3: Leederville
The first of the night stages was ran in Leederville. A pretty technical circuit was always going to make it a night for a break away. And this is exactly what happened.. Emma Pooley showed why she is the world TT champion, by powering off the front, unable to be brought back in by the hard working Pure Tasmania Team.
Chloe was positioned in the chase bunch of 9, with Miffy and Sarah in the next group, strategically not pulling any more sprinters into the lead group. Chloe got a bit boxed in around the last U-turn corner and couldn’t make up enough ground, placing 10th in the sprint. Miff and Sarah finished just behind. Stacey had a great race and was unlucky to not finish in the top 20.

Stage 4: Fremantle
Fremantle was definitely the most technical circuit of the series, with the added challenge of racing under lights to test out the riders. The race was on for the overall series with 1 point separating Emma Lawson (Pure Tasmania) and Emma Pooley (Garmin-Cervelo).
Emma Pooley threw everything at the Tasmanian trio, but every attack was met by an equally aggressive chase and she could not get away. A break of 7 formed after the elastic band snapped, leaving Chloe, Sarah and Stacey in the chasing group.
Stacey had a brilliant race, staying in with the big girls and showing that she is stepping up to the elite level as an U19 rider. She even took out a midway sprint for some cash!

The three TDT RACE girls did the lions share of the chase and their efforts were rewarded when the break away took the pace off with 1 lap to go and the girls got back on just before the final corner.
Chloe and Sarah contested the sprint from the back of the bunch and finished 9th and 10th respectively.

Overall, it was a great experience for the girls to travel to W.A. to race and we would like to thank the race organizers for putting on an excellent event. We would definitely encourage more chicks to head over to Perth for this series next year!!