Tour of Tassie Stage 8

Hard to believe it but the Tour is over, and what a fantastic but tough Tour it has been.

Full credit to the organisers for running such a professional event with the magnificent Tasmanian scenery as the backdrop.

Today’s final stage of the Tour was a short stage of 54 kilometres in the sunshine around a 1.8 kilometres circuit on the Devonport beach front. There was an aggressive start to the race as riders tried to escape in an early break. The pace was on from the gun with the bunch stretched out in single file for much of the stage, with an average speed of just under 50kph nothing was allowed to get out of sight.

The VBC boys have really gelled on tour and had a good time between stages – the experience has been second to none and a great launch pad for the future.

For me it has been a privilege to ride with a great group of guys and mix it with the best of Australia’s road cyclists.

Our support staff on tour featured Sam our Physio, who did a super job keeping us fresh for each stage as well as driving our back up car, and John did a good job helping with driving and logistics allowing the riders to just focus on pedalling making life a lot less stressful.

Thanks once again to all our team sponsors, this would not be possible without your support, and to Team Director Mike Slater – thanks for the tireless work that he has put into the team.  The Chapman’s trailer was a huge asset on tour providing an organised and secure set up for our bikes.

Tour of Tassie Stage 7

The day began with nice sunny skies. The mood of the bunch was generally very tired and relaxed. The stage’s profile looked very undulating and similar to previous stages. Which means there is no flat road; only up or down. Together with some technical sections would make for a hard stage. The team had decided that we should look after Justin Gassner sitting 13th overall in the General Classification. So keeping Justin out of the wind and in a good position was the main priority.

Todays race started in simular fashion to stage 6 with attacks coming thick and fast. A small group was able to escape quickly opening up a gap. As usual it was the orange army that was left to do the chasing setting the tempo over the middle section of the race. The sharp steep climbs took there toll on the field with numbers quickly thinning out as attacks came from the Drapac squad. The last 10km of the race saw the leaders advantage hold firm at about 1 minute as Euride took up the chase over the fast undulating run into the finish.

We’re almost done with only one 54km crit to go and then my first Tour of Tasmania will be done. I’d like to thank everyone that has thrown their support me, especially my team mates and major sponsors at Veneziano Coffee Roasters and Blefari Cafe & Cucina.

Tour of Tassie Stage 6

A morning of sunshine soon the clouds rolled in and the temperature dropped, a little bit of wind was swirling and the race was set to be a hard one. 108km was set to take the peloton from Ulverstone to Penguin, although the two towns are only separated by 18km along the coast.

The stage today started with a bang. With nearly every rider trying to get off the front. The field was quickly split into many small groups as riders scampered to hold the wheel as the pace was turned up and put in the gutter. It wasn’t until about the 50km mark that the pace levelled out and once again the orange army moved to the front leading the way. The second KOM was where the winning move was made and a small group of riders jumped clear of the rest of the field. I found myself in the small chase bunch that rolled turns to the finish finishing 1 minute behind the leaders. I was lucky enough to get my first NRS top 10 finishing 9th in the stage and move into outright 3rd position in the young rider classification.

Only two stages to go, seven seconds between moving one place higher in young rider. I’d like to thank our dedicated sponsors at Veneziano Coffee Roasters, Blefari Cafe & Cucina and everyone else behind the scenes. Can’t wait to cross the finish line for the last time and celebrate what an amazing tour this has been with a group of great mates.

Tour of Tassie Stage 5

A perfect morning greeted the team today, not a breath of wind nor a cloud in the sky, today was a sunscreen day. With an unplanned but welcomed rest day yesterday everyone was raring to go, Westbury was the start location and with only 79.4km on the cards and a dead flat lead in to the day’s climb, it was going to be a fast start to the day. Unlike the short sharp climbs of previous today’s climb was 17km long but still tough enough to put pressure on the best.

The team plan was to help me get in the early break or in the hunt for the sprints. Putting myself at the front of the bunch was the best option and trying to make each break was taking a toll on the legs so I decided to take a break before having one last crack. Unsuccessful and the climb beginning to cast a shadow on the peloton I moved to the back and gave debutant Matt Gassner a hand hiding from the wind before making an assault on his terrain. As we began to climb I let the mountain goats go have their fun as I say up and rode tempo to the top only loosing five and a half minutes to the stage winner.

Due to the ascent, I’ll let Justin Gassner voice his comments on how the leaders played out:

A fast pace was set to the bottom of the climb with the Orange Army leading the way as riders tried to position themselves near the front. A steady tempo was set for the first half of the climb with the break holding a lead of around 45 seconds. The second half of the climb saw attacks come from many riders as the wind picked up across the top. The main bunch was split in two by a small gap of around 10 seconds as the break away held there advantage to the finish.

Thank you once again to Veneziano Coffee Roasters, Blefari Cafe & Cucina, Team Manager Michael Slater and everyone else who has thrown their support behind our small team. “What goes up must come down” well that at least keeps me optimistic as the kilometres pass.

Tour of Tassie Stage 4 - Cancelled

Today’s stage 4 of the Tour of Tasmania started at 7am as everyone awoke to howling winds, hissing rain and the local ducks struggling to stand. Reactions were mixed from each member of the team, some keen to race and some wanting to get back in to bed. Nevertheless we made our way to the start line where the managers communicated that the start time had been pushed back from 10:30am to 12:30pm.

First call of business was to head straight to the coffee shop, on the way we walked past Paddy Palin where heat packs were purchased in preparation for a cold day on the bike. After coffee was consumed we made our way back to the flooded start line where we were given confirmation that we would be starting the race. 15 minutes before we were set to start the rain was still horizontal and the racing was called off to both cheers and a few disappointed riders.

Yes it may have been nice to continue racing but ultimately the riders safety is paramount and if the police deem the racing to be too dangerous then we have to respect their decision and take it with a pinch of salt. Granted there was enough rain to drown a fish, anyway a rest day ensued and now each Veneziano rider is prepared for whatever tomorrow throws at us.

Tour of Tassie Stage 3

Absolutely abysmal weather woke the Veneziano Blefari team early this morning to pack the cars and move on to the start line for the third stage of the Caterpillar Tour of Tasmania. The morning was cold but as we reached the start line the rain had disappeared and road had started to dry. As the gun blew the peloton started the 103km journey from Hamilton to Lake St Clair. With a strange course profile tossing up some challenges as each KOM was not followed by a descent but an undulating terrain until it dropped into the start of the second KOM then levelled out to the finish.

No early break was allowed to go and coming in to the first intermediate sprint of the day I found myself near the front of the bunch and just had some good luck. Luke Parker jumped up the road at 800m to go then I got myself onto the wheel of Alex Ray as he started his sprint, my legs already under pressure I could only hold onto his wheel to take 2nd place by the time I crossed the line. From then I pushed on holding on to the peloton until halfway up the first KOM where a small groupetto formed which kept a good pace until we reached the bottom of the second KOM. As we climbed out of the valley we caught a group of around 30 riders, from there on we rode to the finish just quick enough to make the time cut.

Veneziano pocket rocket, Justin Gassner continues his good form to finish top 20 in today’s stage. Here’s a few words from the front of the race:

“The freezing conditions took a toll on most of the field leaving only a small front bunch to race for the win. As we passed through the 25km to go marker I put in a small attack that lasted around 2min off the front before the Budget Forklifts train rocketed past me. The remaining 25k saw a mixture of teams take turns on the front over undulating terrain as the 4 leaders built an advantage of around 3 minutes after their bold attack part way up the second KOM. The paced picked up with about 5km to go and I decided to just look after myself and make it to the finish upright. Across the line and it was straight to the car to eat, drink and warm up to get ready for the next day.”

Great work by Justin today as consolidated his position in GC as well as holding equal third in the Young Rider Classification.

Another thanks to Veneziano Coffee Roasters, Blefari Cafe & Cucina, Sam Bushaway for his awesome work with a crash course in convoy driving and Michael Slater for his ongoing support as team manager. After three stages we’ve sprinted and climbed, sweated and frozen, surely there’s not much more the apple island can throw at us.

Tour of Tassie Stage 2

Today’s 2nd stage of the 2013 Caterpillar Tour of Tasmania took a slightly smaller peloton along the 120km journey west from New Norfolk to Strathgordon. Yesterday’s TTT saw the cream rise to the top yet even with the extended 25% cut off time, six riders were cut due to such a quick pace set by Genesys. The talk of twitter last night was Cycling Australia’s 3 minute policy that saw almost three quarters of the field sitting in equal 20th position, a few unhappy comments but with the talent Genesys possess, if anyone is able to pull back 3 minutes they certainly deserve their position in GC.

The morning was warmer than expected and a few of us were considering making the 10km descent from Heimat Chalet down to the start line. As the gun blew and we crossed the start line a strong cross head wind reeked havoc with a few early crashes on each side of the road from either a touch of wheels or not concentrating properly. A group of eight took the opportunity to leap off the front quickly building a lead that stretched out to 7 and a half minutes at one point which was quickly brought back by Genesys to a more manageable 4 and a half minutes. The kilometres ticked by and all of a sudden we had left the first KOM behind with a little bit of suffering, hoping to recover before the second KOM of the day. Despite pushing hard some of us stayed in the bunch and a few of us didn’t. Everything came back together just before the 25km to go mark. At 10km to go we could see the last of the hard climbs for the day and then taking us into an undulating run to the finish line however as the top of the climb was crested, the remainder of the break was caught, all except for Alex Edmonson. Edmonson powered onto the descent solo, despite being caught he was able to hold off the field to take the win.

A strong win be Alex today, all of the guys here in Veneziano certainly cooked themselves to get good position, with Justin Gassner sitting in the top 10-15 riders all day long, Lachlan Ambrose spending his day milling around the bunch and finishing with bunch time, I struggled up the final berg at 10km to go and finished around two minutes behind the winners, Andrew Clarkson put in strong turns after being dropped to get a small group of 10 riders back in to the peloton after the 2nd KOM, Luca Giacomin rode strong all day but just came unstuck with 10km to go as well as young fella Matt Gassner, 17, who in his first NRS tour has certainly jumped in the deep end head first, is currently holding his own and showing some impressive climbing strength for someone so young.

Yet again another massive thank you to all of our sponsors, especially Veneziano Coffee Roasters, Blefari Cafe & Cucina and First Pour Boutique Cafe. And another thank you to John Gassner for driving the team bus as well as Sam for driving the team convoy car as well as post race massages. Two days of hurt done, it can’t get much worse.