by Glenys Taylor | Aug 17, 2013 | Archive(News)
Jesse Sergent put up a great ride in the individual time trial for Eneco Tour’s stage 5 on Friday, taking third place for his big effort.
Jesse, 25, previous winner of the time trial in the 2011 Eneco Tour, was followed in the car by director Luc Meersman. Team Direcotr Dirk Demol commented: “Jesse did great. He obtained the maximum result and he gave everything. He was extremely motivated after having a year that was a bit less than expected. In the meantime he knows he can stay with the team for 2014 so he was extremely focused today. It was a nice performance. When he won here two years ago, it was on a totally different course. This year the roster of riders in Eneco is the best ever for sprinters, TT specialists and GC riders.”
Bradley Wiggins (Sky) was the 14th rider out of the start house and quickly set the best time at 16:13on the short 13.2km course from Sittard to Geleen. His time held strong until Sergent put up a stellar ride at 16:08, knocking Wiggins out of the hot seat by a five second gain. Sergent’s time became the one to beat. Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma QuickStep) attacked the course to go four seconds better, with Tom Dumoulin (Argos Shimano) later able to slip in between them to squeeze in to second place on the same time as Sergent.
Demol continued: “Our GC riders Bob, Max and Jan did well and didn’t lose much time. For Bob the course was a bit short. But all three are on a top level and ready for the weekend. We will go for it. Tomorrow we climb La Redoute three times with the finish on top. On Sunday it’s the longest stage at 208k with twice on the Muur and twice up Bosberg. It’s a mini Tour of Flanders. The real race starts tomorrow and we are still in the game.” RSLT’s Jan Bakelants is the best placed team rider in 17th at 37-seconds. Sergent is one second further back.
Lars Boom (Belkin) did enough to keep his race lead, now holding 4 seconds to Chavanel. Saturday’s stage is familiar to those who ride in the spring classics with routes used in the Tour of Flanders and Liège–Bastogne–Liège part of the course. Stage 6 is 150km beginning in Riemst and ending on the climb of La Redoute, giving challengers plenty of opportunities to try to knock Boom off the top step of the podium.
by Glenys Taylor | Aug 14, 2013 | Archive(News)
Hello Team
It’s been a very, very busy last few weeks with many air miles clocked up and jet lagged battled head-on.
In early July, after finishing racing in Europe, we had a 5 day GP in Adelaide where we had a number of sucesses and really stuck it to the Malaysians and Australians. I had a podium place on the first day with a great win on the 3rd day in the Keirin, collecting even more points and I am now fully qualified for the World Cup season. My team mates also performed well, while we had a number of wins in the Match Sprint and an additional Keirin. (more…)
by Glenys Taylor | Aug 12, 2013 | Event Reports
The first event in what will continue to be a sport on offer in the Manawatu was held at Massey University on Sunday alongside the Striders Half Marathon. The course had been laid out with the start line at the head of the playing fields. The course continued in a zigzag fashion around the outskirts of the playing fields before the riders disappeared between the shelter hedges after first having to negotiate their way over some obstacles. Next was the hill climb before the possibility of a slippery descent and the lap completed back at the head of the fields.
According to young Adam Francis the hardest part was the log obstacle and the best part for his race was passing Sasha going up the hill. All the riders had the same start time but completed a different numbers of laps according to their grading. Cameron Howell reported that the grass section was slow but overall the race was fun.
A fine tussle unfolded between the two Stannards that were competing in the 7 lap race with the patriarch finally taking the lead in the 5th lap.
Photo thanks to Owen Mills
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by Glenys Taylor | Aug 11, 2013 | Event Reports
CHB certainly turned it on, talking about the weather of course. But not as you would think for the sunny Hawkes Bay. They turned the rain on, so anyone who enjoyed racing in the rain would have been in their element. There was no wind to speak of, or at least that is how it appeared for those of us who remained dry at the registration point.
A small turnout of BM riders certainly let CHB know that there are some good riders in the neighbouring province and watch out when we have a bigger turnout for hopefully the second event in the series.
All riders were to complete 2 laps of the circuit with A & B grade being combined along with C & D grade. The first riders for the A grade race came through the start/finish line for the first time around 43mins.
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by Glenys Taylor | Aug 4, 2013 | Archive(News)
The weather forecasters just don’t seem able to predict the weather lately as although it was forecast for rain not a drop fell in Halcombe for the third interclub race with Wanganui.
A new course was being used for the first time today for a club race.
Registration at the Halcombe Rugby Club rooms worked well and the start was a gathering on the side road before heading up to the school and then along Mangaone Rd. This is when all riders noticed the wind – head on all the way along Mangaone Rd. The only relief came as they headed down the hill towards Makino Rd. This part of the race was a controlled area until riders entered Makino Rd. Then it was a steady climb until the tail wind kicked in just past Short Rd. This pushed riders along at a cracking pace until they turned at Stanway and headed back to Halcombe.
Thanks to Steve Stannard, Dennis Martin for marshalling out on the course along with thanks also going to Steve Challies, Katherine Stannard, Rebecca Denholm and Kirsty Kaihau for helping with registration and finish line judging, recording and race management.
Next weeks race is a new interclub event with Central Hawkes Bay. Please remember to look at the calendar for full details and if asked to register online please do so.
Points so far Bike Manawatu Wanganui
| Week 1 |
45 |
137 |
| Week 2 |
147 |
112 |
| Week 3 |
144 |
159 |
Click here for the results
