Archive of News Stories from Nov 2008 to Jan 2009

January 30th 2009
Should Jack Bobridge turn Pro? by SBS's Mike Tomalaris
One of the most outstanding performances at the Tour Down Under was South Australia's own Jack Bobridge.

Based on his performance there, It goes without saying the teenage prodigy has a bright future on the professional ranks. He's already being compared to Brad McGee and Stuart O'Grady at the same age, and has the makings of becoming one of the greatest cyclists ever developed in Australia.

So why would he choose to stay on in the amateur ranks and continue a career in the AIS track programme until the 2010 Commonwealth Games, as has been suggested?

Bobridge unleashed his talents on more than one occasion over the six stages at the TDU in a performance that captured the imagination of the many influential team managers.

The "vultures" have cheque books in hand and are already circling for his sought-after signature.

I can tell you that more than one has his eye on Bobridge with the view of racing in the big-time sooner rather than later.

There's a theory that Bobridge is still too young to hit the pro-circuit, but I'm not so sure.

Look at the progression of Mark Cavendish since he won gold on the velodrome for the scratch race at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games.

A year later he experienced his first taste at the top by making his debut appearance at the Tour de France.

In 2008 he won gold in the Madison at the UCI track World Championships followed by two victories at the Giro and an incredible four stage wins at the Tour.

Some locally-based coaches have told me Bobridge "is now ready to rule the roads of Europe".

There's no doubt he has the ability, the determination, the talent and the "engine", and there's no doubt he should be guided correctly in terms of the career path he takes in the next 12 months.

There's a push to keep Bobridge riding the boards at the AIS until 2012 as our cycling gurus see him as our big hope in combating the British track cycling juggernaut - winning Olympic gold in London and therefore erase the memories of Beijing - where Bobridge's ride in the team pursuit even upstaged that of the recently retired Brad McGee.

Bobridge is just 19, but has the maturity of a person beyond his years.

The experience he gained by rubbing shoulders with the likes of Armstrong, Pereiro, Sanchez, Davis and O'Grady (to name just a few) in Adelaide in January has whet his appetite for a shot at taking the pro-path earlier than he may have expected.

The question now being asked is " should he focus on Commonwealth medals or be given a chance to chase a leader's jersey in a stage race on the pro-circuit?"

Bobridge can do both - just ask O'Grady and McGee, to deny this brilliant athlete an opportunity to start a pro-career before 2010 would be an injustice.

There's no reason to keep him in cotton wool any longer, I say let him go now!
Good Luck with your decision Jack... NCC

January 28th 2009 Tour de Langkawi
Norwood Cycling Club member Tim Roe joins the Australian national team in Malaysia for the seven day Tour de Langkawi. The 2009 Le Tour de Langkawi will feature 20 teams. The race starts in Putrajaya, the home of Malaysian government, and finishes in the country's capital, Kuala Lumpur, with the traditional criterium at Dataran Merdeka.

The Australian national team for Le Tour de Langkawi is Gene Bates, Jai Crawford, Richie Porte, Tim Roe, Adam Semple and Cameron Wurf. Like that smile Tim
Hope you have a great ride Tim!

January 25: 2009 Australian National Mountain Bike Championships-Cross country: Elite/U23 men
Defending national champion and Norwood Cycling Club member Chris Jongewaard rode consistently as he claimed his fourth Australian national cross country title in Canberra on Sunday. Jongewaard's win makes it his third consecutive title. The Adelaide rider dominated from the start. Jongewaard posted an impressive finishing time of one hour and 57.08 seconds over the five-lap event. The 28-year-old annihilated his opposition from the start.

Australian Road Championships 2009
Norwood Club members competing in this year's Australian Road Championships certainly had a very successful campaign. Jack Bobridge was the standout of the championships with 2 Gold medals, and Alexis Rhodes took home a Silver Medal in the womens TT by the smallest of margins (.06) of a second. Tiffany Cromwell grabbed Bronze in the Under-23 Women's Road Race, Carlee Taylor was fourth in the Under23 Women's Road Race and 14th in the TT and Rachel Neylan was 6th in the TT and 15th in the Road Race. Chris Jongewaard also had a good championships with a 5th in the time trial and an 18th in the road race. Congratulations to you all on your terrific results.

Mens U23 Road Race
1 Jack Bobridge
24 Timothy Roe 1:45
Mens U23 Time trial
1 Jack Bobridge
9 Timothy Roe (SA) 2.37
12 Andrew Roe (SA) 3.03
Mens Elite
18 Chris Jongewaard (SA) 4.55 RR
5 Chris Jongewaard (SA) TT
Womens Elite/U23** Time trial
2 Alexis Rhodes (SA) 0.06
6 Rachel Neylan (SA) 1.20
14 Carlee Taylor** (SA) 3.37
Womens Elite/U23** Road Race
9 Tiffany Cromwell (SA) (3rd in U23
10 Carlee Taylor** (SA) (4th in U23)
15 Rachel Neylan (SA)
Complete results & story at http://www.sa.cycling.org.au/?Page=20048

Nov 22nd 2008
Australia Pursuit Takes Gold

Having qualified with a time of 4.03.483, the Australian quartet of Jack Bobridge, Mark Jamieson, Rohan Dennis and Luke Durbridge totally dominated the men's team pursuit final in what was only their second ride in that particular configuration.

Riding with poise, consistency and power to overcome the Spanish challenge of Unai Elorriaga, David Muntaner, Toni Tauler and Eloy Teruel, Jamieson and Bobridge pulled the strings on the front of the Aussie train. The foursome caught their Iberian opponents after three kilometres although didn't post a time - in passing the Spaniards the Australian team was derailed and couldn't continue onto the finish proper. It was a slight hiccup in what was a great performance overall, and had they finished it would most likely have been close to 4.01.

One of the notable stories to come from the event was the emergence of yet another Australian national team pursuit rider for the future - Luke Durbridge. "Today was my first senior TP," said Durbridge. "I've ridden one junior worlds one - in Capetown this year, which we won - although this was my first senior ride.

"I've definitely got some areas I've got to work on like the rest of the guys in the team, but we've got riders like Jack Bobridge and Jamo teaching us," he added. "I've still got one more year left in the juniors, so next year I can hopefully got to junior worlds again. The team's got some serious potential there and we've just got to work on it."

One of those 'older' riders, Bobridge - still only 19 himself - said he was happy with the efforts of Durbridge and Dennis. "To have the younger guys ride the time they did was awesome, so to come out and be on pace for a 4.01, was fantastic," he said.

As for the prospects for the future of this team, Durbridge was optimistic and realistic. "We're all so young and look at the Great Britain team, which is obviously the role model - they're all a bit older than us, and we're all riding around that 4.03-4.02 pace," he said. "We can really only go up from here and we're all young, so I'm looking forward to the future with this group."

Nov 21st 2008
Mike Turtur what a week you have had! (thanks in part to CyclingNews.com)

Former Olympic Games gold medallist Mike Turtur will join the Union Cyclist International (UCI) board after being elected as the president for the Oceania region. Turtur will take over the position from Ray Godkin, who was his team manager at the 1984 Olympic Games where Turtur claimed his team pursuit medal.

"Ray has made a massive contribution to the sport of cycling throughout his whole career and during his 22 years as Oceania President," said Turtur. "I'm looking forward to the challenge of this role and working with the cycling community in this region and internationally."

Turtur is also the race director for Tour Down Under, a position he has held since the event's inception in 1999. The former professional rider will attend his first UCI board meeting in Holland on January 28-29, three days after next year's Tour Down Under finishes.

"Mike was a superb bike rider and is one of our greatest promoters and organisers of road and track events," said Godkin. "I've got great admiration for Mike and he will do great things for cycling in Australia and around the world in this new role."

Mike was also named South Australian of the Year at a Gala Dinner on the 20th Nov 2008. A fitting reward for a job well done with the Tour Down Under and the promotion of cycling in South Australia.

Mike and his brothers Greg and Chris are all past members of the Norwood Cycling Club, and the club certainly wishes Mike and all his family well and thanks him for his contribution to South Australian Cycling.

November 20th 2008
Jack Bobridge secures pursuit gold in style at the Track World Cup 08-09 Round 2(Thanks to CyclingNews.com)

After posting the fastest pursuit qualifying time of 4.21.971 and heading into the final as an overwhelming favourite, Australia's Jack Bobridge proved his rapidly-improving pedigree with a dominant performance during the night's last race.

Quickly establishing an authoritative lead, Bobridge overtook opponent Alexei Markov just after the halfway point of the race. Markov had raced the 30km points race earlier in the evening, and it showed when he succumbed to Bobridge's smooth, powerful display. "I controlled my first kilo a lot better in the final than in qualifying, and that was my goal," said the young South Australian after his win.

From that point Bobridge was out to beat the clock, which he stopped at 4.22.192, although it became noticeably more difficult in the last kilometre, as he explained with a chuckle. "The last three laps definitely hurt, which was just an outcome of this morning's ride. I think I went a bit too deep [in qualifying], so it's all still a learning curve for me.

He added that, "I learnt so much more from the two rides today; next time I can only get better. I'm looking forward to my next ride. By that point [last kilo] it gets pretty hard to hear anything, to be honest, with the wind and the like. All you can hear is your legs screaming, although winning on your home turf is better than winning anywhere else, I think."

Congratulations Jack from everyone at Norwood Cycling Club

Jack in action clocking his fastest time

November 20th 2008
Alexis Rhodes - Norwood CC member - joins new team (Thanks to Cyclingnews)
Alexis Rhodes will move to the Webcor Builders Pro Women's Cycling team, after not receiving a new contract with Team Columbia. Rhodes decided to give American racing a shot, signing with the California-based team upon the conclusion of her two-year jaunt with Columbia. According to Webcor's team director, Karen Brems, Columbia team manager Kristy Scrymgeour contacted her regarding the 24-year-old all rounder.

"High Road [Columbia] didn't renew her contract so they called me," Brems said. "She [Scrymgeour] spoke really highly of Alexis. I know it is hard when you have to let a rider go but Kristy found her a good home with us." Rhodes palmarès includes a third place finish in the Australian national time trial championships, eighth place in the Nürnberger World Cup, double stage wins at the 2007 Jayco Bay Cycling Classics, the best young rider jersey at the 2007 Geelong Women's Tour and numerous criterium national titles.

"I saw how strong she was and how hard she worked for the team so it seemed like she was a great fit for us," Brems said, regarding the team's effort to become more well rounded. "I think the combination of her and our sprinter Gina Grain will give us two cards to play in the crits. Stage races continue to be our priority but this year we will have a criterium team stronger than we ever had before."
Good Luck in your new season from all your mates at NCC

Nov 17th 2008 (thanks CSA)
Norwood Cycling Club member Bobridge firing on all cylinders

Jack Bobridge will start as the favourite for the individual pursuit at this week's UCI Track Cycling World Cup in Melbourne after an impressive win on the weekend at the Oceania Championships at the Adelaide Velodrome.

Bobridge set the boards alight with a time of 4.18.80 in the final of the 4000m race, which would have been good enough to win the silver medal at the Beijing Olympics and was nearly one and a half seconds faster than the time ridden by Brad McGee to silver at the Athens Olympics.

Even Bobrdige himself confessed to being a little surprised by his performance.

After the Olympics the only serious training I did was riding the Jayco Herald Sun Tour so I was quite shocked by the ride, Bobridge said. (may be it was the Rendition Homes Series rides)

It was a great ride but I didn't have that time in mind.

It's awesome compared to my last ride in the individual pursuit at the Australian Championships at the start of the year when I rode about a 4.28 so it looks like the Olympic training has served me well.

I haven't previously thought of myself as an individual pursuit rider but it looks like I'll be doing some specific pursuit work now.

The performance marks the arrival of the 19-year-old as the man most likely to fill the void left by the recent retirement of Brad McGee, who has been Australia s leading individual pursuit rider for more than a decade.

The baton may have been passed by McGee himself during the Beijing Games as Bobridge said one of the highlights of his debut Olympic campaign was being able to learn from McGee.

Bobridge collected a fourth place finish as part of the team pursuit squad in Beijing and has kept the disappointment of Australia not defending its Athens Olympic success in perspective.

We still rode a time in Beijing that would have won gold in Athens but the Poms have set a level that we have to match so I'm really motivated to be part of getting us back there, the South Australian said.

I think we've started here (the Oceania Championships) in the team pursuit with a good result (beating New Zealand) considering we've got some first year seniors in the team. The signs are already good.

Bobridge will be riding the individual pursuit and team pursuit at the UCI Track Cycling World Cup in Melbourne between 20 and 22 November at Hisense Arena (formerly Vodafone Arena).

Good on you Jack and all your fellow Norwood CC members wish you well.

Victoria Park gets a bike track - after years of waiting Adelaide is to finally get a decent Criterium circuit

Article from: The Advertiser

November 11, 2008 12:01am

ADELAIDE City Council last night approved the construction of a criterium track - a racing circuit - in Victoria Park.

The short cycle racing course, which will pass in front of the heritage grandstand, will be 1300m long and 10m wide and is expected to be completed in April 2009.

The first stage of the project will involve laying a sealed track surface.

Lord Mayor Michael Harbison said the track would create a unique facility in Australia because of its close proximity to the CBD.

"The purpose of the eventual complete track is to introduce desirable activity in the park and activate the heritage grandstand," Mr Harbison said.

"The track would attract cycling, pedal prix and wheelchair sports."

The council will work with the State Government's Office for Recreation and Sport on the project.