BLACKPELOTON

Track National Championships Invercargill 29 feb-3 Mar

2012-02-10T13:24:00.000-08:00

Regan Gough and Sam Dobbs will be representing Raiseys at the NZ track Cycling Champs in Invercargill in a couple of weeks time in the U17 Junior events keep posted here for results.

Below Regan Gough in the New Raiseys Nutrition Team kit.

Sam Gaze 2nd NZ Junior MTB champs

2012-02-10T11:39:00.001-08:00

Sam Gaze fueled with determination sporting the new Raiseys/IMP race apparel from Tineli.

An awesome ride in Nelson left first year Junior U19 rider Sam Gaze with a silver medal in the NZ Mountain Bike Championships on Saturday. Finishing about 7min behind world class Anton Cooper was a humbling experience and a hint to his opponents how series he is about the 2012MTB season.

Results: http://www.mtbnz.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/NZ-Champs-XC.pdf

Report from Sam:

2012 mtb nationals

The nationals was a great first race back and it helped me gain a

better understanding of how a UCI mtb race was held and the experience taught me a lot.

I managed to stay up right in the race but on the practice laps

I crashed at least 5 times and left Nelson with a new face! The race

consisted of 5 laps at an average pf 16 min per lap. At the finish I placed 2nd, 7 minutes

behind the world rank #1 Anton Cooper. It was a great first race

back, bettering lap times of U19s that who placed top 10 at last years

world champs. Fortunately, Anton is not racing at the Oceania mtb champs in

Rotorua in march so this will be my next goal, thank you to all the

support from family, Andrew Barlow and the guys at Raiseys.

Sam

3 Day Hub Tour Hawkes Bay

2012-02-10T11:36:00.001-08:00

Tonight the Hub Tour prologue was completed in very windy conditions. A traditional 6km out and back route.

The Rasieys/ Cannondale team has 5 riders competing with top honours going to Regan Goughtaking out the U17 section in blister fashion with 8:23 on restricted gearing. Setting him self up for a great year ahead, 1st year U17 rider Sam Dobbs was 13th riding 9:05.

Jason Stent was competing in B grade and took a respectable 6th place approx 40sec down on winner with 8:41.

A grade saw Andrew Barlow finish 12th with 8:10 29sec down and Tom Vessey 15th 10sec further back on 8:20 a strong lineup.

For full results see link:

http://www.sportsground.co.nz/clubsite.asp?siteid=19441&pageid=72842&pagetypeid=18

The real racing starts tomorrow with a road stage around Tiahape/Crownthorpe settlement road circuit starting at 9am.

A grade 99km

B grade 66km

U17 33km

http://www.sportsground.co.nz/clubsite.asp?siteid=19441&pageid=72844&pagetypeid=4

The afternoon sees the racing head back to Whakatu Cool stores with a criterium street race, together with intermediate sprints, events get underway at 1:30pm

U17 20min +3laps

B Grade 40min +3laps

A Grade 50min +3laps

http://www.sportsground.co.nz/clubsite.asp?siteid=19441&pageid=72845&pagetypeid=5

Hub Tour Day 2 stage 1

2012-02-10T11:33:00.001-08:00

A mixed result for the boys today. U17 riders Regan Gough retained his leaders jersey this morning and Sam Dobbs on an adjustment of the prologue time is now in 3rd place.

Regan Gough smashed his competitors this afternoon in the 20min crit around Whakatu going solo and winning by almost half a lap extending his lead on the yellow jersey.

Sam Dobbs was unlucky to miss the critical break of 5 riders that Regan was initially a part of and was forced to remain in the main group for most of the race however in the final lap Sam burst clear from what was left of the peloton and claimed 6th place. Official results not published as at 3:30pm.

Jason Stent had another good ride finishing in about 6th place in the B grade bunch finish and Tom Vessey was about 8th in the men A grade view and first U19 rider.

Men B and A races will be held later this afternoon.

Stent and Gough take wins in Criterium

2012-02-10T11:31:00.000-08:00

Regan Gough took out the U17 Crit in style yesterday hammering his opposition to enforce he will be one to NZ's top riders heading into a busy season. After successfully making the winning break of 5 riders he then went clear to solo onto the finish, while doing so was accumulating some lap times that would later be as fast as the elite men. Sam Dobbs unfortuantly missed the break but also went clear of the main peloton a finish in 6th place. GC results have not be posted as at Sunday morning. However Regan will extended his leaders jersey.

The B grade saw master sprint specialist Jason Stent handy throughout the race accumulating several sprint jersey points. After 40min of racing he was rewarded with a solo break 2 laps from home to take a convincing win, clearing out he then crossed the line thinking he has taken it only to get the bell signaling one lap to go. Jason had misjudged the lap counter and had to dig deep to find enough to hang the peloton was breathing down his neck desperate to peg him back in the process a couple of crashes had occurred in the lead up to the finish, but Stents power and experience held on for a deserved win.

In the elite event Tom Vessey was aggressive throughout our young junior rising star from Alexandra never rode further back that about tenth wheel a fast run race. The first 20min saw a break of seven riders go clear this was eventually pulled in then on the attack was vessey with an almost 10min solo break off the front. The peloton waiting for the remaining stages in the race pulled him back but Tom slotted right back in near the front as the 3 laps sounded was right amongst the top pros Vennel, Van Uden etc. On the final corner and made dash to the finish Tom was placed well and crossed in unofficially 4th or 5th place.

Today is the final stage 95km around the Raukwa circuit 3 times tackling the challenging Whakapeiro climb then across the tops to eventually end the stage at top Torrens Hill.

Regan Gough dominates Hub Tour!

2012-02-10T11:30:00.001-08:00

Regan Gough showed on Sunday that he is one of the shinning stars of U17 cycling for 2012.

Wearing the leaders jersey is powered away to take the final stage a top Torrens Hill with only 1 other rider able to match his pace. 3 stage wins over the weekend proves he is a true champ and will also be a serious threat to competition in the up coming NZ track national champs inInvercargill next month. First year U17 rider Sam Dobbs coming off an injury was a content 5thplace overall remaining consistent throughout.

Jason Stent stamped his mark on the B event in style prevailing over his fellow masters to win the Sprint ace competition and 11th overall on GC.

One of the standout results of the weekend was Tom Vessey only 17yrs of age and footing it with some of NZ's top pros finished in 6th place overall behind winner Jeremy Vennell. Tom was strong in Saturdays Criterium making a solo break and then contesting the stage narrowly missing a podium spot in the sprint. Climbing strong on Sunday Tom was one of only 5 riders to survive the brutal wind & Whakapiero Hill climb 6kms from home to finsih in 6ht on the stage . Toms company to the finish was Tim Gudsell, Vennell, Andi Bajic and Dion Smith with many top riders unable to match the pace. Tom will also compete in the NZ U19 track cycling champs inInvercargill next month but has higher aspirations on the road with the 2012 Oceania Champs held in Millbrook Resort Central Otago in March on home turf close to his home of Alexandra.

Raiseys Blackpeloton 2012

2012-01-04T11:10:00.000-08:00

The team will take on a new look for 2012 with a new team kit set to arrive in January.

Keep an eye out for this in the coming weeks

Elite MTB:

Jeremy Thatcher

Junior:

Regan Gough

Sam Dobbs

Tom Vessey

Sam Gaze

George Blackie

Georgia Veseey

Masters:

Andrew Barlow

Jason Barlow

Jason Stent

Brent Harris

Keep an eye on the blog rider reports will be added weekly and a race schedule will be posted shortly.

Races coming up:

January

The Hub 3 Day Cycle Tour Hawkes Bay

NZ MTB series

Blackpeloton 2012

2011-12-13T09:23:00.001-08:00

2012 will see a new look for the Blackpeloton team. A new sponsor and new look will see the team head into 2012 with a group of talented young juniors on the squad. Riders will compete in road and Mtb events all over NZ.

Sponsors: Rasieys Sports Nutrition, Cannondale, IPM, Tineli, SRAM, Giro Helmets and Shoes, Continental Tyres, Fizik will all make a up a very professional unit.

More detail will follow in the new year including a list of riders.

In recent results Regan Gough having a very strong season as a U17 took 2nd place at the NZ criterium champs in Takapuna on the weekend coming down to a sprint finish this adds to his 2nd place at the U17 road champs in Wanganui earlier this year.

Some events to look out for in the new year for BP riders will include:

The Hub Tour Hawkes Bay

NZ Mountain Bike Series

Day 3 Yunca Tour Results

2011-10-17T03:16:00.000-07:00

Stage 5 Criterium Invercargill 25min plus 3 laps

Near perfect conditions greeted riders in Invercargill, with a white frost blanketing the city and a shinning sun, which was welcomed by all riders.

This very fast stage saw the Australian riders dominating the stage sprint. Regan was the best placed rider from the team, fighting for 5th place in a strong finish. Sam and Mark crossed the line in the bunch riding good position throughout and keeping out of trouble.

Stage 6 Mable Bush Spring Hills Hedgehope 76km (2laps of 38k)

The afternoon greeted the riders with even warmer weather than in the morning stage and apart from one major climb, the stage didn't really offer too many challenges other than distance and being the 3rd day of racing. Hence many riders feeling the effects of a busy few days in the saddle.

I strong quartet of Australian riders went clear on the first of two laps and looked very dangerous, many of the spectators felt that was the winning break but some very strong riding by the Blackpeloton boys pulled them back on the final lap. Sam, Mark and Regan all worked very hard at the front of the peloton to shut down any chance the break had from making it to the end. However a small break of 2 riders snuck off the front in the final kilometers and stole the show keeping the team out of the podium once again.

Mark Findlay was the best placed rider coming 3rd in the bunch sprint and 5th in the stage; Sam and Regan again in the main bunch.

Overall placing after 3 days were:

- Mark 16th

- Regan 18th

- Sam 22nd

A great effort for the final race of the season.

Click here to see Yunca's final results.

Coming up:

All three riders will compete in the U17 Invercargill Track Cycling Carnival starting Tuesday this week.

Later in the week Regan and Mark will join Brehan Cairns and Andrew Barlow in the 8hrs at Jacks MTB race in Queenstown.

Yunca Tour Day 2

2011-10-14T23:24:00.000-07:00

Day two at the Yunca Tour of Southland:

Stage 3 "Beast of the East" 50km

This was an undulating stage in the eastern Southland area close to Mataura. One main climb about 1.5k long, Mark and Sam were aggressive throughout and managed to be apart of a break of 6 or 7 riders mid way in the stage but were to be swallowed up by the bunch. Regan was very unlucky not to take a podium position breaking clear in the last 2k and being swamped only 300m out to finish in the group along with Mark and Sam.

Stage 4 "Vale Circuit" 51km

This stage had two climbs, one small false flat and one extensive climb over about 2k, which doubled as KOM and the end to a gruelling stage finish after a demanding 3 laps.

All three riders were riding close to the action and in early moves but fruitless efforts paid tribute to tired legs. All three boys finished well back from the eventual winners.

The final sprint was contested out of 3 riders who went clear by 1min 45sec. But anything could still happen in tomorrow's stages. First there will be a short criterium in Invercargill then a 78km circuit race with over two laps of several rolling hills and one major hill climb starting at Mable Bush.

Results:

http://www.roadcycling.co.nz/RaceTalk/2011-yunca-jnr-tour-of-southland-results.html

2012 Yunca Junior Tour Day 1

2011-10-13T20:57:00.001-07:00

Mark Findlay, Sam Gaze and Regan Gough all started this years edition of the Yunca Junior Tour of Southland and are in good position going into day two.

Sam and Mark, placed 16th and 17th respectively, in the 2.5km prologue TT around Teratonga speedway only a matter of seconds from the leader. Regan Gough arrived a couple of seconds back leaving him in 24th place.

The team members still feel fresh and are in good spirits with some challenging road stages ahead.

Today's afternoon stage was ridden perfectly to plan. A 15km kermise style race that saw the team members arriving safe and well in the main bunch.

Stages 3 and 4 are in the Eastern Southland area where they will tackle two 50km rolling terrain circuits.

Check out Cycling Southland's website for race details and daily race results.

Andrew Barlow 2nd Individual Motu 160 Opotiki

2011-10-13T20:30:00.000-07:00

Saturday 8th Oct

Andrew Barlow placed 2nd in the third version of Motu 160 last weekend.

The event starting and finishing in Opotiki was one of two events held on Saturday, the other being the Motu Challenge multi sport race.

With Stage 1 being 65km and stage 2, 95km road biking, Barlow recorded the same time this year as he did in winning the event in 2009. However, the wind assistance in the road stage was not as strong as '09 and the MTB leg was plagued by constant rain and very slow conditions leading to a difficult first stage.

After the MTB leg individual riders Mark Lieshman and Scott Thorne had a strong 4-5min lead at the transition in Motu. Once on the road bike Barlow was edging back his opponents but he was feeling the effects of the MTB leg and having moments where the wheels were not going as fast as he would have liked.

Old Traffords hill in the Wiaoeka Gorge was a leg sapping effort, which Barlow never really recovered from.

Just over half way through the road section pro cyclist Clinton Avery came storming past with another rider, both in a team category, with fresh legs from not having raced the MTB stage.

Barlow attempted to stay with the riders heading into Opotiki but couldn't keep contact and had to drop off. Drafting is allowed in the Motu 160 and had Barlow been able to stay with Avery he would have had a chance to fight out for the win, but it was not to be.

Avery caught Scott Thorne and they rode to the finish for Scott to win Motu 160's individual title and Avery's the team's top prize. Mark Lieshman putting a in a strong performance faltered towards the end with Barlow overtaking in the last 2km to secure 2nd place.

Future events off road for Blackpeloton:

Huka XL Taupo

NZ MTB series 2011/12

Brent Harris out front in the Otago Rail Trail Classic!

2011-09-27T02:27:00.000-07:00

Brent Harris was the winner of his age category in the Otago Rail Trail Classic over the weekend. Mostlikely surprising his competitors on his new Merida Cyclocross machine. Brent finished 7th overall riding from Clyde to Middlemarch covering a distance of 152km.

Thanks to Di for the great pics.

For results see Cycling Otago's website

Day Night Thriller Raiseys/Placemakers Team 2nd

2011-09-12T02:06:00.000-07:00

The Blackpeloton team came in 2nd place on Saturdays Day Night Thriller. A magic day in Taupo blue sky and sunshine welcomed the riders and as night fell an amazing moon lit night followed.

Unfortunately the team wasn't able to land on the top position. However, due to some very fast laps by Luke Osbourne, Dan Warren, and Jeremy Thatcher the team was able to get to within 2min of the winners Nek Minnit, bolstered by several NZ rep riders. Finishing so close to the winning team over 12hrs was a great fight which had the team working hard all day to hold the lead but only to have it taken away in the closing few hours of the event.

16yr old Sam Gaze put in some gutsy laps and the oldie of the team Andrew Barlow managed keep up with his younger team mates with some consistent lap times not too far off the pace.

A great event and a definate fixture into the calender for 2012.

Raiseys Nutrition was on hand with Kane Raisey assisting the team with Honey Gels, Hydrate and Hydrate-X electrolytes.

Link to results & pics

http://res.timingsports.com/View.asp?id=1622&athID=0625

http://www.marathon-photos.com/scripts/event.py?event=Sports%2FRSNZ%2F2011%2FJamis+Day-Night+Thriller&new_search=1&match=625

Upcoming MTB events:

Oct 8 Motu 160

Oct 22 8hrs @ Jacks Queenstown Team Relay

Nov 26 Huka Challenge Taupo

Team update

2011-09-03T22:28:00.001-07:00

Just a few dates to watch out for in the coming months where Blackpeloton riders will be competing:

Events:

Saturday 10 September Day Night Thriller Taupo

http://daynightthriller.co.nz/

Sunday 18 Septmeber Rotorua to Whakatane.

http://www.r4.co.nz/

Saturday 8 October Motu160 Opotiki http://www.motuchallenge.co.nz/motu160/cycle_challenge.html

Friday 14 -16 October Ynuca Junior Tour of Southland Invercargill

http://www.cyclingsouth.org.nz/index.php?pageLoad=128

Tuesday 18-20 October Junior Track Carnival Invercargill Velodrome

Saturday 22 October 8hrs@Jacks MTB relay Queenstown

http://www.southerntraverse.com/jacks8hrs/EventInfo/concept.asp

Sunday 6 November Bike the Lake Rotorua

http://www.bikethelake.com/

Saturday 26 November Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge

http://www.cyclechallenge.com/

Day Night Thriller Team 2011

2011-08-08T02:22:00.000-07:00

Raiseys Placemakers Team Day Night Thriller 12hr Taupo

Dan Warren

Sam Gaze

Jeremy Thatcher

Luke Osbourne

Andrew Barlow

see link fro details: http://daynightthriller.co.nz/

Junior Tour Canberra 2011

2011-07-08T02:48:00.000-07:00

See below link to the Canberra Junior Tour.

BikeNZ team riders Sam Gaze, Mark Findlay and Regan Gough will be competing in Canberra over the next few days.

http://canberratour.actcyclingevents.com.au/index.asp?IntCatId=29

Taranaki Results

2011-06-13T00:50:00.001-07:00

Blackpeloton riders performed well in Taranaki despite the cold wet conditions. Mark Findlay and Regan Gough both won stages in the U17 event on their lead up to Canberra, with Sam Gaze riding well but being forced to withdraw through a run of mechanical issues.

The A grade event was very strong with NZ team juniors dominating the top spots, Steve Furminger was the best placed in A grade finishing in 11th, Brehan Cairns and Dan Furminger both had mechanicals and punctures which left them well out of contention.

So an end to the domestic road season opens up time for cyclocross so get out there and tear up the mud.

Full results: http://cyclingnewplymouth.co.nz/Events/Club+Special+Events/892.aspx

Blackpeloton Team Tour of Taranaki 2011

2011-05-24T13:19:00.000-07:00

The following riders will be in action at the Tour of Taranaki 4-6 June.

Brehan Cairns A grade

Jason Stent A grade

Steve Furminger A grade

Dan Furminger A grade

Mark Findlay U17

Regan Gough U17

Sam Gaze U17

Link to web site:

http://www.cyclingnewplymouth.co.nz/default.aspx

Moonride Results

2011-05-15T18:37:00.000-07:00

Check out the lap times on the official website

www.moonride.co.nz

Sam Gaze had 2 x 20min laps (lap 2 & 3) wow that is world class!!!! At 15yrs old just wait until he gets serious.....

Blackpeloton wins at 24hr Moon ride.

2011-05-15T00:38:00.000-07:00

Above pic is Sam in action at the recent U17 club nationals in Whanganui, pic courtesy of Di Harris.

In form 15yr old Sam Gaze spear headed a team victory in the 24 hrs Moon ride held in Rotorua on the weekend. Sam blazing around the first lap of a 8km technical course in 21minutes and later the following night scoring a 22min penultimate lap . Held from 9pm Friday night to 9pm Saturday night the winning combination covered 57 laps covering more than 450km between the riders.

Other team members were Karl Moore, Chris Gaze(Sams Dad), Carl Paton and Andrew Barlow. After 14hrs Barlow had to sit out riding any remaining laps due to rolling an ankle at the team camp site. So the victory was even more impressive that only 4 riders shared the remaining 10hrs of the event. Attracted hundreds of competitors from all levels was great to be a part of.

Throughout the 24hrs riders took turns at resting while one team rider was on the course, Avanti Manukau supplied food and support throughout the event which was a major help to which we were all thankful of.

MTB will become more common with Blackpeloton in the months ahead so keep posted for the next events.

Most of the team will be competing in the Taranaki Tour at Queens Birthday weekend and daily results will be posted here along with pics.

Blackpeloton U17 riders in NZ team!!

2011-05-09T17:48:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Regan Gough, Sam Gaze and Mark Findlay all making the NZ team for Canberra in July. Consistently at the top echelon of NZ cycling in the U17 ranks has led to deserved recognition.
See link for full team:
http://www.roadcycling.co.nz/RaceTalk/nz-junior-teams-announced-for-international-tours.html

Steve Furminger crashes out!!

2011-05-09T02:21:00.000-07:00

The final day of the NZ club national Champs ended in gravel rash for Steve Furminger, after lap 4 of 7 while riding 3 riders from the front was cut off by the leading riders leaving not road or time to avoid. The accident happened in strong side winds, unfortunately the Auckland U23 champs day was not to be his and the NZ championship was taken by another Auckland rider Matt Wheatcroft.

Steve will be looking to redeem so good form in the a few weeks time at the Tour of Taranaki.

Blackpeloton will have at least four riders in A grade to lead a strong challenge to the rest.

Brehan Cairns, Dan Furminger, Steve Furminger and Andrew Barlow.

Brent Harris was to be BP's next big chance at a medal in the Master 5 event, Brent was aggressive throughout and made several attempts to break clear but was unable to get far enough away to make a break stick. The 66km race ended in a small bunch sprint into a head wind. Brent narrowly missed a medal and had to settle for 5th place.

This weekend will be the moon ride in Rotorua a 24hr MTB event, Blackpeloton riders Sam Gaze and Andrew Barlow will join Chris Gaze champion master MTBer and Champion Multi-sport/cyclist Karl Moore. Starting 9pm Friday night and finishing 9pm Saturday night.

Keep posted for more results.

Mark Findlay Cruises to NZ U17 Road Title

2011-05-05T22:49:00.000-07:00

Blackpeloton supported by Placemakers/Raiseys and Cannondale was in blistering form today at the NZ Road Championships.

Mark Findlay

(bike Manawatu)taking out the title ahead of Regan Gough (CCHB) in second place and Sam Gaze( TeAwamutu)) approx 15th. The day started off with cool overcast conditions and rain with a 3 lap course of 22 km per lap in total 66km. The BP boys were dominant on all climbs leading or riding close to the front.

Some exciting positional riding with all three riders leading the challenge. Mark riding clear on the final lap with Auckland Talent Scott Ambrose winner of yesterdays Ind TT.

Mark has had some very strong form in all lead up races winning stages on almost all tours contested. Today his sprinting prowess was more than convincing and showing signs he is following in similar foot steps to big brother Tom who is riding for the moment in Europe and winning. Tomorrow U19 brother Angus is a contender to take the honours and add another title to the family trophy cabinet.

Yesterdays time trials were not as successful as today but some strong performances showed through. See link to results

http://www.roadcycling.co.nz/201105063690/Results/day-1-nz-club-nationals-road-race-results.html

Racing to coming for the teams riders will be Brent Harris Masters 5 and Steve Furminger U23 on Sunday.

Check out the boys racing on https://picasaweb.google.com/110250351846261438739/ClubRoadNationals2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCKCj3KnVkL7imQE&feat=directlink

Findlay and Gaze winners at Ta Tour

2011-04-24T15:34:00.000-07:00

After a first stage puncture, Mark Findlay gained a 2nd on the 2nd stage and won the final stage of the U17 Ta Tour this weekend. Regan Gough gained a 3rd in the final stage and Sam Gaze took out the KOM winning more than twice the points of his nearest rival. Although the BP boys were not as dominant in the overall GC respectful results were achieved, overall Mark 7th, Regan 8th and Sam 14th.

Results link: http://www.roadcycling.co.nz/201104223622/Results/2011-te-awamutu-junior-tour-results.html

Blackpeloton U17 Boys Dominate NPS

2011-04-21T01:48:00.000-07:00

See bikenz link:

http://www.bikenz.org.nz/Article.aspx?ID=5219

New Cannondale Scapel 29er!!

2011-04-18T12:07:00.000-07:00

http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/sea-otter-2011-cannondales-new-scalpel-29

Brehan Cairns 2nd at Brunner!

2011-04-18T02:32:00.000-07:00

U23 rider Brehan Cairns was 2nd in the around Brunner race on the weekend awesome result and proof the hard training will yeild good results.

Brief report from Brehan: I broke away in first km with two other riders then a couple of ks down the road 3 more joined us. We were out to 4.50 at the halfway mark so we all knew that it was ours from then on. Tried to cover all attacks without

wearing myself out and unfourtunately the one that got away I didnt follow then took the sprint for 2nd without to much trouble.

Brehan is riding tour de lakes this weekend in central otago so well look forward to a race report next week.

See link to race report:

http://www.roadcycling.co.nz/201104173602/RaceTalk/canterbury-u23-champion-around-brunner-champion.html

Mark Findlay Wins U17 Rotorua Tour.

2011-04-18T02:20:00.000-07:00

Mark Findlay was on form in the weekend and managed to take out the rotorua tour.

Sam Gaze in second place16 seconds behind and Regan Gough 4th. Another awesome weekend of racing for Mark and Sam with amazing form had the race well under control going into yesterdays final days racing to take a 1-2 finish.

Results: Mark Findlay- 2nd in first stage, 1st in the tt, 2nd in the crit and 4th in last stage. Regan was 4th in the crit but had some bad luck with a puncture in the first stage and bad legs overall on day one only to finished well on the second day with his endurance coming to the fore.

Sam was on the receiving end of a hard lesson by not wearing a number in the tt and being smacked by a 10second time penalty....another one down to experience eh...

Blackpeloton U17 train is performing admirably and in shining form with Ta Tour just around the corner good luck boys!

Results link: http://www.cyclingrotorua.co.nz/results.htm

Steve Furminger wins Auckland U23 Champs

2011-04-13T02:33:00.001-07:00

Up an coming young rider Steve Furminger from Auckland took out his local U23 Championships road tilte on the weekend.

Steve has been riding well lately and is targeting the NZ club road champs in Whanganui in May & the Tour of Tahiti in July.

In his first year as a U23 rider Steve will certainly be one to watch, Steve rode and finished well for the Blackpleoton team in the Open tour of Tasmania last September while he was still a junior rider.

Further news Logan Mort has left for a 3 month block of racing with a Brasilian Team in South America. Good luck Logan we'll hopefully be getting some news through from Logan soon.

Blackpeloton top podium again!

2011-04-13T01:46:00.000-07:00

The WCNI champs was dominated by our boys taking 1-2-3 again in a repeat of the CHB tour great stuff boys. Mark Findlay taking the WCNI title.

Regans report:

10th of April, West Coast North Island road race champs took place in Whanganui running over the 2011 road nationals courses. The U17 boys had a field of 20, doing 3 laps of a 22km lap. All 3 placemaker's riders were racing in this event. It was a tough race for me, not quite having the legs on the hills made it a bit challenging. Mark was riding extremely strong especially on the hills. It was the 3 of us getting away on the 2nd hill during the last lap and maintaining that break until the finish. Sam led out the sprint, being a bit cunning in the lead up to the finish catching Mark and I asleep. However, we got him just before the line, me getting Mark by the smallest of margins. Hopefully this will give us a bit of confidence with nationals being a few weeks away.

The handsome 3 at CHB Tour: Sam on top, Regan left, Mark right.

CHB Tour Results Blackpeloton 1 2 3!!

2011-03-27T22:58:00.000-07:00

Blackpeloton team members had a great weekend on the bike, new riders to the team
Sam Gaze and Brent Harris both scored some impressive results.
Sam was first in the Central Hawkes Bay U17 2 day tour and also out classed his opposition to dominate and win the KOM, Mark Findlay was second overall and second on the KOM capping off the podium Regan Gough was 3rd overall so a major . Awesome results and a great confidence booster for Rotorua and TeA tours in the coming weeks. These guys are gunning for a place in the NZ team to go to Canberra mid year.

Results:http://www.cyclingchb.co.nz/images/jtour/s2gcreport2011.pdf

Brent Harris made a good start first up for team on the weekend when he took out the Mid-Canty road champs in Ashburton an 80km handicap Brent rode off first break and took out the sash for the
fastest vet 3,the club use 10yr age groups for their champs.
Awesome effort check out the determination below..

Blackpeloton to CHB Junior Tour

2011-03-16T00:23:00.000-07:00

Blackpeloton has 3 of its riders heading to Central Hawkes Bay next weekend for the CHB Junior Tour. Regan Gough with his home town advantage will be looking to impress after a strong performance in the track nationals in Invercargill a couple of weeks ago. Mark Findlay (Palmerston North) with wins in the Hub tour earlier in the year and thirdly new recruit to the Blackpeloton team is Sam Gaze .

Sam has gained a number of top results over the last couple of years taking out KOM titles, national championships in MTB and several 1st placing in Waikato for school championships and open U17 events. Already a close friend of Regan, Sam will be a great complement to the team and we wish him and all the boys success in the coming weeks racing.

The boys will be vying for places to race for NZ in Canberra mid year.

For race details see the following link:

http://www.cyclingchb.co.nz/images/jtour/2011jtinfopack.pdf

Blackpeloton Team Clothing

2011-03-14T23:49:00.000-07:00

We have some good news for small people in cycling, Blackpeloton has a surplus of small & xsmall bib shorts and short sleeve race Jersey's. There is a limited number & they will sell fast, given that our kit has been rumoured to be the sharpest outfit on the cycling scene its only fitting that you should treat yourself to something the both looks great and feels awesome to ride in.

Blackpeloton is sponsored by Tineli NZ so should this create enough interest then we maybe be able to run a special order in the coming months.

Tell all your friends about the deal and email Andrew at blackpeloton@gmail.com if your interested.

Bib-shorts $120

Jersey $120

Happy riding!

Colville Connection 2011

2011-03-13T07:43:00.000-07:00

2011 seems like it will be a year of trying new events, having just competed at the NZ age group track nationals and getting used to a fixed track gear again I decided on Saturday why not have a crack at doing the Colville connection. Together with my cousin Simon McLeay also old cycling buddy we made the trek over to Colville on the Coromandel, a great event and well worth considering for the future.

Some advice though seriously try and get a good MTB riding a cyclocross bike on that course was very difficult, some major steep descents and technical rocky tracks al

so low gears are required to ascend the steep sections of the track.

The climbing sections for me were effortless though riding with in the top 5 for the first part of the race, all was going well until the first decent, many minutes lost going slow...chasing to get back to the leaders on the climbs and then losing contact again on the descents.

Anyway was a great experience and finished riding together with Sam Gaze a 15yr old guy from Hamilton together with one other rider we managed to pull in several groups in the last 15km riding into a head wind on the gravel. A big thanks to Sam for giving me a drink I was suffering from only taking one bottle for the 72km also not a good move when we were on the bike for about 3 hrs....

Josh Page had a good ride finishing in 3rd place overall.

My placing was 8th and 1st master. Time 3hr 1.30min

http://www.colvilleconnection.co.nz/Results/7211.pdf

Triple peaks this coming weekend...cross bike or MTB...

2011 NZ track nationals, Invercargill

2011-03-06T01:15:00.000-08:00

Blackpeloton riders performed well in last weeks national championships. Regan Gough a bronze medal in the U17 scratch race and Andrew Barlow a gold medal in the Master Cat 1 Points Race.

A great atmosphere in the deep south with a world class velodrome is proving a fine catalyst in attracting new riders into the sport. Something that cycling in the north island will benefit from in the future when a new facility is constructed.

Track cycling is booming in the South thanks to many proactive members, supporters and sponsors a great achievement by all.

For full results to the championships go to: http://cyclingsouth.org.nz/index.php?pageLoad=251

NZ Track Cycling Champs 2011

2011-02-26T10:37:00.000-08:00

Blackpeloton riders competing:

Regan Gough (waipukurau) U17

Brehan Carins (Invercargill) Elite

Andrew Barlow (Taradale) Mast 1

Blackpeloton Team 2011

2011-01-24T00:17:00.000-08:00

Mark Findlay PALMERSTON NORTH U17 Road

Regan Gough WAIPUKURAU U17 Road/Track

Brehan Cairns INVERCARGILL U23 Track/Road

Steve Furminger AUCKLAND U23 Road

Logan Mort AUCKLAND Road

Jeremy Thatcher AUCKLAND MTB/ Road

Jason Barlow INVERCARGILL Track

Jason Stent HASTINGS Mast 2 Road

Andrew Barlow TARADALE Mast 2 Road

Hub Tour 2011 Hawkes Bay

2011-01-23T23:42:00.000-08:00

Some great results in last weekends Hub Tour, U17 rider Regan Gough winning the gruelling final stage up Berma Road taking second overall and Mark Findlay securing 3rd overall with second in the prologue a win in the first stage and another win on the same day at the Whakatu Criterium.

Jason Stent finished 7th in the Open B grade with his best placing 3rd place in a close sprint of 3 breakaway riders.

Steve furminger was the best placed A grade rider finishing in 11th place in a classy field, while last Saturday Steve was in action again in the 110km Tour de Ranges in Clevedon finishing in 6th place, the winner NZ crit champ Peter Latham. Steve only 18 years of age is in great form and focusing his sights on the NZ club nationals in Wanganui in May, Tour of Tahiti in July and later in the year the Tour of Southland.

Steve's Race Report:

The first major climb of the 110km Sram Tour de Ranges was only about 3km into the race, it was a couple of kms long but had a flat section in the middle of about 500m. The bunch got thinned even this early into the race as the pace was on. After the descent, attacks were made constantly but nothing stuck until about 10km from the coast, when a fairly large group got away from what was left of the bunch. I was in the bunch and we chased hard and caught them just as we got to the coast. The pace was then solid all the way along the flat, with McCauley taking out the sprint prime at 70km. As soon as we left the coast, we were faced with a short sharp 700m climb that absolutely cut the field to pieces. Over the top of the climb there was only 10 of us left. We rode steady until the designated KOM for the day, which was won by Roman Van Uden. Over the top of the climb 4 riders broke clear (Van Uden, Latham, Crowther and Gunman) leaving the 6 of us to chase them down. We couldn't quite manage it and rolled in 1:25 down on winner Peter Latham. I was 2nd in the 'bunch' sprint so that put me as 6th for the race. Was a good hard day out, and got several comments on the new kit.

Pedro Palma climbs on GC

2010-11-04T19:26:00.000-07:00

Some consistent riding by Chilean National Champ Pedro Palma has moved him up to 13th place overall in this years Tour of Southland. Pedro 21yrs old from February's earthquake troubled city of Concepcion is thriving on the Southland hospitality. His native language Spanish is not understood by many in the peloton in Southland and not speaking much English has provided a few challenges for the him and the team.

This is a great opportunity for the team to share an exchange between countries very close in term of distance between land mass. Chile being on the other side of the Pacific.

This relationship with Blackpeloton/ Placemakers will continue in the future with hopes the team can gain entry to the Vuelta de Chile (Feb 2011) in the coming years.

After finishing 19th up the Crown Range climb in Central Otago yesterday Pedro finished 13th on today's 165km stage into Te Anau. Blackpelotons/Placemakers Matt Sillars was right up there in the second group finishing in 16th place on the stage to have the team jump one place to 11th team overall.

Just one day remains and two stages from this years race Pedro is lying 4th in the U23 just 2min 33sec down on rising star Josh Aitkins and 6min 03sec down on tour leader Jack Bauer.

Results:

http://www.tourofsouthland.com/index.php?pageLoad=119&event=TOS&year=2010&stage=7#gc

Tour of Southland after day 3

2010-11-02T05:12:00.000-07:00

Pic above: Sean Joyce leading eventual stage winner Joe Cooper during stage 3 to Gore.

Today's 3 stage saw Placemakers/Blackpeloton riders coming into the action, Sean Joyce was in the winning break for more than 60km of the 165km stage from Invercargill to Gore.

all but 2 riders were taken back by the fast finishing peloton, Sean along with Matt Sillars, Pedro Palma, Mark Spessott and Fraser Bermingham all finished in the main group ready to start again tomorrow where the riders encounter 2 stages to Tuatapere and then to Winton.

see results at http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/powernet-tour-of-southland-ne-1

Tour of Brasil Review

2010-10-27T07:11:00.000-07:00

Looking back on the 2010 Tour of Brasil over 1100km and 9 stages Blackpeloton made a great impression with Jeremy Yates winning a stage, 2nd in Mouintains classicfication and rider Sean Joyce and Louis Crosby having finishes in the top 10 on 3 occassions. The team finished 10th overall on teams class ahead of strong teams such as Jamis USA, Chile, Urugauy and Argentina. The team was praised for introducing young riders to the event and made mention of Fraser Bermingham and Sean Joyce being the youngest riders compeating in the Tour of the 160 start list. The average speed for the event was 42kph after finishing in San Paulo city on Sunday morning.

Tour of Southland:
Next week Blackpeloton is in action again in the Tour of Southland:
Team:
Pedro Palma (Chile)U23

Fraser Bermingham U23

Sean Joyce U23

Matt Sillars

Mark Spessott

web:

www.tourofsouthland.com

Kiwi win in Brazil !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Beleza

2010-10-21T07:32:00.000-07:00

Blackpeloton/New Zealands Jeremy Yates Wins 6th Stage Tour of Brasil

Jeremy Yates won stage 6 Sorocaba to Atibaia today in style and may take the Mountain leaders Jeresy after winning both cat2 KOM primes in the stage. After a 12^th two days previous and a 15^th yesterday getting caught behind a crash in the sprint finish and finishing 15^th today win was a well deserved.

Early in the 140km stage 8 riders broke clear before the first KOM that Jeremy Yates won. The break away group was then joined by 4 others working strong at the front , an advantage of up to 2 min was reached on the road.

At the 65km mark there was a split, 2 Brazilian riders were driving it at the front, in chase was Yates and one other rider who came together on the a fast decent making a 4 man break. Some riders were not working well in the break so the German rider was quick to attack he then took Yates and one Brazilian that would see them ride as a trio to the last climb. Still with 40km to ride and a cobble hill climb finish Yates was poised for the finish, Yates attacked on the final climb, the others unable to follow and he took the stage crossing the stage alone 17sec ahead of the next rider and about 30 seconds ahead of the chasing peloton..

Yates is the best Blackpeloton rider overall in 19th place 2min14sec from the leader but without official results he will be very high in the Mountains Classification after stage 6.

Tomorrows 187km stage 7 from Atibaia to Pindamongaba will definitely test the riders with KOM points up for grabs and a climb at the finish. The day after tomorrow a 65km mountain stage will decide the overall classification then the final 50km stage into San Paulo city on Sunday.

The team now may now be lying in the top 10, Sean Joyce, Fraser Bermingham, Logan Mort, Brad Tilby, Matt Sillars and Louis Crosby are all in good shape saving the legs today for what is to come.

See www.yescom.com.br for official results

See http://www.uci.ch/templates/BUILTIN-NOFRAMES/Template3/layout.asp?MenuId=MjExMg&LangId=1

Tour of Brasil (Update)

2010-10-19T14:45:00.000-07:00

Due to being very busy on the tour I can report Louis Crosby as being the best performer so far in the tour with a 10th place in stage 3 just ahead of Jeremy Yates in 12th. Louis is also currently lying 3rd in the mountains classification.

Overall the best placed Blackpeloton rider in Jeremy Yates in 21st place, although Jeremy conceded qmin and 46 sec he is still in a great position within striking distance of the leaders with many more hills to come along with the 8th stage to Campos do Jordão an approx 15km climb all up.

See full results at:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/tour-do-brasil-volta-ciclistica-de-sao-paulo-internacional-2-2/stages

www.yescom.com.br

Tour of Brazil Etapa 1 Presidente Prundente- Assis 138km

2010-10-16T13:46:00.000-07:00

All the team has finished in the peloton in a mass sprint today, 138km of moderate speeds approx average 40kph through sugar cane country rolling terrain amounting to 1500m of climbing. Like 2009 fast roads, today 22-25 degrees cloudy with no rain although thunder clouds broke through after the stage finished.

Tomorrow sees the second stage 114km from Marilia-Bauru 114km.

see results when posted at www.yescom.br

Jeremy Yates wins Crit in San Jose dos Campos

2010-10-10T18:59:00.000-07:00

Blackpeloton was in the action today for the first time on Brazilian soil with recent Taupo Napier winner Jeremy Yates in strong form riding clear with one other rider to take out the race in a sprint finish. A 2hr 3.5km circuit race offered several corners and fast conditions. Louis Crosby also made the podium finishing in 3rd place, all other riders finished the race in the main peloton.

The event was a local race hosted by the San Jose dos Campos club, held at a military helicopter base in Taubate close to San Jose dos Campos approx 1.5hrs from San Paulo city.

So far the trip has been incident free after arriving 1 week ago.

Some of the riders have found it difficult to adjust to the time difference and a combination of 900m altitude coupled with average air quality. Most of the team are feeling well and being treated to amazing hospitality in hotels and being served up amazing food everyday.

A hotel change this Wednesday arrival of the team and the remaining foreign team will all add to the hype leading up to Saturdays first stage 120km starting in Presidente Predente.

After today race the team travelled to Campos do Jordao the 8th of 9 stages, which is a 62km mountain stage, the stage is basically all uphill with the main part of the climb 20km long up to 1800m (approx 6km is very steep). The tour will be decided on this stage with Jeremy Yates a likely contender all going well.

Weather so far has been fine a little rain but mainly warm conditions with cool nights.

Keep posted for news later in the week.

Tour of Brazil 2010 Oct 16-24

2010-09-21T12:47:00.001-07:00

Blackpeloton has named its 8 strong team to compete in the UCI 2.2 Tour of Brazil commencing on the 16th of October in Presidente Prudente to the west of San Paulo state. The race will run for 9 days covering 10 stages, including 8 rolling road stages with distances up to 190km, 1 Individual TT and 1 Mountain stage finishing at 1800m. The race will finish in the central city of San Paulo on the 24th of October

There will be 20 teams teams competing in this years race, coming from Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Peru, Germany, USA & NZ. The US team is Jamis Sutter Homes continental team which is top in the US NRC competition which includes some very strong Argentinean riders.

Unfortunately Scott Mullaly has had to withdraw from the team due to a reoccurring back injury so will be spending the next few weeks recovering.

Blackpeloton is pleased to welcome Jeremy Yates to the team as a guest rider and expect him to be a major strength as well as a roll model to the rest of this young team.

Full Team

Louis Crosby

Sean Joyce

Fraser Bermingham

Matt Sillars

Andrew Barlow

Brad Tilby

Jeremy Yates

Logan Mort

Manager: Carlos(Zeca) Barbosa

Masseuse: Catalina Rameriz

Mechanic: TBD

Soigneur: Bruno Saraiva

The official website for the event is:

http://www.yescom.com.br/voltadoestado/2010/portugues/

In the coming days as this site is updated you will be able to click on the USA flag and this will redirect you to the English version although Portuguese is always updated first.

News articles will be posted at the blog during the course of the event along with pics.

Day 6 Tour of Tasmania

2010-09-21T00:08:00.000-07:00

Blackpeloton team has just completed the Tour of Tasmania, well done to you all under the circumstances a great effort with the unsettled weather and difficult terrain.

Louis Crosby was the best of the team finishing 18th in the final crit and in 39th place overall. Through being a part of numerous breaks Louis accumulated enough sprint points to take second in the Sprint Jersey overall awesome work.

All in all a good training event for next months Tour of Brazil, although weather conditions will be a stark contrast to what riders have expereinced over the last week, San Paulo today recored a high of 30 degrees plus!

Summer at last.....just 13 days until we depart.

For full Tasmania results see the link below

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/tour-of-tasmania-ne-1/stage-10/results

http://www.roadcycling.co.nz/Results/tour-of-tasmania-results-2010.html

Day 4 Tour of Tasmania

2010-09-19T19:41:00.000-07:00

See link below not much more news other than the boys are still hanging in there in the difficult conditions Louis Crosby still managing to stay in the top 20.

http://www.roadcycling.co.nz/Results/tour-of-tasmania-results-2010.html

Day 3 Tour of Tasmania

2010-09-18T04:26:00.001-07:00

Another day dominated by Kiwi riders with today's stage being won by George Bennett, and overall lead to veteran rider Gordon MaCauley.

Blackpeloton riders again finding the going pretty challenging, not report has been received from the team today however see the link below to the latest results.

All the Blackpeloton riders starting todays stages finished and will be on the start line for day 4 tomorrow.

http://www.roadcycling.co.nz/Results/tour-of-tasmania-results-2010.html

Tour of New Caledonia

2010-09-17T03:35:00.001-07:00

The following Blackpeloton riders are currently competing in the Tour of New Caledonia 15-25th Sept with a composite team:

Fraser Bermingham

Karl Murray

Matt Sillars

For up to date results on these riders use the following link updated daily:

http://www.tourcaledonie.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=104&Itemid=61

Day 2 Tour of Tasmania

2010-09-17T02:57:00.000-07:00

Today's first stage in Queenstown a 4.8km hill climb TTT the boys registered a time of 12min 31sec, 1min 7sec down on the winners in 12th place. Inform Australian teams Genesys, follwed by Drapac and Virgin Blue RBS Morgans all within 11 seconds of each other with Genesys coming out on top with 11min 24sec. The stage was blessed with 99 twists and turns up Mt Lyell Highway an unforgiving road for many with 4 days of hard racing to follow

Today's second stage a 86km stage from Queenstown to Zeehan again saw field split to pieces but out of the lead group of 40 riders Blackpeloton had 3 riders finish strongly to improve their team place to 8th overall. Although not featuring in the sprint finish Tilby, Crosby and Furminger all finished in the leading bunch. Furminger had to manually pull his gear cable and hook around his drink bottle cage to ride today a pretty gutsy feat in the conditions and had a broken spoke in a rear wheel but still managed to finish strong. The BikeNZ team have lent Furminger a replacement lever, great having some fellow kiwi support there when you need it.

Aldridge lost contact with the leaders nearing the finish and came in 3min down on the stage winner. McDowell had a difficult day in the saddle and finished well down but did enough to start tomorrows 3rd day hopefully with some recovered legs.

Unfortunately Jeremy Stephens had to retire today injuries sustained in the recent Tour of the Murray to much to enable him to continue the race.

Best place BP riders:

Louis Crosby 16th at 2min 50sec

Brad Tilby 23rd at 5min 30sec

Tomorrow sees the riders head North-West with a 24km crit in Burnie and a 98km road stage in West Mooreville.

See results of stage 4 and overall results after day 2:

http://www.tas.cycling.org.au/site/cycling/tas/downloads/pdf/Stage%204.pdf

Day 1 Tour of Tasmania

2010-09-17T00:17:00.000-07:00

Louis Crosby is holding 12th place overall after the first stage of the Tour of Tasmania, 2nd kiwi overall Louis is poised to hold his own in the challenging conditions which today included snow and freezing temperatures.

Many riders are feeling the pinch in the difficult conditions although Tasmania is well know for changing conditions, this weather will be good preparation for what to expect for the Tour of Southland in the first week of November, Brad Tilby is the next Blackpeloton rider lying 29th place. Steve Furminger and Jeffery McDowell are riding well still riding in the U19 category in thier first experience with professional riders. Jeremy Stephens nursing a cracked rib and Josh Aldridge are both managing to stay in the race alongside some of Australia's top road cyclists.

Blackpeloton is currently in 10th place overall.

Unfortunately for Steve he broke is front dérailleur today losing valuable time, Louis Crosby managed to repair the damage temporarily for tomorrows stages.

Link to day one results:

http://www.roadcycling.co.nz/Results/tour-of-tasmania-results-2010.html

Louis Crosby U23 CMC Champ

2010-09-12T00:07:00.000-07:00

Louis Crosby race report

CMC Club Champs.

A tough day at the office...

It was 3 laps of the long course at Ramarama and we got extremely lucky with the weather, about 10 minutes before the start the rain stopped and the roads started to dry, mother nature still decided to keep the wind blowing just to make things interesting.

The U19's and U23's got put in with the open race which made a total start list of about 35 strong riders and there were 5 riders on the start line from Blackpeleton so hopes were high for getting some results, 4 of the guys were U23 and we also had Matt Sillars racing for the Open title.

As usual with Auckland club races, the pace was on from the gun with Nick Lovegrove, Aaron Strong and Logan Mort (Blackpeloton) sparking things up and getting the bunch strung out. After about 5 k's those three had formed a gap on the bunch which was looking promising untill Gordon Mcaugly figured out what was going on, he dragged a few riders across to the break leaving half of the field behind. but he wasnt finished there, he continued to attack the bunch and eventually split it around the back of the course up a staircase climb. This is where the winning break formed with Aaron Strong, Gordon Mcaughly, Elliot Crowther, Nick Lovegrove, Michael Poole and myself (Louis Crosby). A few of the other guys in the team had some bad luck with punctures and getting caught on the wrong wheel in the cross wind section.

Within the next lap and a half the break away bunch whittled down to 4 riders after dropping Aaron Strong and Michael Poole. This meant that all I had to do to win the U23 title was to hang in there and finish in front of the chasing bunch but that sounded too easy so on the last lap it was attack after attack coming from Gordon Mcaughly, Nick Lovegrove and Myself with Elliot Crowther doing everything he could to hang in there. With 2 k's to go Gordy put his Jett Pack on and formed a gap at which stage I had decided to let the Open men sort out who would win (as I could not take the open victory) Nick Lovegrove went onn the chase but Elliot didnt quite have the gas leaving me to finish 3rd Overall and 1st U23.
The next placed rider from the team was Joshua Aldridge who placed 4th in the U23 getting outsprinted by Bici Vida riders Colin Conberg and Tom Libby.

2010 Volta do Estado Sao Paulo/ Tour of Brasil

2010-09-11T23:26:00.000-07:00

See the link below to the stages for this years Tour of Brasil

http://www.yescom.com.br/voltadoestado/2010/ingles/imagens/Mapa_Percurso_2010_2000.jpg

Team:

Matt Sillars

Scott Mullaly

Brad Tilby

Andrew Barlow

Fraser Bermingham

Sean Joyce

Logan Mort

Louis Crosby

Manager: Carlos Barbosa

Massuese: Catalina Rameriz

Wanganui GP Report

2010-09-06T16:18:00.000-07:00

With the rest of the team racing in Australia, Matt and Fraser were the only Blackpeloton representatives at the Wanganui GP, a 113km 5 lap race on the 2011 Club nationals circuit. Both were riding strongly and were showing promising form with the Tour of New Caledonia only 10 days away. Unfortunately a strong tailwind on the two main highway climbs meant the course wasn't as selective as it could have been.

The race was won by Subway-Avanti rider Joe Cooper who got away solo with 10km to go. With the chance to win gone, Fraser Bermingham attacked with 800m to and managed to break clear of the remains of the peloton to grab 2nd place at the finish, while Matt sprinted home for 4th.

A good day out for the boys, but they were still slightly disappointed they weren't able to net the elusive win.

1st - Joseph Cooper (Subway)
2nd - Fraser Bermingham (Blackpeloton)
3rd - Shem Rodger (Bici Vida)
4th - Matt Sillars (Blackpeloton)
5th - Andy Hagen

Tour of the Murray River ~ Stage 14

2010-09-05T00:42:00.000-07:00

Press release by Caribou Publications

Sunday, September 05, 2010

Elgas Tour of the Murray River

14^th and final stage: Mildura Criterium

Gippslander Joel Pearson notched the most emphatic triumph of his impressive career with a hard-fought victory in the Elgas Tour of the Murray River today.

Pearson, 27, won the eight-day tour by 11 seconds from Canberra veteran Stuart Shaw, 32, with New Zealander Gordon McCauley, 38, a further second back in third place.

For the red-haired Pearson, who gained and lost the tour’s purple jersey three times throughout the 902km race, it was his best result since winning the 262km Melbourne to Warrnambool Classic last October.

Four months ago, he underwent a serious hip operation which threatened to derail his 2010 season but, after a slow start to the current Scody Cup series in the Lakes Oil Tour of Gippsland early last month, he gradually rode into peak form and was given marvellous backing by his Genesys team-mates throughout the 14 stages of the gruelling tour.

Pearson, runner-up to the blisteringly-quick Queenslander Jonathan Cantwell in last year’s Murray tour, said it was an “unbelievable feeling” to finally win a major Australian stage race.

“This is my biggest enjoyment because it was such a hard-fought, tough battle from start to finish,” Pearson said.

“The likes of Stewie Shaw and Gordon McCauley threw everything at me over the last couple of days but I managed to hang on, mainly through the help of my Genesys team.”

The final stage, a 66km criterium raced on Mildura’s riverfront, was won by the incredibly nimble Malaysian Harrif Saleh who narrowly defeated young New South Welshmen Scott Law (Virgin Blue RBS Morgans) and Alex Carver (Jayco Skins).

Saleh won four tour stages and will be a front-line rider for Malaysia in the road race at the New Delhi Commonwealth Games next month.

McCauley will also be in India for his fourth Commonwealth Games after he represents New Zealand in the time trial at the World road championships in Geelong on September 30.

In addition to his third placing, he also won the tour’s king of the mountains championship and the Merbein Bendigo Community Bank most aggressive rider award.

The tour, held for the 15^th time, was supported by Tourism Victoria and six municipalties – Campaspe, Murray, Swan Hill, Balranald, Yarriambiack and Mildura.

Results:

12 Sean

62 Logan

65 Matt

82 James

Tour of the Murray River ~ Stage 12 & 13

2010-09-04T01:23:00.000-07:00

Saturday Sept 4

Stage 12 a top 20 finish for Joyce on the crit and a great ride by James Northey saw them finish in the main peloton. Logan, Matt and Andrew were all pulled out prior to the last lap and will start again on the next stage. Brad Tilby did not start the stage due to a strained hamstring.

Stage 13 was perfectly designed for riders like Gordon McCaulay with very windy conditions and 12 laps of a 4.5km course. It was always going to be difficult stage in the wind and was never going to be enjoyable. Barlow withdrew after the first lap disinterested in continuing the tour and will not participate in the final day sighting back problems as the main cause.

James Northey and Logan Mort were both removed from the race after 7 laps.

Sean Joyce and Matt Wheatcroft both finished in the main peloton one minute behind a small leaders break.

Weather conditions are very bad, with heavy rain last night and gale force winds which continued all day making racing very difficult.

Tomorrow’s final stage will see Logan, Matt, Sean and James taking the start line in the final stage a 66km Kermese. None of the Blackpeloton riders are in reach of GC anymore and will just be continuing for the training but there may still be a chance with Sean Joyce if he can get through the pushing and elbowing from the Australians...

Tour of the Murray River ~ Stage 10 & 11

2010-09-03T00:45:00.000-07:00

Friday, September 03, 2010

Elgas Tour of the Murray River:

Stage 10 Ouyen Criterium

Stage 11 Ouyen-Patchewollock-Ouyen

Stage 10 32km crit in Ouyen 80km from Mildura. The boys are getting tired of riding such fast paced crits with , tight courses and poor bike handling skills by many riders which make safety a real issue.

All Blackpelton riders finished this stage in the peloton.

Stage 11 was offering to be a stage where the team could have a crack at, the wind was brewing and temperature warming up. An out and back stage 86km long with several sprints and 7 small KOM.

20 km into the stage there was carnage. 5 riders hit the deck hard in the cross winds and many of the Blackpeloton riders were held up and had to chase hard to regain the fast moving leaders. All was well again but unfortunately Brad Tilby never returned to the front and later finished with a small group after the main Peloton. Lining up the sprint Andrew Barlow made his way to the front of the Peloton with 2km to go in search of Sean Joyce for a chance at a leadout. Barlow was just 5 or 6 riders from the front and approaching the 3rd last corner when a major squash happened forcing several riders off the road. Then only about 50m around that corner 10 riders crashed, Barlow right behind was lucky to avoid it but lost about 100m, with Joyce on Barlow's wheel they chased hard but unfortunately it was too late and the duo only made it up to about 20^th place across the line....

James Northey, Logan Mort and Matthew Wheatcroft were all held up by the crash but managed to finish the stage out of trouble.

Now just 3 stages to ride, the rain is pouring down in Mildura tonight so tomorrow 32km crit and 57km Kermese will be interesting, hopefully there will be no more crashes.

Results:

Stage 10

Winner: Thomas Palmer - Drapac Professional Cycling

52 Sean

53 Matt

63 James

83 Brad

85 Logan

87 Andrew

Stage 11

Winner: Nicholas Walker - Jayco/VIS/QAS

21 Andrew

27 Sean

50 Matt

71 James

76 Logan

108 Brad

Tour of the Murray River ~ Stage 8 & 9

2010-09-02T00:27:00.000-07:00

Thursday, September 02, 2010

Elgas Tour of the Murray River:

Stage 8 Robinvale Kermesse

Stage 9 Euston Criterium

Stage 8 the tour's first Kermese or what they call here in Australia a Kermese. Typically a Kermese is a Flemish carnival that most villages have in Belgium during the summer. These events usually host a bike race which are very famous and tremendously hard. Distances of 100-120km and laps of approx 8-12km long.

Today's “Aussie” Kermse was 20 laps of approx 2.5km, quite different to a Flemish Kermese! All Blackpeloton riders started the event, Jeremy Stephens had a pretty nasty fall midway through and had to withdraw from the race. He sustained mainly cuts and bruising but was lucky not be more seriously injured, many other riders broke bikes and bones. The crash happened in a section of cross wind leading up to the finish line where riders clipped wheels with 7 or 8 riders going down.

All the other Blackpeloton riders finished safely in the peloton.

Stage 9 a Criterium in Euston was pretty much a hammer fest which saw all but Sean Joyce actually finishing the event on the same lap of about 40 o 50 riders. All the other boys now well down on GC were happy for the commissaire to pull them and restart tomorrow with fresher legs.

Stage 8

Winner:Harrif Saleh - Malaysian National Team

28th Sean J.

60th James N.

64th Brad T.

94th Matt W.

100th Logan M.

101 Andrew B.

DNF Jeremy S.

Stage 9

Winner: Thomas Palmer - Drapac Professional Cycling

40th Sean J.

66th Brad T.

72nd Matt W.

81st Logan M.

95th Andrew B.

96th James N.

Tour of the Murray River ~ Stage 6 & 7

2010-09-01T00:42:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, September 01, 2010

Elgas Tour of the Murray River:

Stage 6 Swan Hill to Nyah West

Stage 7 Nyah to Manangatang

The first stage today 102km from Swan Hill to Nyah saw a pretty fast pace right from the outset. Jeremy Stephens and Logan Mort where both in early moves but none stuck and with the stronger teams chasing down the leaders Logan managed to pick up second in a sprint.

At about 60km after many attacks Andrew Barlow went clear with 5 other riders and stayed away for approx 30km. The break was picked up 7 or 8km from the finish as many of the riders didn't have the strength to take turns which destroyed the chances of the break staying clear to the finish.

Barlow almost faced withdrawing from the race with severe back pain but has been getting pro treatment from masseuse Catalina Ramirez which has enabled him to keep riding now with much less pain. The highlight so far in the tour was from Sean Joyce to get up in the fast finish taking 6^th place a great effort in the mass sprint. If we can deliver Sean a clearer run to the finish in future stages he will have a shot at winning for sure.

The second stage, a 57km fast run from Nyah to Managatang made it hard unless you were in the front 20 riders. This stage was like getting motor pace for 1hr and 14min; very fast with a few attacks going but nothing solid until Matthew Wheatcroft together with other 2 riders went off the front after about 50km. The 3 riders worked well but unfortunately they were swallowed by the peloton just a few km out from the finish, a great ride by Matt. The finish a round about, corner and a railway crossing 400m from the finish unsettled the bunch and again the boys were too far back to contest a good finish. They all rolled across the finish line with no problems.

Results

Stage 6: Joel Pearson - Genesys Wealth Advisers

6th Sean J.

38th James N.

62nd Jeremy S.

91st Brad T.

93rd Matt W.

99th Andrew B.

112nd Logan M.

Stage 7

Winner: Harrif Saleh - Malaysian National Team

28th James N.

36th Sean J.

54th Jeremy S.

74th Andrew B.

75th Brad T.

106th Logan M.

119th Matt W.

Tour of the Murray River ~ Stage 4 & 5

2010-09-01T00:36:00.000-07:00

August 31
Stage 4: Swan Hill 45km
Stage 5: Lake Boga 39km
A day of crits, the first in Swan Hill and the second at Lake Boga, very little to report on this day as the speed and intensity of both these events got the better of the team. Again all riders managed to stay upright and conserved energy for the next day. Most of the team are well down on GC so now the focus is on stages. Brad Tilby the best of the Blackpeloton riders is lying 1min26sec behind the leader.
Stage 4
Winner: Alex Carver - Jayco Skins
49th Brad T.
65 Sean J.
66th James N.
67th Jeremy S.
88th Andrew B.
89th Logan M.
90th Matt W.

Stage 5
Winner:Scott Law - Virgin Blue RBS Morgans
26th Sean J.
58th Brad T.
63 Matt W.
93 James N.
96th Logan M.
97th Jeremy S.
106th Andrew B.

Tour of the Murray River ~ Stage 2 & 3

2010-08-31T03:33:00.000-07:00

Monday, August 30, 2010

ELGAS Tour of the Murray River:

Stage 2 Echuca Criterium

The day started with a very short 25km crit held on an 800m course. Was a nightmare for anyone who started any further back than 40 as it was very fast right from the gun.

Many riders were being pulled out if falling behind by one lap or more. All Blackpeloton riders stayed safe going into the afternoons 100km road stage.

Stage 3 Moama Road Race

Similar to the 1^st road stage breaks were being chased down until 2 riders managed to slip away. For some reason the bunch just sat up and didn’t chase. Brad Tilby was aggressive on the stage and was bridging up to the break when he fell victim to a mechanical and had to drop back to the peloton. The chase started by team Genises hitting the front with 20km to ride but the approx 3min30 advantage that was gained wasn’t recovered and Kiwi James Williamson riding for Total Rush an Australian team stayed clean by 20 seconds to take the win.

All Blackpeloton riders arrived in the main peloton.

High speeds and flat terrain is making the race frustrating for the team who is keen to try and make something of it but as there are also no hills within 500km of this area its going to be very difficult to gain any time on the fast sprinters at this race.

Results

Stage 2

Winner: Harrif Saleh - Malaysian National Team

53rd Sean J.

62nd Brad T.

67th Matt W.

77th Jeremy S.

89th James N.

101 Andrew B.

113th Logan M.

Stage 3

Winner: James Williamson - Hyster/Total rush

32nd Jeremy S.

43rd Sean J.

63rd James N.

73rd Matt W.

76th Brad T.

78th Andrew B.

115th Logan M.

Tour of the Murray Stage 1

2010-08-29T00:24:00.000-07:00

Today Blackpeloton completed the 1st stage of the Tour of the Murray, 133 riders at the start line and 154km predominantly flat terrain completed with a fast 44kph average speed. There was a high speed crash only 10km after the start which affected Jeremy Stephens, Sean Joyce and Logan Mort. All riders are well with no injuries.

Fortunately the race was neutralized until approx all 50 riders who were affected remounted their bikes and rejoined the peloton.

A pretty much uneventful stage which really only saw one serious break of seven riders go clear, this included Matthew Wheatcroft, however the peloton continued to chase every break and the group never managed to get more than 45 seconds on the road, after approx 15km away they were reeled in.

The finish was hotly contested, many of the blackpeloton team missed the 3km & 5km to go signs and therefore were out of position at the 1km to go mark. Drapac had a successful lead out and took out the win. Without official results there is not much to report other than all blackpeloton riders finished in the main peloton conceding no time going into tomorrows double stage day with a 25.5km criterium in Echuca and then a 100km road race in the afternoon at Moama.

Results:

Winner: Stuart Shaw - Drapac Professional Cycling

19th Sean Joyce

39th Jeremy Stephens

47th Matthew Wheatcroft

67th Brad Tilby

92nd Andrew Barlow

117th Logan Mort

Record Field for Tour of the Murray (Australia)

2010-08-25T19:31:00.000-07:00

Tour of the Murray is just a few days away take a look at this link for race details. 131 riders will take the start with 14 kiwis, 7 of which are represented in the Blackpeloton team.

http://www.cycling.org.au/?page=38962&format=

Keep posted for reports over the 8 days from 29th Aug to 5th Sept.

Results Auckland 1000

2010-08-22T13:00:00.001-07:00

Brad Tilby was the best Blackpeloton riders yesterday finishing in 8th place, a great effort without team mates in the front group Brad managed to hang in there with the undulating hills and windy conditions. Brads up coming schedule over the next few months takes him to Tour of Murray, Tasmania, Brazil and Southland a promising performance going forward.

As for the remainder of the Blackpeloton team it was a day of misfortunes and misjudgement.

The leading break that went clear on the first lap contained many of the days strong riders and Louis Crosby was right there with Brad. However, disaster struck as Louis broke a spoke and had to stop for a wheel change, this forced him to drop back to the main peloton. Most of the Blackpeloton team at various stages were maintaining a steady pace in the front of the main group but with the strong wind it was very difficult to gain on the fast moving break.

Matt Sillars managed to bridge up to the break in the wind but unfortunately on the final lap lost contact and returned to the peloton.

A lesson of positional bunch riding today enforcing the point you just cant let that number of strong guys go up the road.

On the final lap 5 riders went clear of the peloton Crosby, Andrew Barlow and Sillars along with Greg Marfell and Mark Langlands. This group was working well but was never going to regain the leaders with only 20km from the finish. Barlow, Crosby and Sillars finishing 12th,13th and 14th.

Sean Joyce punctured before beginning the race, he started late and never regained the group, Logan Mort suffering from sickness since returning from Tahiti never found his legs and retired from the race after half way, Jeremy Stephens was riding strong in the main group but had a shoe cleat come loose and had to stop with one lap to go.

Joshua Aldridge in his first race with Blackpeloton had a strong race and finished in the main group along with Karl Murray, Fraser Bermingham (17th).

James Northey had a great ride coming in 18th place the first U19 rider and will join Blackpeloton this coming weekend in his first major elite tour over 8 days.

Official results:

http://www.roadcycling.co.nz/Results/auckland-1000-results-2010.html

The seasons next NPS race will be Taupo Napier on the 25th of September.

Tour of Tasmania

2010-08-19T13:47:00.000-07:00

Team for the Tour of Tasmania 16th- 21st September

Brad Tilby

Jeremy Yates

Joshua Aldridge U23

Jeremy Stephens U23

Louis Crosby U23

Steve Furminger U19

*1 more rider to be confirmed.

Manager: Tim Stephens

Masseuse: Catalina Ramirez

Tour of the Murray (Australia)

2010-08-19T13:41:00.000-07:00

Confirmed Team:

Brad Tilby

Logan Mort

Andrew Barlow

Sean Joyce U23

Jeremy Stephens U23

Matthew Wheatcroft U23

James Northey U19

The event runs from 29th August to the 5th of September.

Team departs for Melbourne 27th August and returns 6th September.

Manager: Tim Stephens

Masseuse: Catalina Ramirez

Auckland 1000 (NPS) Sunday 22nd August

2010-08-19T13:38:00.000-07:00

Blackpeloton has a strong line up for the Auckland 1000 on Sunday, starting at 11:40am

Team:

Fraser Bermingham

Sean Joyce

Matt Sillars

Brad Tilby

Jeremy Stephens

Karl Murray

Louis Crosby

Logan Mort

Andrew Barlow

Scott Mullaly 1st Auckland U23 TT champs

2010-08-10T15:21:00.000-07:00

A great ride by Scott Mullaly last weekend scored him 1st place in the Auckland U23 Individual Time Trial Champs. On a challenging course and wet conditions Scott managed 59min 44sec over the 40km to record the second fastest time of the day to Commonwealth Games rider Gordon McCauley, Scott will be in action again next week in the Auckland 1000 where Blackpeloton is keen to stamp its authority on the NPS scene as the season moves closer to spring. Fraser Bermingham was also on the podium in 2nd place to make it 1-2 for the team.

Following the Auckland 1000 the team moves to Australia where they will compete in the Tour of the Murray an 8 day tour, part of the Australian National Racing Series with over 900km of riding over 13 stages. The team is as follows:

Sean Joyce U23

Logan Mort U23

Scott Mullaly U23

Jeremy Stephens U23

Matthew Wheatcroft U23

Andrew Barlow

Brad Tilby

Manager: Tim Stephens

Masseuse: Catalina Ramiriz

The Tour has come to an end!

2010-08-06T01:57:00.000-07:00

5th August

Papeete, Twilight circuit race 59.4km

Winner: Dan Waluszewski (Bike NZ)

Today’s stage was very fast and BikeNZ’s team was determined to win. They dominated the race and where at the front at all times making it very hard to break clear. Several riders tried to break away but it was simply not possible. Leading into the last laps Barlow, Joyce and Crosby all fought for the front and had a good crack at the win, but did not manage to get the victory.

Dan Waluszewski held out a long sprint finish ahead of Cabrera from Chile taking the stage win. Barlow was 4^th, Joyce 6th, Crosby 8^th and Blackpeloton took the 1^st place as a team in the stage.

After 12 days of racing the Team was 2^nd on the team’s GC. Crosby finished 3^rd in the U23 classification, Joyce lost the green jersey’s lead by one point in the last stage but was never the less 2^nd and Mort was the overall winner of the Mountain’s jersey. Crosby was also 7^th overall and McMurray 6^th in the Master’s jersey competition.

Overall, it was a very successful tour for the team and a very good building block for the upcoming Tour of the Murray in Australia later on this month.

The riders had a really good race, have enjoyed the Tahitian hospitality and gorgeous scenery, but they are ready to give their legs a break after such a strenuous Tour.

The team is relaxing in Papetee at present and they are due to return to NZ this Sunday.

For pictures and more info go to http://www.ftc.pf/

One more stage to go!

2010-08-05T00:03:00.000-07:00

4th August

Taiarapu, Western Side of Tahiti Island 3x34km (plus finish top of Tavaro Volcano 8km to summit) 122 Km

Winner: Mark Langlands (Bike NZ)

The last true road stage today saw kiwi Mark Langlands take line honours from Taruia Krianer and Gonzalo Garrido.

The stage had many attacks going up the road but most were deemed futile with anything likely being shut down pretty quickly. At the 60km mark Louis Crosby and Jim McMurray were successful in making a very promising break which included tour leader Pedro Palma, Gonzalo Garrido and a French rider. However, a puncture by Gonzalo left the break in disarray with the Tahitian national squad in full pursuit and Bikenz gathering momentum. The break never got to far up the road before being swallowed up prior to the Tavaro climb.

The break split on the climb and Crosby, Garrido, and Palma pushed ahead as the peloton closed in. Krainer and Mark Langlands were heading the chase splitting and spreading the peloton over many kilometres. Mark Langlands was the strongest today heading off Krainer and Gonzalo, Crosby had a great ride to come in 8^th place 30sec back with Andrew Barlow another 2 min later in 20^th then Jim McMurray, Sean Joyce and Logan Mort following about 5 minutes behind the winner.

Some tired legs today with the racing taking its toll after 11 days of heat, sun and 4 Mtn top finishes in a row. The exposed western side of the Tahiti Island, which seems to get much more rain than the east, saw the riders dealing with very slippery conditions specially today with torrential rain for the entire 122km.

Mort was unfortunate to puncture today along with Sean Joyce; but both riders managed to regain the peloton with the help from team mates. No view at the top of the Tavaro Volcano today as we were covered in rain cloud but from an altitude of 700m all the riders knew they had ridden to the max and will be very happy after tomorrows final criterium is over. The Crit starts at 7pm, will be live on Tahitian TV, 50km in distance and is situated downtown in Papeete at the waters edge.

Logan Mort comes in 2nd!

2010-08-04T02:33:00.000-07:00

3rd August

Moorea (Finish Summit Belvedere View Point) 72 km

Winner: Gonzalo Garrido

The day started with an extra early breakfast 4am and a ride to the ferry terminal way too early for a departure at 6am. The stage started at 8am with minimal preparation, pretty much straight off the boat and on the bike. Rain was bucketing from the sky at the start line and what was waiting for the team was a muddy day ahead with a 2km gravel section at the end of the stage plus a further 2km climb to the summit.

A series of attacks were coming out of the peloton as soon as the flag dropped, Sean Joyce, Logan Mort and Louis Crosby were determined not to miss out on the action today. A great on road sprint win to Joyce further extended his lead for the green sprint jersey competition.

Shortly after the first sprint Logan Mort was successful in getting into the winning break of 5 riders including former tour leader and current 3^rd place on GC Gonzalo Garrido. A lead of 2min heading onto the gravel and into the first climb saw the leaders group split with Mort winning the gravel mountain points ahead of Chilean Gonzalo, with these points now Mort is unbeatable in the mountain classification and just needs to finish the tour to win the competition.

Gonzalo attacked in the final km to win the stage followed by Mort 33seconds behind, with the rest of the break in pieces. Louis Crosby got up for 4^th in the stage 1min 12 sec in behind. Joyce and Jim McMurray finishing just over 2min behind the stage winner. Andrew Barlow was again dealt to with bad luck puncturing a rear wheel prior to the gravel part of the stage and with no moto following the riders, Barlow had to wait for the team van to change the wheel and lost a lot of time. With no hope in rejoining the leaders in the final kms Barlow already down on time finished the stage without expending too much energy 6min in deficit.

Blackpeloton moved back into 2^nd place on teams GC behind Chile.

Individual results:

7^th Louis Crosby @ 5min 5 sec (3^rd U23)

12^th Logan Mort @ 9min 42 sec (5^th U23)

14^th Sean Joyce @ 11min 22sec (6^th U23)

27^th Andrew Barlow @ 17min 09sec

30^th Jim McMurray @ 20min 35sec (6^th Master @ 7min 51sec)

Sprint Classification leader Sean Joyce

Mountains Classification leader Logan Mort

A hard day in the office

2010-08-03T03:24:00.000-07:00

2nd August

West Coast Tahiti Island (Finish Summit Erima)

Winner: Taruia Krainer (Tahiti)

Today's stage started with some on and off rain that lasted for the first half of the stage. This meant slippery roads and complex conditions which made riding very difficult. A break went clear after about 20km with Cabrera and Palma from Chile, Krainer (yesterday's stage second place), local favourite Laurent Minari and a few others. Blackpeloton missed the break along with Garrido who wasn’t interested in chasing. With too many strong riders up the road and the guys all feeling tired from the last 3 days, it was pointless wasting energy. As a result we lost the U23 jersey but still retain the green and mountains jerseys.

Crosby, the best of the team, came in 12^th place in the stage but all riders lost time today. There are a lot things happening here most of us are well but the accumulation of days is wearing on the team.

Official results:

Overall Individual

7^th Louis Crosby

15^th Logan Mort

16^th Sean Joyce

23^rd Andrew Barlow

31^st Jim McMurray

Overall Team 3rd

The team is not letting go of the jerseys!

2010-08-01T23:54:00.000-07:00

1st August

Faaa, West Coast Tahiti Island (Summit Maribaude- Pamatai) 114km

Winner: Gonzalo Garrido

Basically the same route today as yesterday with the stage starting at Faaa's City Hall; the same region where Tahiti’s International Airport is situated. The main difference was that the stage finished with a 4km climb to the summit of Maribaude-Pamatai.

A very warm day meant it was going to be a challenge.

Again from the gun Blackpeloton along team Chile controlled the race from the front trying to set up Sean for the early sprints. Sean did manage to get a few minor points but riders out of point contention got the major sprints.

Things turned pear shaped at about the 40km mark with Logan Mort puncturing. Logan had to get a change from the team van as the team moto had a mechanical and a puncture. Andrew Barlow went back to find Logan and had to wait beyond the race convoy to find him. Andrew, with Logan on his wheel, managed to towed him back to the front weaving through public cars; it was absolute chaos! Back on the peloton Barlow delivered some water bottles to the team and then..... punctured! Disaster unfolded as the team motorbike with wheels was nowhere to be seen. Unknown to Barlow the team moto had a mechanical problem plus a puncture! Having to wait for the team's van for a wheel, Barlow thought he would never make it back to the peloton with the closest van from the convoy being over a kilometer away from him. It took him about 15km to return to the peloton, averaging 55kmp on his pursuit.

Then Logan Mort had another mechanical, Barlow went back to help Mort in case of further disaster but this time the return was much easier and no major stress was endured. Sean Joyce, Jim McMurray and Louis Crosby were continuing to fire strings of attacks at very high speeds having the peloton stretched in one thin line.

The final climb closing in and all breaks having been reeled in left the way clear for the strong climbers of the race to lead the way with Louis Crosby riding in the front group of select riders. Louis glued to Pedro Palma and Gonzalo Garrido of Chile, flew to the summit. Gonzalo pushed forward in the final 1km to get 1st place, Taruia Krainer of Tahiti, an U23 France based climber 2^nd and Gael Bonnace of New Caledonia 3^rd.

The boys all finished in good shape today. Crosby was 6^th in today's stage and is still holding on to the U23 jersey. Logan finished in approx 16^th place (retaining the Mt jersey) 1min behind Gonzalo, with Barlow about 2min further back and Joyce (retaining the sprint jersey) and Jim McMurray close behind. Official results on web site.

The team did great in today's stage managing to keep the white, polka-dot and green jerseys.

Let see what tomorrow brings!

The sun keeps shinning over Blackpeloton!

2010-07-31T23:55:00.000-07:00

31st July

Punaauia, West Coast of Tahiti Island 116km

Winner: Matthew Augustis (Australia)

This relatively flat stage that was supposed to be an easy day in the office, but it was not the case at all after a break went up the road with 9 riders and almost gained 2 minutes.

Although Blackpeloton had Logan Mort in the break we decided with team

Chile

to work together to reel them in. It took a hard chase but we managed to pull back the time after 40km of hard lapping. Once the break was caught there was series of attacks mainly by Tahitians and some Australians. Jim McMurray was in some last minute breaks off the front of the peloton but was unable to stay away with the closing of the peloton in the final kilometres.

Andrew Barlow managed to give Sean Joyce an early lead out to the bunch sprint finish that saw him cross the line in 3rd place. An Australian won the race and Antonio Carrera just managed to over take Sean on the line for 2^nd. Louis Crosby still holds the U23 jersey, Sean Joyce the Sprint Ace and Logan Mort King of the mountains.

Blackpeloton holds on to the jerseys

2010-07-31T03:57:00.000-07:00

30th July

Pirae East Coast Tahiti 120 km

Winner: Sebastien Le Divenach (New Caledonia)

It was a busy night last night for Team Blackpeloton. Louis Crosby had to be taken to hospital after falling down stairs in the dark after dinner with a suspected sprained ankle and Dave Kuypers (Manager) was very sick; vomiting, diarrhoea and major stomach cramps.

This morning riders and team management are all in working order, Louis a little sore but not serious and Dave on the mend. Several other teams have been experiencing worse symptoms than us, so touch wood we stay well and safe untill the finish.

Today’s stage was 120km from the City Hall of Pirae, just out of Papeete, around the east coast of the island, out 60km and then returning over the same road back to finish in the velodrome of Pirae.

There where 6 climbs for the day and the first came just after 5km. Setting Logan Mort up for the mountain points, Andrew Barlow pushed the pace ¾ way up the hill to put him in good position. When the attacks went Logan jumped and managed to cross the line in 2^nd place then further up the road he secured 1^st in the following sprint which extended Logan’s lead in the mountains jersey ahead of tour leader Gonzalo from Chile.

Barlow was also the driving force behind the day's first green sprint points, leading at the head of the field at 50kph then pulled off for Sean Joyce, leader in the green jersey, to jump onto an Australian “late” lead out train and at 50m out cruised across the line to take full points.

Pretty much all the way out to the 40km mark there were many attempts to break clear and then finally a group of about 15 riders went off the front. At the 55km mark the group had 2min ahead of the peloton, so team Chile and Blackpeloton hit the front. Carrera, Garrido (tour leader), Palma, Barlow, Crosby and later in the stage Mort and Jim McMurray went for abour 50km at 45-55kph to reduce the gap dramatically. Logan Mort sacrificed his legs driving the final 3 km up the Tahara climb just 5km from home.

The peloton split into a few groups with 3 riders from the original break holding out for the win onto the velodrome. The chasing peloton left Joyce (8th), Crosby (9^th) and Barlow in the lead group (28sec) and with Mort at 18sec after an epic drive prior to the last climb. McMurray also active on the front in the final 20km was 50 seconds further back. GC placings are unchanged with Green on the the back of Joyce, Mountains with Mort and U23 lead with Crosby.

Some cracks are showing in the Chilean team today after a lot of work on the front. The Blackpeloton boys are in great shape and looking forward to tomorrow's 116km, predominantly flat stage on the West Coast of the island (stage was won by Barlow in 2008).

The two following days ahead have very difficult Mountain top finishes where the race will blow apart for sure. August 1 stage finishes at the summit of Maribaude-Pamatai; with an average of 3km over 15% . And in August 2 there are 2.2km with a 15% average gradient and a mountain top finish at the summit of Erima.

The heat is really building today. At the finish we had temperatures over 30 degrees and more warm temps for the coming days.

A well deserved rest!

2010-07-30T02:58:00.000-07:00

29^th July

Rest Day

Many riders are experiencing diarrhoea, vomiting and stomach problems, so far Blackpeloton has had a few minor issues but overall we are in good shape and taking all necessary precautions, Bikenz tonight had their masters leader Chris Tennant Brown and manager Steve Elden taken to the local medical centre for a check up due to sickness which has fallen down the team.

We are working hard to keep our good health till the end of the tour, fingers crossed we will make it to the end of next week without major issues.

Green, White and Polka-dot jerseys to Blackpeloton!

2010-07-30T02:48:00.000-07:00

28^th July

Huahine 116km

Winner: Antonio Carrera

The day started with a 5am breakfast and 1hr boat trip from Raiatea to Huahine.

We began the race leading the Sprint jersey and having riders well positioned on overall classification meaning the team really only had to conserve energy and ride smart.

Logan Mort was keen to stretch the legs after gaining points for the mountains classification in Raiatea and potentially getting enough points to go into the lead; And that is pretty much what he did. Getting in an early break, Logan was perfectly positioned as the 2nd highest rider on GC and was a part of a break that lasted 100km in the lead. Logan took most of the climbs in front and now leads the mountains jersey by 12 points from Gonzalo Garrido and sits in 5^th position overall.

Meanwhile back in the peloton it was a reasonably easy day, the speed very calm and no team was willing to make the pace as Chile had key riders out in the break and were not interested in taking them back. Discussions between the Blackpeloton team while the break was clear was to keep tempo steady and to launch something on the final climb. The final climb more than 15% approx 1km long was like a wall and it broke the peloton in to a few small groups. Louis Crosby focused on the tour leader Garrido and the U23 leader Pedro Palma both from Chile and Sean Joyce content to just get over the climb and minimise loss and to retain the green jersey. After the climb the finish was a fast flat ride in to complete 106km.

Blackpeloton had some good news waiting on the podium. Due to the finishing order Louis Crosby now leads the U23 and has moved into 3^rd overall. Complaining of some sickness prior to the stage after a very rocky boat ride from Raiatea to Huahine Louis rode himself into the race and finished in magic form.

At the awards presentation Huahine dancers put on their flax costumes and performed some traditional dance plus a spread of local tropical fruits and coconut juice which we drank from freshly cut coco’s.

The team was 3^rd on team classification today with 3 riders in the top. Andrew Barlow is 16th and Jim McMurray 32^nd.

Sean, Louis and Logan are leading the Green, U23 and Mountains classifications respectively. Overall teams classification is also looking good and Jim 6^th on the masters competition. Clearly a great day for Blackpeloton an 8 hours boat trip tonight back to Papeete the main island of Tahiti where riders and support crew will enjoy a rest day and prepare for a undulating 120km road stage which finishes on the velodrome in Papeete.

Raiatea 17km Individual TT

2010-07-30T02:20:00.000-07:00

27^th July (Stage B)

Raiatea 17km

Individual TT

Winner: Garrido Gonzalo (Chile)

Riding the course prior to the TT was a sign it was going to be very fast with a 800m climb and a few ups and downs, we will be in for a tuff ride! All the boys where keen to do a good time so we all set to preparing ourselves for a hard session.

The results were a little confusing for the boys and on returning to the school accommodation, analysing data from SRM’s, starting positions and official times found that two riders were given false times. Bikenz rider Matthew Wheatcroft and Pedro Palma’s starting positions had been changed due to Crosby starting directly behind Joyce in the TT start order. This not allowed in the rules so officials put Pedro Palmer and Mathew Wheatcroft in between to avoid any potential team collusion but officials confused Pedro and Mathews times later they were swapped. This mistake prevented Louis Crosby from being awarded the U23 leaders jersey with the fastest time for all U23 riders. Jim McMurray was fastest master and Andrew Barlow 6^th overall 47 seconds down on the winner Gonzalo.

Results:

6^th Andrew Barlow 21min 21sec

7^th(1^st U23) Louis Crosby 21min 30sec

14^th Logan Mort 22min 16sec

17^th(1^st master) Jim McMurray 22min 34sec

23^rd Sean Joyce 22min 47sec

Sean still in green!

2010-07-28T01:14:00.000-07:00

27^th July (Stage A)

Raiatea 76km

Winner: Alexandre Le Bras (France)

Another 5 am breakfast with everybody wondering what the stage would bring but everyone confident of a good result.

The stage had 2 climbs in the first 3km and 16km later a 2km long one. All five of the team made it to the finish in the lead group of about 50 riders. There were some concerted efforts by the Chileans as the Blackpeloton riders were definitely very strong counter attacking every dangerous move.

There was a break of three riders that escaped mid way through the stage but all riders were well down on GC and the peloton had no real interest in pulling them back. They were almost caught in the closing 3-4km when the peloton was riding at speeds over 60kph going into the finish and where Sean Joyce showed his sprinting skills. With the help of Crosby, Joyce managed 2^nd place of the peloton sprint to record 5^th place and gain more points towards the green jersey.

A soft morning for sure with definite proof the Chileans and Blackpeloton are the strongest teams in the pack. There are several other riders in various teams with some power but most are lacking the support from fellow team mates.

Sean wins stage II in the Tour of Tahiti!

2010-07-27T01:25:00.000-07:00

26^th July Tahaa

106km

Winner: Sean Joyce

4:30am breakfast, as you can imagine we all had no more than 4-5hrs sleep at max, Sean Joyce (the teams hibernating bear) slept the most with an epic total of 6hrs of the 6hrs that we had available!! Andrew Barlow having some stomach issues wasn't eating and had diarrhea and the rest of the crew being very careful with what food they ate.

Just to give you an idea, Tahaa is not a touristic island and it is very traditional. Sealed roads are only a recent improvement to this small island, so very little is available in the way of services. Vanilla plantations is the island's main source of income and jobs along with coconut harvesting for oil and some fishing.The people were very welcoming, however the food was not the best and most of the riders were having issues with their backs after sleeping on concrete floors.

The team started the day with Sean Joyce in the Green Jersey and Jim McMurray in the masters Jersey. Four climbs for the day, two loops of the main part of the island and then a small lap of an extension to the main island with a steep climb was what we had ahead of us.

The gas was on up the first climb with Sean Joyce right up there taking 3^rd in the KOM points. Most of the boys where near the front, many riders were gone on this climb to never regain, the climb was about 1.5- 2km long approx. Some quick chatting in the bunch between the boys would conclude that we should stick to the Chileans and that’s what Sean and Louis did up the climb which was very steep no more than 600m long but with a little rain was damp and slippery.

Louis and Garrido, the tour leader, rode off to the front and then Sean and several others joined them, it was a group of 9 riders that held a gap of about 45-50 seconds which extended to 3 minutes by the end of the stage. Louis lead out with 1.5km to go and had Gonzalez on his wheel, but glued to the tour leader, Garrido, was Joyce, when Gonzalez went, it was all on. Joyce cruised past to easily win the sprint finish. An awesome result to further extend his lead in the green sprinters jersey. The main peloton had Barlow and Mort content to sit in and conserve energy with no need to expend any with two riders in the break, unfortunately Jim McMurray lost contact on the final climb and finished a couple of minutes back but still well within grasp of the leading master.

Finishing the stage Louis Crosby and Sean Joyce are 4^th and 5^th respectively on GC, Barlow dropping to 11^{th .}And the team bumped up to 1st place!

A farewell ceremony was given to the riders and support crew with some more Polynesian dancing with amazing flax, grass and flowers used to decorate their outfits. Unfortunately this was all taking place after the race in a usual long wait for results in the hot sun and we were all tired wanting to get cleaned up and ready to board the boat which would take us to Raiatea.

Finally we boarded a vessel for an 1hr long trip to Raiatea. On arrival another Polynesian dancing group greeted us, this time the dancers chose people from our group to join in the dance, very welcoming. Arriving to the accommodation about 9pm was great, an island school with real beds, toilets that worked and a great dinner Andrew's stomach was feeling a lot better as was the team back to having a normal meal.

Tour of Tahiti - Stage I - White Jersey for Sean and Blue for Jim!

2010-07-25T17:26:00.000-07:00

July 25^th

Bora Bora- Island (3 laps)

96km

Winner: Gonzalo Garrido (Chile)

Rain feel this morning a few minutes prior to the start of today's 96km stage, the road was as greasy as a pork chop when we set off . The wind was very strong meaning it was gutter action right from the word go. Several times the peloton was stretched in a single file of 75 riders long, there were cracks appearing everywhere. The circuit was predominantly flat along the water's edge around the island. Blackpeloton riders were instructed to ride good position and they did for most of the day, however they did miss the day's vital break that contained 2 Chileans and Louis Crosby. This occurred on the exposed very windy side of the island and unfortunately Louis was forced off the road ironically as he wears the number 13 of the race! During pre-race planning it was decided the team would go back in support of any mishap, so Andrew Barlow went back and safely reinstated Louis in the peloton.

The Chileans went on to take the stage finishing 28 seconds ahead. Crosby and Barlow rode at the front from the 3km mark initiating the lead out and approximately 2.5km from the finish, Sean Joyce was on Barlow's wheel holding more than 50kph made it a one horse race and with 350metres to go Sean pulled out and won the sprint easily by 5 or 6 bike lengths. All the boys rode safe today and finished in the main peloton of about 40 or 50 riders. Team legs are good just waiting until we get to some hills so we can test them.

Jim McMurray retained the masters leader jersey and other GC placings remained pretty much the same.

A crash leading into the finish 5km from home saw a few kiwis caught up in the carnage but all remounted their bikes and crept in a few minutes back.

Highlight of the day was Sean Joyce being announced as the U23 leader, Sean unaware returned to the accommodation and Dave Kuypers launched himself on the podium being the only Blackpeloton team member present, photo to come…

Sean in fact was falsely announced as the U23 leader as there was a Chilean U23 rider in the break who got it by a few seconds.

After the race we said goodbye to Bora Bora and set sail for Tahaa 2hrs by boat.

On Arrival we were greeted by local custom and tradition Polynesian dancing and custom flower necklace along with welcome words from the Mayor. The dance ceremony lasted for about 3hrs finishing with a coconut opening competition first a round with the girls then one with the men, it was the first team of 4 to axe open each coconut in bare feet then the others hooking out the coconut flesh and the other putting into a sack (pretty entertaining). However, everyone was very hungry and tired. The team was finally bused to the local gym where all 200 people were given a mattress and a pillow each and a pretty suspicious dinner.

Great result for Team Blackpeloton on the Tour of Tahiti's prologue

2010-07-24T17:55:00.000-07:00

July 24^th

Bora Bora 6km - Prologue

Winner: Antonio Carrera (Chile)

After a few days of temperature acclimatisation Blackpeloton was keen to break the nerves and get out on the bike. The conditions on arrival were very windy (apparently normal) and after riding the island we all knew the conditions would be testing. Prior to riding the prologue the team set out early after a 5am breakfast and tested the course. As expected gusty conditions were present, it was going to be very hard going, 8:30am start and 27 degrees…

The team had an awesome ride today with Jim McMurray taking the masters leaders jersey, his time also sharp enough to register him with the 15^th fastest time. A great effort which has really boosted the teams confidence.

Andrew Barlow also had a good ride placing 3^rd overall and laying just 1.35 seconds off the stage winner and now tour leader Antonio Carrera from Chile.

Blackpeloton's U23 riders performed very well under the conditions with Louis Crosby taking 3^rd, Sean Joyce 4^th, Logan Mort 7^th place in their category. NZ took a clean sweep of the Podium in the U23 with Lee Evans and Mathew Wheatcroft taking 1^st and 2^nd respectively.

The afternoon was spent swimming and snorkelling amongst fish, coral and bright blue water close to the beachcomber resort. Dinner was spent on the beach, again in the prayer and presence of the president of Bora Bora with local dignitaries.

A press reporter is covering the Tour here who has come directly from the Tour de France as there seems to be growing interest in the event around the world. Teams are here from Chile, France, New Caledonia, NZ, Australia and Tahiti.

1^st Antonio Carrera (Chile) 8.42.84

2^nd Gonzalo Garrido (Chile) 8.43.64

3^rd Andrew Barlow 8.44.23

10^th Louis Crosby 8.57.50

14^th Sean Joyce 9.03.20

15^th Jim McMurray 9.04.53

22^nd Logan Mort 9.13.46

See Tahiti web link for full official results.

Welcome to Tahiti!

2010-07-20T15:49:00.000-07:00

July 23^rd

Arrival- Bora Bora

Arrival in Bora Bora was on the 23^rd of July after a 10hour long boat trip over night from Papeete. Most of the crew had a restless night sleeping either on the floor or on seats. Air conditioning was at full blast so we felt like we were back in NZ with a chilly night in sleeping bags. As the ship cruised into the harbour at Bora Bora reality kicked in, an absolute paradise. Many small islands flanked by a narrow coral reef, a surfers paradise with huge blue waves breaking over the small atoll. In the middle a small island with towering limestone peaks and white sand beaches lined with coconut and palm trees. Water with bright turquoise, shades of blues reflecting the blue sky and tropical cumulus clouds on the edge of the horizon. Through the lenses the picture was like many postcards we have only managed to see from friends who have holidayed here.

Yes to you kiwis back home… we are very fortunate to be here, having trained in the cold winter months back home we all think it’s a well deserved treat.

Delivered to the accommodation 3min from the wharf, arriving to a Community Hall one big room with mattresses and pillows, right on the water front with basic facilities. Our home for 2 nights.

Bikes together and 1 lap of the breath taking island all the way 32km. Roads are fast, some sections have suspect road surfaces but on the whole its pretty good, every bay we passed there were small burees, lightly clad sun worshipers, kite surfers and snorkelers. Right at about this time we are thinking why would we want to return to NZ for at least 3 more months?!!

In the evening a team presentation was made in the presence of the Mayor and president of Bora Bora and a traditional Polynesian dance performance. Then lights out 10pm.

Tour do Brasil/Volta do Estado de São Paulo 2010 14-24 October

2010-07-18T00:23:00.000-07:00

Team:

Fraser Bermingham U23

Andrew Barlow

Louis Crosby U23

Sean Joyce U23

Logan Mort U23

Scott Mullally U23

Matt Sillars

Brad Tilby

Manager: Carlos (Zeca) Barbosa

Mechanic: Flavio (Margro)

Masseuse: Catalina Ramirez

Team departure: 5 Oct

Preliminary Brief:

This years event will take the peloton into the eastern coffee growing states of Paraná and São Paulo to be raced over 11 days. Made up of a prologue time trial in the city of San Paulo, several stages over 200km, an individual time trial and to be fought out in temperatures in excess of 30 degrees C daily!

Keep posted in the coming weeks for the new team uniform supplied by Tineli and confirmation of Brasil based sponsors.

Web site:

http://www.yescom.com.br/yescom/

CX Trentham Memorial Park

2010-07-04T01:52:00.000-07:00

Last night while cleaning the bike chain I noticed a broken jockey wheel on the rear derailleur so some quick maintenance to replace it was undertaken and a check of gears. All seemed in tune; some pasta, a few stories with host and old mate Steve Rustbach, then off to bed.

We'll, what a re-intro to cyclocross racing after 18months out of the sport back here in NZ! Grass roots stuff with heaps of Wellington cross enthusiasts!! An awesome sunny day, first time with shorts on and no leg warmers since being back in NZ, so the white pins were even a glare to my eyes.

10min before the start had a bit of a catastrophe, I was tightening up the ratchet shoe fastener on my s-works MTB shoe and snap... broke the wire, launching into the tool box for the 2 spares that I keep on hand and they were not there! Man!... so had to do some quick scout knots and strap my shoe to my foot, all ready just in time for the start.

Wasn't sure what was going to happen at the gun really, about 15 or so cyclocross bikes and 20 or so MTB's, a couple of NZ's top mountain bikers in fact but wasn't going to let that get my spirits down.... well, not until we hit the first corner, a slight rise which made me slip off on a greasy mound... bugger! and that was how it started I was at the back.. pretty much from the word go, trying to play catch up the whole way.

60min +1 lap the course had a slalom section just after the start, up and down a flood bank, a lot of field riding, a little bit of technical bush, 2 x creek crossings and then quite a few planks to jump.

I new right from the first 1km that at that fast pace I was going to struggle with my tyre tread, I had 40psi in the tires but should have been 30psi, but never mind. They say in cyclocross the difference in tread selection is critical and today it was, for me not having mud tyres was costing me 30-40 seconds a lap. I just couldn't get traction on the corners and slipped off 3 or 4 times.

The mountain bikers dominated the day, riding hard into all corners and jumping rather than dismounting they were just cruising away effortlessly, frustrating when you NOT on the limit and just trying to control the slippery pole under you!!

Anyway, things went from bad to worse after making ground on the flat sections and holding about 5th place at about 1-2 min from the leader for about 30min of the race, then I started having back issues...yep, too old you might say, what am I doing trying to keep up with the young boys? Well, it got to the point, with about 15min to go, where I really had to ease up to control the pain. I finished top ten but wasn't a happy camper, my back was in the box and couldn't really work out why.

Gabriela happened to point out to me while the bike was on the roof rack... "is your seat supposed to be like that?", As I glanced up at the bike covered in mud I could see the seat was about 2 inches lower than normal and tilted up, like you know what!

I was feeling my seat doing strange things in the race but I thought it was just how I was remounting the bike and never cottoned on to it slipping down, so probably assisted my back issue.

Never the less, tyre selection for the day was the winner as the mountain bikers showed, would be interesting everyone had to ride 32mm max cross tyres..!

Anyway a great turnout and something to work on for the future.

A Hawke's Bay series definitely in the pipeline for the future, several riders have cross bikes in the bay, Hamilton and in Auckland now so its just a matter of some organisation and networking and we will really build this sport up.

Next race of the series is 18th July California Park, Upper Hutt.

*Recommend some grippy, nobbly tyres and low pressure, see ya there!

Tour of the Murray, Australia (29th Aug-5 Sept)

2010-07-01T14:44:00.001-07:00

Team:

Brad Tilby

Andrew Barlow

Logan Mort

Jeremy Stephens

Sean Joyce

Scott Mullally

Manager: Tim Stephens

Masseuse: Catalina Ramirez

link to event:

http://www.cycling.org.au/?Page=17500

The Bike Hutt Cyclocross Series

2010-07-01T14:34:00.000-07:00

I am heading down to Wellington this weekend to compete in the first race of the Bike Hutt cyclocross series. Held on Sunday 4th July Trentham Memorial Park, Upper Hutt at 10am.

Having used cyclocross as cross training while enduring the winter months in Belgium many years ago and racing in the US in 2008 it will be great to finally join a competition on NZ soil.

See links below to the event and hopefully I can get Gabriela to catch some pics of all the action.

http://www.huttvalleynz.com/Events/Bike-Hutt-cyclocross-series/

http://thebikehutt.blogspot.com/

http://bikenz.org.nz/Article.aspx?ID=5429&Mode=1

Results posted here next week.

2up Time Trial Auckland Saturday 26th June

2010-06-25T01:04:00.000-07:00

Blackpeloton Placemakers riders are in action this weekend in the Counties Manukau 2up time trial over 40km.

Scott Mulllally/Matt Sillars
Brad Tilby/ Fraser Bermingham
Logan Mort/ Gavin McAuley (Cycle city)
Karl Murray/ Nick Lovegrove (Subway)
Louis Crosby/ Mike Henton (?)

Link to teams & start times:
http://indiana.hosts.net.nz/cmcycling.co.nz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=155&Itemid=22

Tahiti, le Tour de l’Amitié 2010

2010-06-24T12:40:00.000-07:00

In addition to following the Blackpeloton Team on our blog check out the following web sites for the latest news leading up to and during the event. The 1st stage of the 11 day tour starts in Bora Bora 23 July.

http://topvelo.over-blog.com/

http://www.ftc.pf/

Brad Tilby Nduro Rotorua

2010-06-16T02:44:00.000-07:00

Following on from the Tour of Taranaki I took the opportunity with a hole in the racing calendar to get back on the mountainbike and test the legs. With only one other ride under my belt this year it was going to be a steep learning curve in to changing over bikes and getting some handling skills back.
The Nduro is a mountainbike series raced out of Rotorua that takes in the Redwood forest. It is a loop race that covers the best single track the forest has to offer. With being in June the weather was always going to play a factor in turning this race in to a real epic of a ride.

From the start my legs and lungs were really suffering from what has been renamed 'The taranaki flu'. I decided to drop back from the race leaders after 5km and set a tempo that I could hold for the whole race. It seemed this tactic worked and although I had no top end speed, I managed to slowly to claw people back as cramp and fatigue set in to those that had gone too hard. In the end I finished 5th overall. The bike only just working with all the mud through the gears and my white Placemakers kit looking a cetain dark shade of brown. It was definitely good to get back out there and have a blast, lets hope next month I can push for a top 3 finish

Louis Crosby Blackpelotons Latest Addition.

2010-06-08T00:36:00.000-07:00

Blackpeloton would like to officially welcome Louis Crosby to the team for the remainder of 2010. Coming off a strong 7th placing in this past weekends Tour of Taranaki and a 3rd place at the U23 NZ club nationals Louis is a welcomed talent to the team going into a busy season of racing starting with the Tour of Tahiti Jul 23-Aug 5.

Louis has a combination of climbing and time trial skills that will see him perform well along side team mate Sean Joyce who has some similar attributes. Riding strong with the team over the weekend only enforced our decision to include Louis and we wish him all the best in the months ahead.

Formerly with in the Subway in 2009 Louis now has the opportunity to become one of the stronger riders in the Blackpeloton team and build on experience with more overseas racing.

Taranaki Day 3 Results

2010-06-07T12:03:00.000-07:00

Today's 83km final stage was cut by about 10km as the strong winds were a concern to race organisers. A welcomed decision by many riders already showing signs of wear after the testing weather from Sunday.

Blackpeloton/ Placemakers had a respectable finish to the stage with the majority of the riders coming home in one main group. Sean Joyce 3rd and Louis Crosby 4th on the stage. Overall after 5 stages Louis gained 7th place and Sean 10th overall on GC, both riders could have made the top 5 if they weren't penalised 30seconds by the race commissar on the first stage for crossing the white line.

Matt, Brad, Logan and Fraser all finished the tour, a broken chain 5km from the finish prevented Andrew Barlow from finishing the tours final stage.

Tour of Taranaki 2010

2010-06-07T02:19:00.000-07:00

Matt Sillars Victory on stage 3!!!

2010-06-05T22:52:00.000-07:00

Day 2 Taranaki

As promised the weather turned dirty overnight and this morning in Stratford we started off with a major rain storm, to cut a long story short it bucketed down all day and as I am writing here its still coming down...however the temperature has been rather pleasant between 12 and 15 degrees so can't complain really, last year at the same time there was snow and 5 degrees!

Stage 3
A 71km stage with 3 hill climbs this morning made for some interesting racing, attacks were prevalent for the first 20km with an eventual break of about 8 or 9 riders going clear, Blackpeloton/ Placemakers was fortunate to have Logan Mort and Matt Sillars driving the pace at the front of the race. The boys put in a great performance with the peloton pushing hard in the last 20km to regain the leaders but to no avail, the final gap at the finish just over a minute and victory in the sprint to Matt Sillars n awesome result after yesterday being a part of the early break away in the first stage and getting caught with 25km to go. ( I was unaware Matt was in the break on Saturday until after I posted the article so his name was omitted yesterday).
All the rest of the team managed to avoid incident and came in with the first and second groups.

Stage 4
A 50km stage again out of Stratford over some lumpy terrain, a couple of hill climbs, 8 rail road crossings and brutal cross winds. There were a few short lived breaks going up the road with the strong men Joe Cooper and Gordon Macaulay setting the pace in the gutter preventing many riders from gaining shelter. Their plan worked with major fatigue forcing many riders to drop off the pace. The victory again was to Gordan Macaulay with the peloton spread over 3 or 4km coming into the finish. Blackpeloton/ Placemakers Louis Crosby was the best of the team finishing in 6th place a great effort in the conditions which should earn him a spot in the top 10 on GCgoing into tomorrows final stage.

Mondays final stage is an 83km ride setting off from Lepperton heading over the Tarata Saddle and returning back to Lepperton. Probably the most difficult of the stages with many of the strong men I'm sure waiting out their opportunities to gain some valuable time.

See official results at: http://www.cyclingnewplymouth.co.nz/Events/Club+Special+Events/835.aspx
and pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/blackpeloton/TourOfTaranaki2010#

Tour of Taranaki 2010 Day 1

2010-06-04T23:29:00.001-07:00

Day 1

A sunny start to the morning in Normanby Taranaki for the first stage prologue 7km ITT. An out and back course with a strong tail wind to start and obviously a block head wind back... very difficult. The stage was won by Joseph Cooper in 9min 20sec with Gordon Macaulay 2nd. Blackpeloton riders in the top ten were, Sean Joyce 4th 34 sec down Louis Crosby 6th 36sec down and Andrew Barlow 9th 39sec down. Most of the crew have some lung burning issues after today as coming off a frost morning the air was very cool and such a short TT which required a lot of expended oxygen. After something to eat and a few team photos we started the second stage.
The first road stage a 90km circuit around the Normanby Hawera area delivered some strong wind as well with the peloton reaching speeds over 60kph. A likely break managed to get away shortly after the start with approx 9 riders including Sean Joyce with the Cooper & Macaulay watching over the break. They had a good advantage with it looking omonis that we would regain them but due to a lack of team work out in front the break was eventually caught, this opening up the opportunity for many attacks of which Macaulay as usual was leading the drive.
With about 25km to go Gordon attacked...... taking my opportunity and using some experience I decided to mark his move. We both went clear and at one stage gained a 45sec advantage, however some little hills leading to the finish delivered some cramp to the legs and I could feel the energy being sapped out by every extra km. About 10km to go Joe Cooper and Lee Evans bridged up to us and from there with 4 riders we remained together until the finish.
The peloton was breathing down our throats in the last kilometres and our advantage to the bunch would only have been 10sec on the line, if that, Gordan won the sprint ahead of Evans and Cooper with myself 4th. A hard day at the office today, now I move up to 4th on GC but the race will start proper tomorrow with come inclement weather on the way and some challenging hills to take on with two stages. The first a 71km stage Te Wera return and then in the afternoon a 61km stage Strathmore return tackling the infamous Strathmore saddle.

Our hosts Eli and Kevin from Placemakers are rock stars leaving us their hot tub ready to go, stationary trainers for 7 riders, support vehicles, tents and snacks for the day. A big thanks to our Sponsors it makes coming to Taranaki a great experience.
Please note results & times are preliminary as I am going on memory but I will post results on the blog as soon as we have the official word.

Regards
Andrew

Tour of Taranaki Start List

2010-06-01T18:17:00.001-07:00

http://www.cyclingnewplymouth.co.nz/Events/Club+Special+Events/835.aspx

Tour de l'Amitié, Tahiti 23 July- 5 August

2010-05-18T09:51:00.000-07:00

Team for Tahiti 2010:

Sean Joyce U23
Logan Mort U23
Louis Crosby U23
Andrew Barlow
Jim McMurray

Manager: Dave Kuypers
Massusse: Catalina Ramirez

Louis Crosby is joining Blackpeloton as a guest rider, so to is Jim McMurray competing for the masters title.

Tour of Taranaki 2010

2010-05-18T09:47:00.000-07:00

Team for Tour of Taranaki 5-7th June 2010

Fraser Bermingham
Brad Tilby
Matt Sillars
Logan Mort
Andrew Barlow
Sean Joyce

Check in daily for race reports and results.