Bikeforce TDT R.A.C.E Women's Cycling Team

Tour of Bright Start lists

2011-11-18T16:29:00.001+11:00

WOMEN A GRADE
No	First	Last	Club	Cat
351	Bridie	O'DONNELL	St Kilda Cycling Club Inc	ELITEW
352	Jessica	ALLEN	Midland CC	JW19
353	Miranda	GRIFFITHS	St Kilda Cycling Club Inc	ELITEW
354	Chloe	MCCONVILLE	Carnegie Caulfield CC	ELITEW
355	Kendelle	HODGES	Brunswick Cycling Club Inc	ELITEW
356	Jo	HOGAN	St Kilda Cycling Club Inc	ELITEW
357	Lisa	JACOBS	Carnegie Caulfield CC	ELITEW
358	Rebecca	LOCKE	Coburg Cycling Club Inc	ELITEW
359	Naomi	WILLIAMS	Launceston City CC	ELITEW
360	Amy	BRADLEY	St Kilda Cycling Club Inc	ELITEW
361	Delphine	ASTIER	Footscray Cycling Club Inc	ELITEW
362	Heidi	BUNTROCK	Blackburn Cycling Club Inc	ELITEW
363	Lucy	COLDWELL	Carnegie Caulfield CC	ELITEW
364	Clare	DALLAT	Carnegie Caulfield CC	ELITEW
365	Erin	DENSHAM	Triathlon Victoria	ELITEW
366	Myfanwy	GALLOWAY	Canberra Cycling Club	ELITEW
367	Rebecca	HENDERSON	Vikings Cycling Club ACT	ELITEW
368	Stephanie	IVES	Carnegie Caulfield CC	ELITEW
369	Jenni	KING	MTBA	ELITEW
370	Tanya	MATTHEWSON	St Kilda Cycling Club Inc	ELITEW
371	Sarah	RILEY	Carnegie Caulfield CC	ELITEW
372	Nicole	WHITBURN	Carnegie Caulfield CC	ELITEW
373	Antonia	ABBISOGNI	Bendigo & District CC	JW19

WOMEN B GRADE
No	First	Last	Club	Cat
551	Justyna	LUBKOWSKI	St Kilda Cycling Club Inc	ELITEW
552	Stacey	HOCKING	Camperdown Cycling Club Inc	JW19
553	Francesca	WELLINGTON	Blackburn CC	ELITEW
554	Deborah	CHAMBERS	Carnegie Caulfield CC	WMAS4
555	Elizabeth	HALL	Hawthorn CC	WMAS4
556	Elisabeth	RUBIE	Kooragang Open CC	WMAS2
557	Eliza	BERGIN	St Kilda Cycling Club Inc	ELITEW
558	Kristy	GLOVER	Wellington Cycling Club	ELITEW
559	Lisa	KEELING	Vikings Cycling Club ACT	ELITEW
560	Marlena	KLAIC	St Kilda Cycling Club Inc	ELITEW
561	Nadine	LE MESCAM	St Kilda Cycling Club Inc	ELITEW
562	Carley	MCKAY	Mercantile Cycling Club	ELITEW
563	Nicole	MCNAMARA	Bendigo & District CC	ELITEW
564	Elizabeth	MEAKIN	MA Cycling	ELITEW
565	Deciana	SPECKMANN	Vikings Cycling Club ACT	ELITEW
566	Rochelle	KURSIDIM	MA Cycling	WMAS3
567	Deborah	RICHARDS	MA Cycling	WMAS3
568	Bev	THOMAS	Footscray Cycling Club Inc	WMAS3

Shipwreck Coast Classic 2011 - Results

2011-11-15T18:28:00.001+11:00

Being the last race of the National Road Series, the Shipwreck Coast attracted a strong field this year. The level of competition and the weather, with very strong cross winds, made for a very hard race. A breakaway of three formed at the front early on, with ex-teammate Kendelle Hodges, SASI rider Sinead Noonan and leader of the series Grace Sulzberger. The three of them worked well till the end and they finished ahead of the rest of the field, with Kendelle taking out the win in the sprint.
Well done to Kate Finegan for finishing sixth, and latest addition to the team Cait Fraser for her twelfth place.

Shipwerck Coast Classic Preview

2011-10-25T16:56:00.000+11:00

The team's next race is the Shipwreck Coast Classic :
- start : 11.30am at the Flag Staff Hill in Warrnambool
- finish expected around 2.15pm at the Allansford Cheese World
Have a look at the route and come along to support the girls !

Honda Women's Tour 2011

2011-10-15T19:19:00.000+11:00

Well its been an interesting week so far with the 5 of us at the Honda tour this year. We started in Ballarat on Wednesday with a kermesse/criterium/circuit race of 6.2km around Lake Wendouree 7 times with lots of road furniture to get around each lap. The racing started fast with an attack within the first 100m of racing from SASI and attacks continued throughout the first lap with Delphine and Kate ensuring they were within the breaks. There was to be a sprint at the end of lap 2 and 7, and just before the first sprint there was quite a large crash that both Nik and Sarah got caught up in. What followed was what you could call a major kafuffle and the rules became very confusing, some girls thought they could take laps out, some girls were chasing and the follow cars were unable to inform the riders of what to do. The race continued fast and aggressive, Kate got 2nd in the second sprint and gained a time bonus and in the final sprint for the day Stacey finished 15th and Kate 23rd, with Sue Forsyth from NSW the eventual winner. Kate was in 6th on GC due to her time bonus in the sprint; Sarah and Nik were told with 2 laps to go after chasing an aggressive bunch that they were going to get bunch time so rolled in with a smaller bunch of the girls caught up in the crashes.
Stage 2, Thursday, around Belmont specific criterium circuit. We thought Wednesday was a fast start, Thursday was even faster; single file on the first lap. Over half the field was already pulled out as they were going to get lapped by lap 14 (out of 40laps). Position, position, position was the key to this race and Kate's experience in The Netherlands payed off today, bring the only one to finish the criterium in 12 position and holding onto her 6th overall in GC. Thursday afternoon we went and re-conned the course for the teams time trial the following day and in the evening enjoyed an amazing cous cous with roast chicken and vegetables thanks to the fine dining skills of Nik in our accommodation thanks to BARTERCARD.Stage 3, Teams Time Trial in Drysdale on Portalington Road 6.7km out and then return over the rolling hills. We discovered a definate area of improvement that we need to work on as a team, and one of the disadvantages of us not having been able to have our teams training day as planned due to circumstances that had arised. Kate took off very fast, maybe as a result of the last 2 days, but caused a break down in the team working together and it ended with Sarah pulling some massive turns to bring home Kate and Delphine.Stage 4 Sorrento to Arthurs Seat, 43.5km a hilly stage. 1/2 of us stayed in Sorrento, the other half stayed in Geelong and caught the ferry over in the morning, waking up to a windy, yet Sunny morning on the bay. It was 10km with a tail wind before heading into the last 30km of rolling hills. Fast and furious yet again from the gun the first 10km was covered in about 15minutes, about 50km/hour. Nicole suffered from a puncture, and the rest of us suffered from punctured lungs at sometime during the day, with Sarah being our top finisher followed by Kate. We all need to do a hill climbing camp to improve our climbing abilities and move forward a a team.

Getting Excited

2011-09-27T22:38:00.001+10:00

well only 4 more days till the team for Honda Hybrid Tour are hitting the roads of Geelong for a team training session. Sarah,Stacey,Kate,Nik and Delphine ...

New kit...always adds Excitement

2011-09-27T21:09:00.000+10:00

So I'm back on my bike after 2 weeks off, and what better way to get a little more excited to be back on the bike than to be wearing new team RACE kit..to bad I still have to wear arm and leg warmers but hey, can't complain to much...Kate

Amy's Gran Fondo 2011 (September 18)

2011-09-22T18:12:00.000+10:00

Delphine's report on riding the Amy's Gran Fondo in Lorne on Sunday, September, 18th.

Nicole and Delphine before the start.

There were over 2500 riders on the start line in Lorne on Sunday morning, the atmosphere was jovial and the weather sunny and warm. The start, scheduled at 8am, was only delayed by a few minutes as an injured Koala had to be removed from the course, and riders set off for the 120km journey in waves of 200 every two minutes. Nicole, Helen and I took the start in the last of the 30-35kph waves. The bunch mostly stayed together for the first 40km along the Great Ocean Road. The scenery was amazing, and riding on both sides without having to worry about any cars was very special. Our bunch set a nice tempo and we got to the first major climb of the day in just over 1h. Unfortunately, Nicole was the victim of a puncture in this very first section, which spoiled the rest of her day ...

The bunch fell apart on the 10km climb from Skenes Creek, as riders were constantly passed by faster climbers, or passing slower riders. Over the top I was unable to find a good working bunch and most of the following 60km consisted of hopping from one group to the next, trying to pace myself but keep a high tempo on the flatter section to Deans Marsh. That's where the last climb of the day started, and once again the climb split any existing groups to pieces. The ascent of Benwerrin, affectionately called "Bennie" by the locals, seemed incredibly tough. At the top, once passed the finish line, a lot of riders were having a break descending back to Lorne, congratulating each other and happily chatting about their experience of the day.

The results were updated on the Bike Exchange website almost instantly, and when we made our way to the tent to check our times I got a good surprise and found out that I was 3rd in the women 16-29 category with a ride time of 3h36. The podium presentation only involved the winners of each age group, but I still got a medal, which I collected at the results tent later in the afternoon from ex-team member Jenny McPherson, who now works for the Amy Gillett Foundation. It was great to catch up with her briefly.

I would like to thank the Amy Gillett Foundation for organising such a great event. The level of organisation was outstanding. Everything ran on time and we had no issues with registrations, results, timing ....

If you would like to know more about the Amy Gillett Foundation and their action for riders' safety follow the link : Amy Gillett Foundation

On the start line in the main street of Lorne.

Medal for coming third in the Women 16-29 Category.

Helen, who joined us as a guest rider for this event, Nicole and Delphine after the ride.

2011-09-20T08:21:00.002+10:00

Hi all I'm Kate Finegan....another cyclist from Bendigo Victoria and have just been offered the great opportunity to ride with RACE for the rest of the 2011 road season.....So my first blog for team RACE....Spent a great Saturday afternoon with Kim in Geelong discussing personal goals, plans, and ideas as well as how this fitted in within with the team and its philosophy. Although I'm sure a lot of what I said may not have made sense as I was suffering from Jet lag (a severe 3 day long hang over without the enjoyment of the fun times that occur whilst drinking). I have no understanding of why each time I travel to Europe I am so much more affected on the flight back to Australia than when I go over there. The positive is that at least I had nothing too stressful to do for a couple of days on return to Australia.
So I'm halfway through my end of season break, and after 38 race days in 5 months being based in The Netherlands with many highs and lows, it is a well deserved rest, and I'm enjoying every moment of it. But give it another 2 days and I'll be itching to be back on the bike and start preparing for Honda women's tour and Shipwreck coast classic.

Noel Smith Memorial 2011

2011-09-08T18:13:00.011+10:00

Nicole's Report on racing the Noel Smith Memorial road race from Bendigo to Echuca on Saturday, September, 3rd.

Coming to the end of a big block of racing I was excited to be on the start line of one of my favourite races of the year. This race was my first long race 2 years ago, and for the past 2 years I have been first unplaced female.

The course itself starts in Huntly and heads out through Kamarooka to finish in Echuca. It’s pretty much a dead flat race with only the first 25k of nice rolling hills. On the day we battled a block head wind the hole way except for the last 15k, which was a head-cross wind. I was in a great bunch that worked well together from the start and we were able to stay away. The pace went up in the last 15k and it was down to me and one other guy. In the sprint I managed to get over him for the win … supper excited !!

Thank you to team manger Kim for the last few weeks of motor pacing, Matt Wallace my coach and to all our great sponsors, Bikeforce, Tdt and race.

What's Next ?

2011-08-24T15:31:00.015+10:00

Here is a quick overview of the races we will take part in over the next couple of months.

You can come and cheer us on !

Amy's Gran Fondo - Sunday 18 September 2011

Amy's Gran Fondo will commence from the Great Ocean Road starting point in Lorne, Victoria. The course will take in the idyllic Surf Coast and Colac Otway regions, including the iconic Great Ocean Road, local townships, and the surrounding rain forests and hinterland.

This is a timed event, with prize money for age group and team placegetters. This is a timed race and will allow the riders to qualify for the new UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) World Championships for amateurs.

Sandown Festival - Sunday 25.09.2011

A one hour criterium race around the Sandown racecourse. The Sandown Motor Circuit is 3.1km in circumference, and features 13 turns. One of the key features of the circuit is an exciting back straight which leads into a very fast entry into Dandenong Road corner.

The circuit is used for five major Motorsport events each year, including the V8 Supercars, Victorian State Circuit Racing Championships, Historic Sandown and Shannons Nationals.

The Sandown Festival criteriums are part of the Ride for Epilepsy ride on the same day.

Honda Women's Tour - 13 to 16.10.2011 (Part of the National Road Series)

Stage 1: Ballarat Circuit Race Wednesday 12 October; Start 12:50pm

Stage 2: Geelong Criterium Thurday 13 October; start 12:00pm

Stage 3: Drysdale Team Time Trial Friday 14 October; start 12:00pm

Stage 4: Sorrento Road Race Saturday 15 October; start 9:30am

Glenn Innes to Inverell - Saturday 22.10.2011 (Part of the National Road Series)

Shipwreck Coast Classic - Sunday 30.10.2011 (Part of the National Road Series)

This year the Shipwreck Coast Classic will be the last race of the National Road series. It will start at 11.30am at Warrnambool Flag Staff Hill and will finish at the Allansford Cheese World around 2.15pm.

The course is 116km and travels via Allansford, Nullawarre, Bay of Islands, Bay or Martyrs, Peterborough, Port Campbell and Curdievale.

The race will include 12 intermediate sprints and KOMs.

Last year's podium of the Shipwreck Coast Classic :

it was a 1-2 for the team with Chloe and Sarah.

Stay tuned for our race reports and photos.

Victorian Championships 2011

2011-08-16T15:39:00.005+10:00

Sarah's report on racing the road race and the criterium of the Victorian Championships last week-end, 13-14/08/2011.

The state championships road race is held on a gruelling 47.7km course starting from Anakie and travelling through Meredith and Steiglitz. Two laps of the course would decide the Vic state champion. The bunch stayed together until the first decent followed by a steep uphill where a few riders got caught out and couldn't get back to the main bunch. A break of three girls from the teams of VIS, Bundaberg and Suzuki went shortly after and managed to stay away until the last climb on the first lap. Starting the second lap out of Anakie the bunch was just turning the legs over but there was the tense feeling that someone was going to attack. There were a few digs towards the top of the climb but the bunch was on to it. The bunch stayed together until the climb out of Steiglitz about 10km from the finish when the split in the bunch started to form. The main bunch finished approx 2min ahead of the second bunch followed by a couple of other riders behind them. The winner of the stage was Loren Rowney from Jessica Munday and Kendelle Hodges.

Profile of the Road Race on Saturday.

The crit at eastern gardens was met with perfect weather, sunshine and only a slight breeze, much different from the previous year which riders faced torrential rain. With VIS and Bundaberg again in the mix at the front the sprints every second lap were hotly contested. As there was little wind to string out the riders it came down to bunch sprint where those riders first into the last technical uphill left hand corner had all the advantage. Loren Rowney won from Jessica Munday and Grace Sulzberger.

Photo JXPPhotography, from the Cycling Victoria Website.

66th annual 'Wal Smith' Casterton 50

2011-06-23T20:57:00.002+10:00

With threatening rain clouds hanging over the 66th annual 'Wal Smith' Casterton 50, the bunch and I set off for the 80km hilly trek. Beginning in the 28min mark, I was in a bunch of 6 riders working smoothly and strongly together however the 24 minute markers were hot on our wheels putting in a good chase.

They shortly joined forces with us after 25kms on the undulating course to Digby. With 13 riders now, the pace was high, and a few riders were beginning to feel the pressure. Coming up to a hill sprint I was feeling strong, and decided to go for it. Hoping to not use up too much energy though as it was only just over the half way mark. Taking the sprint out gave me confidence in knowing I'd be able to tackle the remaining hills with the bunch.

The 30km race home from the turn around proved to be nerve racking experience as the oncoming bunches looked as though they were gaining time quickly.

The head wind home was very taxing as we were losing time. With 15 km to go we only had a 1.30min break on the chasing group. What kept us going strong was the whole group were working evenly and strongly. This proved our savior as we held the chasing group off.

The final kilometers remaining enabled me to relax knowing we were not going to get caught. I began preparing for the sprint and in the the end earning myself 7th place and first lady home for the second year in a row.

Overall i was pretty happy with how i rode, and the impressive effort of the bunch!

Thankyou to all the sponsors involved and my coach Kim Howard.

Stacey H.

--------

Full results

1st - S.Pickering (Carnegie-Caulfield, 24 mins)
2nd - J.Hetherington (Stawell, 28 mins)
3rd - M.Brooksby (Mt Gambier, 28 mins)
4th - M.Wright (Mt Gambier, 24 mins)
5th - R.Braszell (Ballarat-Sebastopol, 28 mins)
6th - M. Molan (Camperdown, 24 mins)
7th - S.Hocking (Camperdown, 28 mins)*
8th - A.Lindsey (Portland, 24 mins)
9th - L.Peake (Mt Gambier, 28 mins)
10th - A.Ballantyne (Hamilton, 24 mins)

Winners Time: 2:16:01

Fastest Time: E.Bissaker (Norwood, Scr)
Time: 1:56:56

*First Lady: S.Hocking (Camperdown, 28 mins)

Intermediate Sprints: S.Pickering(3), B.McPhee(2), M.Brooksby(1), S.Hocking(1).

2011-06-16T14:54:00.003+10:00

FOOTSCRAY CYCLING CLUB’S 53rd ANNUAL THREE-DAY TOUR

C grade

Delphine's Report

Stage 1 started under beautiful blue skies with very little wind: the perfect setting for an 80km race in the open lands of Little River. Given the flat nature of the course and the hills to come the next day I expected that most riders would want to save their legs and not ride to aggressively, which would give me the opportunity to go for the intermediate sprints. I knew that I could pull out a good result, but to my surprise, I won the first intermediate sprint by quite a big margin. I recovered in time for the second sprint, only 8km later, but got very boxedin … I was just about last wheel in the bunch when I could finally get out and launch my sprint. It was too late to win it but I secured a 3rd place. Paradoxically, this is when I understood that I could win every other one, and possibly the stage, if I wanted to. Coming from the back I could see how fast I was gaining ground, and after that there was no way I was going to be beaten again. So I kept my focus and made sure not to make the same mistake again. I did win the next 2 intermediate sprints and the stage. What a great start! I was now in the lead of the Sprint King competition with a 9-point advantage, and I was also leading the general classification by 13s.

Stage 2 was not such a great day for me. I was feeling quite good at the start and aiming at a 2nd or 3rd place finish: I knew that Mark Carr, eventual winner of the general classification, was probably going to be too strong in the hills, but with the time bonuses earned the previous day I could afford to lose 45s to 1min and still be in contention. All was going to plan until I dropped my chain, on a flat section, trying to go back to my top chainring ... That's where Mark attacked, so the bunch split in million bits and I was left near the back. I thought I could make it back to the front, and chased very hard to get there. I managed to catch the rider who eventually finished 2nd on the stage, Kon. I stayed with him for a while but when he put the hammer down in the last 10km, the acceleration in pace proved too hard for me. There was nothing left in my legs to respond. In the end I lost a big chunk of time and I had to let go of my ambitions in terms of GC. This was a bit of a blow as I had not contested the intermediate sprints in order to ensure a high finish on this stage. My lead in the sprint king classification had also significantly reduced to just 3 points over the next contender. Stage 3 was going to be crucial.

Stage 3 was raced around our "You-Yangs Circuit", which is a 13km flat course that we use regularly in club races. The only hill is located at the top of the narrow Flinder's Lane, it is a gradual incline of 2-3% for about 1km, then it kicks up to 4% for about 400m. The steepest part comes right before turning the corner where it reaches around 6% for a couple of meters. The KOM sprint and the finish line come at the end of the 4% section. With reduced numbers and some very tired legs in the bunch, it is fair to say that the previous day had taken a big toll on everybody. A bunch sprint seemed unavoidable given the profile of the course and the last stage was therefore raced at a relatively slow pace, every rider focusing on gaining points in the sprint and KOM classifications, and saving their legs the rest of the time in the hope to get to the finish fresher than the rest. I was no exception and the negative mood was very suited to my intention to secure the Sprint competition and the stage win. I made sure I covered attacks by the main contender for the stage win, Mark Carr, and coming into the intermediate sprints I also marked my only threat, Kon Papakonstantinou. Luckily, my strategy was a success. Mark went for the KOM points as well as the overall victory, and he produced some big efforts sprinting up the hill on the first two laps. In the last straight I made sure I was firmly stuck on his wheel, as I expected him to wind up from a distance in an attempt to drop me before the line. To my surprise, he waited, and waited, and waited... When he launched his sprint, probably at 100 meters to go, I jumped behind him keeping some power in reserve... With 50 meters to go he started dying, and that's when I launched my sprint and came around him to take my second stage victory of the Tour.

The Footscray 53rd Annual 3-Day Tour is undeniably my most successful tour to date. I secured 2 stage wins, the King Sprint prize, 2nd in the KOM prize, 4th on GC, and was also awarded a special prize by the commissaires for fair-play –given the bad luck in stage 2- and for best female rider.

THANK YOU to our sponsors for making this success possible:

TDT Australia
BIKEFORCE DOCKLANDS
RIDLEY
CHAMPION SYSTEM
BOUWMEESTER
BARTERCARD
WYNDHAMVALE PHYSIOTHERAPY

Phillip Island Women's Kermesse (7 May 2011)

2011-05-09T16:24:00.004+10:00

For this edition of the Phillip Island Women's Kermesse the TDT-Race-Bikeforce team had strength in numbers, with Chloe, Rebecca, Stacey, Sarah, Nicole and Delphine on the start line. The objective for this race was to win or at least get on the podium, and we knew we had to race an aggressive team race in order to beat the other big guns in the field. Indeed, we had quite a few riders to worry about: ex-pro Helen Kelly was racing, as well as the St Kilda Giant team; and the VIS came with a strong contingent in Kendelle Hodges, Victorian champion Joanne Hogan, and new to the women's scene U19 sprinting sensation Imogen Jelbart.

With near perfect conditions for Phillip Island (only a strong wind, not a gale force wind) and sun breaking through the clouds we started racing. Straight away Nik when to the front of the bunch to set the pace while the rest of us moved to sit in the top 10 positions.

From the second lap in we started attacking, first with Delphine, Chloe had a couple of digs, then Stacey and Sarah. The team tactics were to have Bec sit in the bunch and look after herself ready for a sprint finish, with the other girls trying to tire the legs off the other teams.

About half way through the race Sarah made a really strong attack, but was chased down. However she kept the pace high into the wind to string the bunch out. This is when Chloe counter-attacked and managed to get a good break on the field with only Kendelle Hodges (VIS) joining her. Our team went straight to the front to slow the pace. The team worked well to stop the peloton from chasing down the break and the2 leaders stayed away, with Chloe getting outsprinted by Kendelle to take 2nd place.

The minor placings up to tenth place were decided by a bunch kick and it was very difficult for the judges to finalise. After much deliberation and arguing they took us to the back and settled on a classification with the riders involved.
Overall, it was a very successful race with Chloe riding an outstanding race once again and another 2 riders making the top ten :
Chloe - 2nd / Delphine - 7th / Stacey -10th

THANK YOU to our sponsors for making this success possible :
TDT Australia
BIKEFORCE DOCKLANDS
RIDLEY
CHAMPION SYSTEM
BOUWMEESTER, BARTERCARD
WYNDHAMVALE PHYSIOTHERAPY

And to our team manager Kim Howard.

New Sponsor- Wyndhamvale Physiotherapy

2011-05-09T16:16:00.002+10:00

We have a new sponsor on board for the remainder of the season...

The physio's at this place are awesome, it is located in Wyndhamvale (near Werribee) only a short drive from the city or Geelong.

They are equipped for performing bike set-ups and Sam has worked with U23 Aussie Mens road team in 2008/09.

If you need to see a physio or need advice on an injury give them a call on 97425148

Mersey Valley Tour (NRS #1)

2011-05-09T16:15:00.001+10:00

Only Chloe made the journey down to Tasmania for the first of the NRS events of the year... Unfortunately it didn’t turn out to be all that successful with Chloe waking up sick on the Saturday morning.

It was a matter of just getting through each stage as the hills kept coming and the strong girls kept attacking.

At the end of the tour, Chloe finished a disappointing 19th on GC after losing a bunch of time on the second stage hill climb finish and spent Monday in the foetal position shaking.

Thanks to the Doak family for helping Chloe transport her equipment over to Tassie and for Miff Galloway, Amy Bradley and Jussi for the great company!

Oceania Road Championships (March 17-20)

2011-05-09T16:12:00.003+10:00

28.4km IRTT
With much of the team needing some serious rest/recoup after the Tour of New Zealand, only 3 members of the team were lining up for the Oceania titles.
Clare and Chloe raced the Individual Time Trial on the Thursday, both posting very solid results with Chloe in 8th place and Clare in 13th position. Shara Gillow showed why she got top 10 at the World Championships, stomping home 52seconds in front of 2nd placed Bridie O’Donnell. Alexis Rhodes rounded out the podium in 3rd place.

116km Road Race
The Dookie circuit was a lot tougher riding than what it looked on paper and with an extremely strong field of 60 odd girls it was a damn tough day out there!
Honda Dream Team were looking to secure Rochelle Gilmore a spot for World Champs and had a strong team who chased everything down, hoping for the race to be decided by a sprint.

Bec and Clare did a great job of trying to control the bunch when Chloe was attacking off the front.

It wasn’t until the final lap of the course that an attack stuck... Shara Gillow attacked and Chloe found the legs to go with her. About 10km from the finish Shara got the word that Bridie O’Donnell was bridging the gap across solo and attacked Chloe on the main climb, again showing why she is a world class athlete, staying away to take the Oceania Road title.

Bridie reached Chloe about 3km from home and after spending the last 20km on threshold Chloe couldn’t quite stay with her into the finish, but had the race of her life to hold off the peloton by 40seconds and secure 3rd place in an international UCI event.

It was great to have the support of manager Kim Howard and also awesome for Chloe’s family and boyfriend to be there watching her have a ripper!

Thanks to our sponsors as well for the new kit that arrived in time for the race. It got some good exposure with a podium place!!

UCI Women's Tour of New Zealand

2011-05-09T14:55:00.003+10:00

Team member Delphine Astier has written a report, it is posted on her blog which can be visted here...

http://delphineastier.blogspot.com

A very successful tour for the team, as none of the girls had ever raced a UCI tour before.

We had 3 stages where team members finished top 20 in a field with some of the best riders in the world.

A big thanks to Murray Spink for being an awesome mechanic and Miffy Galloway for being a great swanny when she had to pull out of the race due to injury. Also to Kim Howard, team manager, massage therapist, general all round team mum for the support over a tough week of racing.

Big thanks also in order for the Hilton hotel at Tullamarine airport for letting us use there lobby after our flight was delayed 11hrs!!!

Perth SmokeFree Criteriums

2011-02-22T13:00:00.000+11:00

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!!

BIG THANK YOU'S!!

2011-02-21T15:19:00.004+11:00

BIG THANK YOU's

Hi all,
The race reports for Perth will be posted ASAP.. just awaiting some photos..
But to start with the TDT RACE girls want to give a huge thanks to Bill, Matt and the rest of the team from Bike Force Docklands who have provided the team with some amazing Ridley Asteria's for the upcoming road season.

All of the girls loved racing on their new bikes in Perth. The guys did a fantastic job getting the bikes built up in a short amount of time, so if you are looking for some where to buy a new bike or just get your bike serviced the TDT RACE girls would highly recommend you pay these guys a visit!

You can visit their site at; www.bikeforce.com.au

Also a massive thanks has to go to the Bike Force Fremantle guys, who helped us out with tuning up the new bikes whilst we were over in Perth.
So when ever you are in W.A look them up they were amazing.

Perth reports will be up soon..the team flys over to Wellington tomorrow for the UCI Womens Tour of New Zealand.. so more reports will follow.

Ciao

Australian Championships: Criterium and Road Race

2011-02-13T13:28:00.002+11:00

National Criterium Championships (Ballarat)
Bec was the sole TDT RACE girl to start, with Chloe pulling out due to sickness. Bec rode a solid race to finish in the bunch where less than half of the field didn’t finish. Jo Hogan and Lauren Kitchen rode a break away to the finish with Lauren taking the honours at the line. Chloe Hoskings took out 3rd with a late attack on the final lap.

National Road Championships (Ballarat)
Clare Dallat rode a brilliant first race back from injury to finish in 30th place. The gauntlet got laid down with an attack on lap 3 that blew the race apart. Alexis Rhodes (Garmin-Cervelo) took the win ahead of Carla Ryan (Garmin-Cervelo) and Jo Hogan (VIS).

Jayco Bay Cycling Classic

2011-02-13T12:38:00.005+11:00

Jayco Bay Cycling Classic
Stage 1- Eastern Gardens
The team of Bec, Sarah, Chloe, and guest riders Miffy Galloway and Chloe Hoskings rode well. The aim was to set up Chloe Hoskings for the sprint. An attack at 3 to go meant that Chloe McConville burnt up all her lead out legs chasing it back and it was left up to the other remaining girls to help out. Not all went exactly to plan with Chloe Hoskings finishing just out of the top 10, but some positive aspects were taken out of the race.

Stage 2- Portarlington
By far the toughest circuit of the Bay Crits, an early crash took out some big names, with Belinda Goss breaking her collarbone and our rider Chloe Hoskings coming off and snapping her brand new team bike. The tough circuit took its toll and only 15 or girls finishing the stage. Unfortunatley none of our girls finished. The stage win was taken out by Tiffany Cromwell in a solo break.

Stage 3- Ritchie Boulevard
The hot-dog circuit is one renowned for crashes and some really tough racing. Definitely the best result of the racing for us so far with Bec finishing not far out of the top ten and Chloe Hoskings bagging a 2nd in a sprint finish. The win was taken out by Rochelle Gilmore (Honda Dream Team). A big thanks has to go to Paul Beretta for sourcing a new specialized bike for Chloe to race on.

Stage 4- Williamstown
Last stage = some tired legs and some girls who really wanted to keep The Honda Dream Team from a clean sweep. Racing again was fast paced with the Jayco team throwing down everything to make the Honda girls tired. Chloe Hoskings again did the team proud with a 3rd place behind fellow HTC highroad team mate Judith Arndt and Rochelle Gilmore.

Overall:
Chloe Hoskings 5th place GC

Tour of Bright December 4th and 5th

2011-02-13T00:49:00.004+11:00

Tour of Bright December 4th and 5th
Stage 1- Tawonga Gap
Time to test the legs in the hills… a strong field had assembled in Bright at 7am for the first stage. Riders were welcomed by a light drizzle but that soon disappeared. An attack went early by Mary Rogers that lasted until half way up Rosewhite gap. Chloe and 2 NTID riders had broken clear at the bottom of the climb and took the top 3 places over the QOM, however this group was quickly joined just over the top by the chase group which contained the big names of the race.. Whitelaw and O’Donnell.
The leading group of 10 or so riders were caught by the peloton just before the 2nd intermediate sprint at Tawonga and the bunch was all together leading into the final climb. As soon as the gradient increased, the peloton splintered… Chloe finished the highest place of the team in 6th. Sarah had a strong finish to be in the top half with Vic a little further back.

In B Grade Women TDT RACE was fielding 2 riders who had a good chance of getting some solid GC results in Delphine and Stacey. Delphine showed some strong sprinting form to be leading the Sprinters competition at the end of the day and Stacey was on top of the U19 competition. Both riders finished well up the field in the first stage.

Stage 2- 15km IRTT
With several members of the team racing with equipment they hadn’t raced on before there were high hopes of time being shaved off relative to the other competitors. Sarah was the first of our girls to roll off and had a solid ride. Chloe saddled up the new Scott for its first race and went far better than expected, getting 5th in the stage, moving her up into 5th on GC. Vic was the next one of the A grade TDT girls to start and she was very satisfied with her result.

In B Grade, Delphine had a ripper. Stacey also rode a great race with tired legs from the morning to finish 2nd in the under 19 category

Stage 3- Mt. Hotham Climb
After 20km of the A grade bunch stuffing around with no one rolling turns and the bunch behind catching them, the commissaries told the girls to start racing or get pulled off the road. As per usual as soon as the gradient went up… somewhere around The Meg, the bunch shattered with a group of 8 including Chloe going clear. This lead bunch was caught by a chasing 4 riders just before the ticket box, but again as soon as the gradient kicked up the mountain goats showed their legs. Chloe didn’t have enough gas to go with the attack, but continued solidly with Rebecca Locke (Prime Estate) to peg back a couple of riders over the final kilometers. Chloe finished the stage in 7th, slipping down to 6th on GC and out of the cash!! But extremely happy with how she went in the hills. Sarah was the next best placed not too far off the pace.

In B Grade, Delphine was the convincing winner of the Sprinters Jersey, getting a 1st and 2nd in the intermediate sprints, placing her well on top of the table. Stacey showed her climbing form, coming in first place in the U19 category up Hotham, sealing her victory overall in the U19 class.

Shipwreck Coast Classic

2011-02-13T00:45:00.001+11:00

Shipwreck Coast Classic 110km Warnambool

Sarah, Chloe, Delphine and Stacey heading over to Warnambool to race in the Shipwreck Coast Classic in wintery, cold wet conditions.
Stacey put the pace on early, making the other girls chase. A crash occurring due to a clip of wheels took down Delphine and Chloe at the 15km mark. Delphine was unable to continue, but Sarah dropped back to help Chloe chase and the two got back on the bunch after a couple of km’s.
Sarah attacked at the 35km mark gaining a good advantage. With the cross winds the bunch was having difficult chasing her down as Chloe sat in and looked after herself. 10km later Chloe attacked on the climb and bridged across to Sarah. The two worked hard together into a relentless headwind and finished over 5min in front of the bunch, gaining 1st and 2nd with Kate Finigan getting 3rd in the bunch kick.

High Country RR and Crit- Oxley Oct 9/10

2011-02-13T00:33:00.002+11:00

High Plains Road Race Oct 9
A beautiful sunny day met Vic, Bec and Chloe up at the start of the High Plains Road Race at Mansfield in Victoria’s north east. The race went pretty much to plan; put the pressure on up the climb over Whitfield gap, then Chloe attack and see if she can get away and stay away.
Vic did a great job of attacking first, making the other girls in the bunch expend a bit extra energy. Then Bec put some pressure on, then just before the QOM, Chloe attacked, taking out the QOM jersey and giving herself a gap of a 100m or so onto the descent. The next 65km of the 100km race was spent alone by Chloe out front, slowly building up an advantage of just over 3min by the time she reached the line at Sam Miranda Winery at Oxley. Bec rode a smart and tactical race to win the bunch kick for 2nd place. Vic who had done a great job early on rode across the line a couple of minutes later. A good day at the office for team R.A.C.E. 1st place, 2nd place, QOM and Sprinters Jersey not to mention a handy wad of cash and some nice wine.

High Country Crit Oct 10
Sunday brought another sunny day at Sam Miranda Winery in Oxley, but unfortunately for the race organizers this meant that half of the women’s field decided it would be much nicer riding Mt. Hotham than racing and so didn’t front up to the start. This left the field a little small, however that didn’t mean the race wasn’t aggressive.
Bec and Chloe attacked the whole race, getting away from the bunch with young gun Toni Abbosogni. Chloe managed to take both the win and the intermediate sprint. With Bec just getting pipped by Toni, ending up with a 3rd place.
A big thanks to Sam Miranda Wines for holding such a fantastic event with a great atmosphere and prize money not seen anywhere else in Victoria for a women’s race! It would be great if more women would make the trip up and support these races as without our support these types of events will stop being held.
Also thanks to Doug and Marg McConville for hosting the team over the weekend!!

Ballarat World Cycling Classic:

2011-02-13T00:31:00.000+11:00

The Sunday before the World Road Cycling Championships gave the team an opportunity to race against the professional girls in the pre-worlds warm up event at Buninyong.
The pace was fast and considering most of the team has had no racing since State Titles in August it was definitely a shock to the system! It was an amazing experience to be able to ride with girls of that caliber who are in the form of their lives and simply riding in a bunch that big with handlebars that close together took a little more concentration.
Chloe was the only member of TDT R.A.C.E. to finish, coming over the finish line just over 1.5min off the back of the peloton in 58th place in her first UCI race. Considering training was not altered coming into the race, and there has been no racing for 6 weeks it was a pretty solid result.
Next up for the team is the High Plains Road Race and High Country Criterium at Sam Miranda Winery up in the King Valley on Oct 9/10

Victorian State Championships IRTT, RR and Criterium

2011-02-13T00:19:00.003+11:00

Victorian State Titles:

The middle of August marked that time of year when the Victorian State Titles roll around. Friday the 13th was the 20km down and back ITT down along the foreshore at Portarlington. With a strong team including new member Clare Dallat who recently placed 4th at the Irish National Championships in the TT, expectations were reasonably high. The competition was tough as the event doubled as a national road series race, with several interstaters coming south to try their luck.Unfortunately no one from the TDT R.A.C.E team was overly satisfied with their result, Chloe was the highest placed in 15th, 1:05 back from the winner, VIS rider Jo Hogan. Flick was only 2 seconds further back in 16th. But to take the positives out of the race, there was a big improvement in several riders compared to last year and with such small time gaps between 1st and 20th place, the girls did ok.

Saturday was the road race with 2 laps of a brutal 47.7km course out at Anakie. The team did some reconnaissance the weekend before and decided the course was definitely going to be one of attrition. The race started off with a 6km steady climb, then come some undulating hills before a steep and tricky descent down over a bridge and then a wall of a climb out of the other side. This climb is where the race plan came slightly unstuck…Chloe was one of the first down the descent and then had some bad luck strike when a mechanical problem forced her to stop on the climb and fix a thrown back wheel. Bec stopped and waited, and dragged Chloe back up to the group, along with assistance from Sarah and Flick which took almost 5km. By the time the girls got back on there was about 3km recovery before the major QOM. With a lot of energy being used to get Chloe back up to the front it was going to be a tough task climbing with heart rates already beating at max.The major climb is where the bunch blew apart with 8 girls in the front bunch and then a chase group of 10 including Bec and Chloe, followed by the a strung out rest of the peloton including Sarah, Vic, Flick and Delphine.

The rest of the race was just a matter of finishing with winds picking up, the threat of rain and hill after hill. After the first lap, almost half of the 60 odd field had pulled out. The chase group worked well together but not well enough to pull in the lead group. About 5km from the finish, Chloe had a slow leak in her back tyre which limited any chance of sprinting for a top 10 finish, coming through in 15th place. Bec finished just off the back of the chase group in 17th place, and Sarah had a solid race to finish in the third group in 21st place. The win was taken by fellow Victorian Jo Hogan ahead of Laura Luxford and Loren Rowney.All girls agreed that this course was one of the toughest they had ridden.

Sunday was the final day of competition in the form of a criterium at Eastern Park in Geelong. As most would have heard the race was marred by a horrendous crash just after the finish line due to a photographer stepping out in front of a bunch of girls on a saturated course. Former team mate Jenny MacPherson got the win. Unfortunately Sarah and Vic got caught up in the crash, but luckily escaped with no serious injuries.
All in all not a bad tour for the first time with the new line up riding together, no amazing results but consistently up there with a bit of bad luck. Now to look forward to the next one!!

100th Melbourne to Ballarat

2010-08-07T20:17:00.006+10:00

On Saturday July 17th, Ballarat-Sebastopol hosted the 100th Melbourne to Ballarat Cycling Classic. For a race that is usually renowed for its howling cross winds and tough conditions the day was actually reasonably pleasant, although the temperature plummeted by about 10 degrees by the time riders made their way into Ballarat

TDT Race had 6 riders starting, with Nik, Sarah, Delphine, Carly and Stacey off the 27 min mark and Chloe starting further back in the 21minute group.

With the cross winds not too bad and a scratch group that apparently weren't working all that well together, it was the middle bunches that came through with the goods.

At about 30km into the 96km race, Chloe's 21min bunch had reeled in all the bunches in front and for a brief moment all of the girls were together. Then with pressure coming from the bunches behind, the pace lifted and unfortunately Sarah and Delphine couldn't quite get onto the strung out line of riders.

The 15min bunch eventually caught the large group of riders out in front, including Chloe and then it came down to a ridiculous final 5km of about 30riders.

Chloe managed to avoid the crashes in the last 1km and finish 12th overall, also picking up 3rd female overall behind Jo Hogan and Jenny Macpherson. Sarah and Delphine rode strongly to finish not too far behind.

A good day with a podium for the team, a handy bit of pocket money and a solid work out for the legs.

Next race for the girls is the State titles in Geelong on Aug 13-15

Canberra Tour

2010-08-07T18:32:00.011+10:00

At the start of July, TDT R.A.C.E sent a team of 7 riders up to the DBR Womens Tour of Canberra:

Stage 1- 14km IRTT
As the women were being mustered ready for the start of the 15.5km Time Trial on the first day of the Canberra Tour, the clouds rolled over Mt Stromlo, the temperature plummeted and the heavens opened. The TT was a challenging undulating course, on dead open roads which was made even more torturous in the wet and freezing conditions. While the women shivered waiting to start, out on the course it was down to business. The RACE team all dug deep to overcome the unpleasant conditions to finish the first stage of the Canberra Tour. Chloe finished in a respectable 7th on stage 1, only 1:11 min down on 1st place

Stage 2- 38km Road Stage
Saturday morning was the 2nd stage of the tour and was bound to be tough with a hilly course of only 38km. The stage started off fast and hard in cold conditions. There was barely enough time to warm up before the first attacks started, lead by MB cycles. With close positions between 2-10th on GC nothing was going to be let go.

At the first U-turn the bunch was all together but as the group ascended up the first QOM splits started to appear. A group of about 25 got away at the top of the QOM, which contained Chloe.

This lead group started to decrease as more attacks were made by VIS riders and TIS riders. The chase bunch contained Bec and Sarah who were working hard to minimise any time gaps.

At the second u-turn the lead bunch was down to 17 with Chloe hanging in there. The pace was still high with only 10km or so to go. There was a steep descent down across a bridge and then a very steep climb out of the other side, Jo Hogan and Amy Cure attacked but unfortunately Chloe didn’t quite have the legs to stay with the lead bunch as the group shattered. Amy and Jo extended there lead from the group and Chloe worked with a couple of other girls to stay within touch.

Then the unthinkable happened, Jo and Amy took a wrong turn into the finish, mistakingly turning left instead of right. Not knowing they had gone the wrong way and with their heads down, they kept going until the end of the road before turning around. The chase bunch had also made the same error but turned after 200m and this meant that those behind (Chloe and Bec, who had worked hard in a bunch to make up a lot of ground) had closed the gap.

So end results of the stage were 1st Sarah Cure, 2nd Emma Lawson, 3rd Amanda Spratt.
Bec and Chloe came in 20sec back in 21st and 22nd place respectively. Sarah was next of the RACE girls in 31st position and Vic next in 34th place. Unfortunately Felicity was feeling unwell during the stage and had to pull out. Unluckily for Jo and Amy, they rode in 4mins later and the time stuck, which took the top 2 places on GC out of contention.

After the confusion of the days stage, Emma Lawson wore yellow with Chloe the highest of the RACE girls 9th 43 seconds off the lead.

Stage 3- 40min + 3 lap Criterium
We expected the crit to be aggressive, and it was, although no one was allowed to get away. It was a fairly fast crit, with very few periods of dawdling. The team made a decision to have a lead out train for Chloe with 3 laps to go. Bec made her way to the front and was on the front with 2 laps to go, when the commissaries walked onto the course and told everyone to slow down... Myra Moller (Lawson Homes) and Bec who were on the front couldn't work out why we had been told to slow down. It then became apparent that 3 large kangaroos had made their way onto the course. With lots of yelling the bunch slowed down as the roos darted out in front of the peloton and into the surrounding bushland. Chloe had a great sprint and finished 6th holding her top 10 spot on GC.

Bec taking control before the kangaroos joined the party

Vic and Chloe working hard in the Crit

Stage 4- 72km road race
The final stage was always going to be tough after 3 previous stages in testing conditions. TDT RACE rode out to the start line and when we left home it was -3 degrees and ice still covered the ground. Knowing what to wear caused as much trouble as trying to brake and change gears as well as descending with ice on the road! To cut a long story short, the race went up, then down, then up and down again... for 71km. Chloe got herself in the lead bunch with Vic, Sarah and Bec in the chase bunch. Chloe held on for 5th with Vic, Sarah and Bec crossing the line 2.20min later.

A great tour by the team, and especially with Chloe finishing 6th on GC. The only downside to the tour was Sarah being bought down by a rider over exuberantly sprinting for 25 place on the final stage. It was literally 2m before the finish line on the final stage. Despite being all banged up, Sarah picked up her bike and walked bravely over the line and straight to the ambulance. She is tough as nails and is already back on the bike.

Next up for the team is the 100th Melbourne to Ballarat!

Honda Hybrid Women's Tour Oct 15-17

2009-10-21T10:21:00.003+11:00

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!

Glen Innes to Inverell- NRS- 12th September 2009

2009-09-22T21:22:00.000+10:00

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

New to the Blogging Scene!!

2009-08-30T20:53:00.001+10:00

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.