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Lisa's Mum is still basking in the afterglow of her fashion-inspired posts on Ride Happy. You may remember her pearls of wisdom on Jersey selection for the recreational cyclist and wardrobe tips for the urban fixie rider. In fact, it is fair to say that Lisa's Mum is held in high regard on the cycling catwalks of Milan. It was no surprise, therefore, when she received the following appeal for advice from a fan:

 

Australia's Queen of the track Anna Meares tonight won her fifth sprint crown to add to the tally she herself admits she has lost count of. After the win Meares announced it was her 25th national crown but a check of the records revealed she has in 

 Impressive wins by two riders of whom different things are expected highlighted the opening stage of the 22^nd edition of the Jayco Bay Cycling Classic in Geelong today.

 

Commonwealth Games road race champion and defending Bay Classic title holder Rochelle Gilmore (Honda Dream Team) captured the women’s race in a hard fought affair with rival Belinda Goss(Vetta) in a result that many had predicted before the start of the relatively flat 2km circuit around Eastern Park in Geelong.

 

However the men’s race produced a less predictable result, if only due to the gilt-edged quality of the field and perhaps the underrated qualities of Tasmanian Matt Goss (E3/Pure Tasmania)

 

Goss was largely overlooked in pre-race prognostications, despite his credentials as a stage winner of last year’s Giro d’Italia.  However the man who has been largely referred to in cycling circles as a lead out man to the likes of HTC-Columbia teammates Andre Greipel and Mark Cavendish is rapidly building a winning record of his own – opening his Bay Classic account with a fine win.

 

Today’s scalps included last year’s series win Chris Sutton (Team Sky), world championships bronze medallist Allan Davis (Bikebug.com), Olympic gold medallist Graeme Brown (Urban), Geelong’s rising young tyro Leigh Howard (Jayco VIS) and world under 23 champion Michael Matthews (Urban).  The top six all world class speedsters and all were shaded by Goss on the long finishing straight.

 

Gilmore opens title defence with a win

 

A forty minute delay following a nasty fall from Queensland road champion Brittany Lindores during the warm up lap resulted in the young Gold Coast rider being transferred to Geelong Hospital with concussion and a reduced women's race from 45 minutes to 30 minutes.

 

The opening women's stage was expected to be a battle between Honda's Rochelle Gilmore and Vetta's Belinda Goss and that is how it unfolded, despite the usual early, mid and late race attacks from the peloton.

 

Gilmore’s Honda teammate Peta Mullins took the first sprint before another of the talented Honda crew, this time 2008 series winner Megan Dunn joined Jayco AIS rider Amanda Spratt  and 2009 series winner Kirsty Broun (Virgin Blue) in a determined attempt to get away.

 

Alas the lead extended only to eight seconds before Goss’s Vetta team did much of the work to bring the field back together for the final sprint to the finish.

 

Goss, who had criss-crossed the globe in recent weeks from the track world cup in Columbia to the Christmas Carnivals in Tasmania only arrived in Geelong an hour before the race due to a re-scheduled flight from Launceston.  It may have cost her an open stage victory as Gilmore edged clear to win only by centimetres.  Caulfield Carnegie’s Nicole Whitburn finished third.

 

"It's fantastic to win the first race of 2011, 2010 worked out pretty well with the Commonwealth Games and everything and every year you think you can learn more and it can be better so to come out and win the first race of 2011 is a fantastic feeling,” Gilmore said

 

"We certainly don't expect to dominate because there where so many strong riders out there who were riding hard which makes it really hard to control the race, some of them we didn't even know which makes it hard to decide who to chase and who not to chase.

 

“It shows that there is a lot of new talent in Australia and when we come back to Australia to race we no longer know all the competitors.”

 

On tomorrow second stage at Portarlington Gilmore said she expected a totally different race.

 

“It's the hardest of the series; I doubt it will come down to a sprint finish.  It was a really hard and fast race today we tried to cover everything but we did miss a few breaks and that makes us nervous about the future.”

 

Goss defeats world class field in men’s race

 

Anyone who witnessed the Launceston Criterium last week would have safely had Matt Goss in their top few picks for today’s opening stage as winning form is good form.

 

With the sixty minute stage reduced to 45 minutes as a result in the earlier delay to the women’s event, it was not unexpected to see 2004 Olympic madison champion and 2009 series winner Graeme Brown animating the race early.  Brown has the Bay Crits flowing through his veins and he gave a trademark cheeky grin at Team Sky’s Matt Hayman as they crossed the start finish line for the first intermediate sprint.

 

Clearly Sky had not come for just a pre Tour Down Under tune up.  As soon as the Brown had again shaded Hayman in the second sprint their New Zealand ace, Greg Henderson took off, leading for the next six laps of the 2km circuit.

 

Henderson was collared with six laps remaining, and this time it was reigning Australian road champion Travis Meyer (Garmin-Cervello) taking charge.  However this was short-lived and the field was in one group at the bell.

 

Goss timed his sprint best, holding off Sutton and the fast finishing Davis to take the opening win. Brown finished fourth, but collected the Blood Hyundai green sprinters jersey, courtesy of the eight points he tallied in the intermediate sprints.

 

Goss was full of praise for the all-Tasmanian E3/Pure Tasmania team.

 

“We have a really strong team here and Wes and Bernie Sulzberger are really going well and they covered every move in the first 40 minutes and after that I just tried to stay in the right position for the finish,” Goss said.

 

“There are not very many chances when we get to race together. It’s like a state team almost.  I’m sure it’s not the last you’ll see of the Tasmanians these four days.

 

“We came in to get a stage win and we’ve knocked that over pretty early so that’s a good start.”

 

Sutton has been battling illness since his NSW Grand Prix win in December so was happy to be on the podium.

 

“The whole team is going really strong .  We took control and the boys did and an awesome job leading me out in the sprint.  Despite the illness I felt really strong then.  I went from 300m out in the sprint, but I never died in the sprint and that’s something I’ve been working on over the summer. I came up second but still on the podium,” Sutton said.

 

The support race, featuring a big field of 152 riders, was taken out by Victorian Steele Van Hoff who back up his good recent form which includes a top ten finish at the Launceston Criterium.

 

The day began with the 6th Annual Amy's Ride challenge in Geelong.  The event honours the late Amy Gillett who was killed during a training ride in Germany in 2005.

 

The event continues tomorrow with Stage Two at Portarlington.

 

Results for Day One of 2011 Jayco Bay Classic

Eastern Park, Geelong (2km per lap) – Sunday 2 January 2011

 

ELITE MEN

Stage One Results and General Classification after Stage One

1.        Matthew Goss (E3/Pure Tasmania)                                              12

2.        Chris Sutton (Team Sky)                                                                    10

3.        Allan Davis (Bikebug.com)                                                                  8

4.        Graeme Brown (Urban)                                                                      7

5.        Leigh Howard (Jayco VIS)                                                                    6

6.        Michael Matthews (Urban)                                                               5

7.        Mark Renshaw (O2 Networks)                                                         4

8.        Joel Pearson (Genesys Wealth Advisers)                                    3

9.        Baden Cooke (Lowe Farms/Boomaroo Nurseries)                  2

10.      Jonathon Cantwell (Lowe Farms/Boomaroo Nurseries)         1

 

Blood Hyundai Sprint Ace – After Stage One

1.         Graeme Brown (Urban)                                                                     8

2.         Mathew Hayman (Team Sky)                                                           4

3.         Greg Henderson (Team Sky)                                                            3

 

Teams

1.            E3/Pure Tasmania                                                                            12

2.            Urban                                                                                                   12

3.            Team Sky                                                                                             10

4.            Bikebug.com                                                                                        8

 

 ELITE WOMEN

Stage One Results and General Classification after Stage One

1.        Rochelle Gilmore (Honda)                                                                                12

2.        Belinda Goss (Vetta Pasta)                                                               10

3.        Nicole Whitburn (Unattached/Vic)                                                 8

4.        Peta Mullens (Honda)                                                                          7

5.        Kirsty Broun (Virgin Blue)                                                                    6

6.        Judith Arndt (Unattached/GER)                                                       5

7.        Jessica Allen (Jayco VIS)                                                                      4

8.        Sophie Williamson (Bicycle Superstore)                                        3

9.        Emy Huntsman (Jayco VIS)                                                                 2

10.      Emma Mackie (Virgin Blue)                                                                1

 

Blood Hyundai Sprint Ace – After Stage One

1.        Peta Mullens (Honda)                                                                          3

2.        Megan Dunn (Honda)                                                                         3

3.       Jess Allen (Jayco VIS                                                                             2           

 

Teams

1.            Honda                                                                                                   19

2.            Vetta Pasta                                                                                         10

3.            Virgin Blue                                                                                            7

4.            Jayco VIS                                                                                               6

 

SUPPORT MEN

Stage One Results and General Classification after Stage One

1.         Steele Van Hoff                                                                                   12

2.         Angus Tobin                                                                                          10

3.         Ryan Standish                                                                                        8

By Miffy Galloway

Both: McDonaugh Blake Witness is a new team this year, how has this benefited you and how is the team helping you to achieve your sporting goals?

Adam and Al: The Mcdonagh Blake- Witness Cycling Team has benefited us in several ways. It has allowed us to really grow and learn as riders and it offers a supportive culture where developing us as riders is the key focus. The team is the initiative of Trent Wilson, a former pro, who runs and manages the team. Having this aspect to the team is really helping us achieve our goals, with Trent’s experience and knowledge acting as a huge advantage in races and training.


Both: Your next race coming up is the Geelong Tour and in the team you have a new signing in Chris Jongeward who has been vocally targeting this race, how will this affect the teams strategies going into the event? And what do you see your role in the event being?

Adam and Al: Having Chris on board for Tour of Geelong will be a huge advantage for the team. Not only is he one of the strongest riders around, he will be able to offer his race experience and knowledge to the younger riders in the team. We are both aiming to maintain a strong GC position in addition to helping out Chris to achieve his goals, which will hopefully see him placed highly overall. We also have Dale Scarfe, who has shown that he is in form with his sprint win in Stage 5 of the Tour of Gippsland.

Adam: you have a twin brother Michael Phelan who is currently riding for the Drapac Porsche team, what has it been like growing up in cycling together and is there ever a bit of sibling rivalry?

Adam: Growing up with Michael has been really beneficial. It has meant that I have always had someone to train with and it has allowed me to have support throughout my whole cycling life. There are very few people who would be in the same situation, so it acts as a huge mental and physical advantage. Sibling rivalry has also played a major part. We are both very competitive people in all aspects of life and don’t like being beaten by each other, which is great for training because even then we try and outdo each other!

Both: You are both currently studying at the AustralianNationalUniversity, and have part time jobs. How do you manage to balance these other commitments with your cycling?

Adam and Al:  It sometimes becomes a bit overwhelming when you’re trying to do really well in all areas and it can become a bit of a juggling act, but if you keep yourself organized and on top of things you generally can get through it O.K.

Both: what are 2 things you can’t live without?
Adam and Al:

- Banana Bread
- Coffee (in that order)

Both : What is your idea of the perfect recovery ride?

Adam and Al: Meeting with all the Canberra boys and rolling down to Velo Republic Café, in Kingston and having a long (often with several brews) stop then pedaling around the lake and cruising home.

Both: And the ride : brew stop ratio?
Adam and Al: Let’s just say sometimes we forget we’re supposed to be training.

Alastair: You represented Australia in the Junior World Championships in 2008 in South Africa and were fortunate enough to experience European racing in the lead-up to the event. How does the European standard of racing compare to that in Australia? And after having a taste of it, are you hungry to go back?

Al: The racing over there is definitely different. The talent we have in Australia easily matches and in many cases exceeds the level of riders over there, but there is a lot more depth of talent in Europe. Cycling is only really just taking off in Australia, but it won’t be long till the depth here is equal to that in Europe. Obviously I only raced in the junior ranks over there, so I can’t comment on what the racing is like now, but the junior racing is a good indicator. I’m definitely hungry to get back over there. I prefer the race settings in Europe and my goal is to make a living racing in Europe.

Both: In Canberra, you are fortunate enough to be able to train with arguably some of the strongest riders in Australia, with many of them riding for domestic teams. How does this help you?

Adam:  I couldn’t think of better place to train then Canberra. I don’t think you can find another place where there is such a large group of strong riders that all train together and push each other to go harder. Some of the morning rides (notably the notorious Hour of Power) I find harder than a lot of races I do.

Al: The bunch of riders that we have in Canberra is so beneficial both physically and mentally. It’s extremely rare that I ever have to train by myself and these guys are my best friends as well as training partners. This means that motivation to train harder is always strong and I have fun every day on the bike just hanging out with my friends.

Both: What is your favourite ride in Canberra and why?

Adam and Al: We both really like the Corin Dam ride. The ride has some really good climbs but also offers some really cool scenery, especially out at the dam itself. On nice summer’s day with a good group, you can hardly get better.

Both: What has been the best advice anyone has ever given to you?

Adam: To never give up, no matter what life throws at you. Just keep in mind what you want to achieve and give absolutely everything you got to achieve it.

Al: If you do what you love and have fun with it, you will never have to work a day in your life

Both: Training in Canberra during the winter months is everything but enjoyable, how do you stay motivated?

Adam and Al: Canberra’s winter is definitely not a fun experience, and it is really hard to keep motivated especially when you wake up and the temperature reads -8. But having that large group of riders, who are also our best friends, all going out and doing it with you helps to motivate you to get out there in the cold and get the training done.



Both: What is your most memorable sporting moment to date?

Adam: Probably winning the Canberra Junior Tour. It was my home tour and I ended up taking out the GC, KOM, and first time trial, finishing second in the other 3 stages.

Al: I’d have to say being selected to represent Australia at the Junior World Championships in South Africa, and the racing that we did in Europe in the lead-up.

Both: Where do you hope to see yourselves in 5 years?

Adam: Hopefully getting to ride in Europe for a living, where my bike is my job.

Al: I’d hope to be riding for a ProTour team ideally, but in cycling you never know where you could end up.

Both: And lastly you are both very lucky to be surrounded by a great support crew – is there anyone you’d like to thank?

Adam and Al: We have both had a huge amount of support from the same group of people, and without these people we would not have been able to get where we are today. So big thanks has to go to our families, MaryAnn and Brian Simpson begin_of_the_skype_highlightingend_of_the_skype_highlighting, The Bike Shed Canberra, Trent Wilson (and Mcdonagh Blake- Witness), VeloRepublic and the whole Canberra cycling community. Thanks!

Follow the guys during their season with McDonagh Blake - Witness at www.adamphelan.tk http://twitter.com/adamphelan