Savings & Loans Cycling Team - Herald Sun Tour

New website and blog

The Savings & Loans Cycling Team now has a new website at cyclingteam.savingsloans.com.au where you'll find all the latest news and information on the team.

There are also rider profiles, photo galleries and a brand new blog.

The Tour comes to a close

The Tour of Southland 2007 came to a solid conclusion today. Today we contested two stages, the morning stage being 77km and the afternoon stage 64km. Although the weather conditions this week have been INDIFFERENT, today was no exception. The morning stage was run under overcast skies but with slight winds which was perfect for racing and the afternoon stage light rain and huge winds.

Stage 8 was slightly uphill with a tailwind for the first half and then the second half was slightly downhill with a tailwind. The race started off very very fast with attacks thick and fast from the gun. After about 10km Will managed to get himself in the move of the day. 10 riders went clear and the zookeepers led peleton kept them steady throughout the entire distance at approximately 45sec. The only counter attack came after about 40k from Jeremy Vennel from the Priority Health Team. That was nullified by the Zookeepers as Jeremy is a bit of a threat to the yellow. The break went out a bit but by the end it was bought back on the line. Will kept his sprint going and ran a credible 9th place, a great ride by him. Will also took the only KOM  of the day and that put him in third overall for that jersey behind Jeremy Yates. Nic and myself kept Graham in pretty good position for the sprint but in the end he got boxed in a touch and didn't have the greatest of runs.

The afternoon stage started off in drizzle and a major crosswind. At the start we rode exceptionally well attacking off the front but they were all bought back. I was blown off the group after about thirty k's in the crosswinds but the other boys were all going ok. It was only a short stage and Nic was the only one to finish in the lead group. Overall Nic was the best place and Will ran a credible 3rd in the KOM jersey.

Nathan Jones

Off with the arm warmers....finally

Hey all!! The sun has been shining today so the mood in the Savings & Loans/Gen-i team is considerably upbeat from previous days. The weather today started off cold and windy but by the time we had cycled our way to Te Anaui it was a whooooooooooooooooooooooooping 18 degrees and the arm warmers were off for the first time.

Today's stage was a 163km journey from Winton to Te Anaui. The winds were gale force over night in Invercargill so we were a bit sceptical of what we had to fight today but when the flag dropped it was not that windy. However, the race started fast and it was a slight crosswind for the first 12km before we took a right hander into a block headwind. A few guys  went  up and over some hedges at the start but  apart from that  it was  not too bad.  When we turned into the headwind  the whole team was  in amongst it and Will was in a good group of four but that was bought back. I went across to the next move and seven of us were away, it was a great move and it was gone until the guy second in the sprint jersey came across and then the leader of the sprints did a 2km turn and bought the group back, NOT HAPPY JAN. Will launched again from his wheel but he was covered and then graham was in the move of the day. He was away with four others but found the going  really tough and succumbed to the pressure and came back to the peleton. That left four up front and when the yellow jersey of Hayden Roulston called a toilet stop we knew that they were happy to let four guys ride up the road.

When the break was away the Zookeepers led peleton, kept them steady at roughly four minutes. The wind today was mostly headwind with some sections of crosswinds. The speed was a constant 38km/hr. With about 50km to go i attacked with fourth on GC, Gordon Macauley and Tim Guddsell and a Bissel rider. I thought that they would be happy with that. We stayed upfront for about 4 or 5km but it was nullified in due time. Next up was a 3km climb. Nic rode super to cross the top with the front group, Will was a bit back from that, Graham in the next group and i was struggling at the back. However, that all came back together and with roughly 15km to go the peleton split into two with Graham running 11th and Wil, Nic and myself in the next group and couple of minutes behind.

The Tour of Southland is nearly over!!! We have survived the mental and physical battle against the external elements that felt like the antarctica, well now i can call it the south of New Zealand as we have had two sunny days.... Will is extremely motivated for tomorrow as are the rest of us so with any luck i will be reporting on a Savings & Loan/Gen-i led quinella tomorrow. Tomorrow, by the way sees us tackling a 77km morning stage which is notorious for a massive tailwind and has previously seen the peleton travel at speeds in excess of 90km/hr... should be fun, bit of motor pace training. The 9th and final stage sees us tackle 65km and a finish around queens gardens in Invercargill. Hang on, WAIT there is one last stage. The saturday night recuperation party on the town!!! i think if you can make it through that then YOU HAVE SURVIVED THE TOUR OF SOUTHLAND 2007.

Nathan Jones

The Tour of Antarctic

Today we tackled two gruelling stages of the tour of the antarctic as we like to call it. the first was a 101km stage and the second an 88km stage. we are down to four men now as Stephen Robb has a broken collarbone.

Today's morning stage again started from the Invercargill velodrome in blustery cold wet conditions. It was fast from the start as there were two or three hot spot sprints on offer in the first couple of km. It was a cross headwind for the first ten or so km and then we took a right hander and again it was 60km/hr crosswinds that split the peleton into about a million groups. For once i made the front group as did graham and Nic but i only lasted well, about 30sec and went BACKWARDS through the groups as did Nic. Nic managed to hide in amongst the second group whilst i was in the third group. Graham was riding superbly to be in the front group. Will caught up to me and we gradually made our way up to the second group which Nic was in. It's difficult following the wheel in mad crosswinds and i again found myself out the back when the guy in front of me had his head down and bum up following the wheel and he forgot to look up and he went head first into a truck. DAY over as i stopped to a standstill, group gone. the guy on the ground, well i think he is alright but i thought he had died. BIZARRE... In what was to be some of the strongest winds ever myself and Will finished 20min down, Nic 15min and Graham did a super ride to finish in the main group four min in arrears of the front 8.

The next stage was to start one hour and 15min later. The wind is sooooo hard here and reaches gusts of over 80km/hr all the time. One min it will be a tad sunny the next it will be hailing, it is tough mentally and physically but a challenge that is doing us the world of good.

Stage 5 had a few more hill climbs in it and i personally was going to try make something of a tour that has been very very tough, to say the least. From the gun it was on like donkey kong and i give it everything to make the break, finally we got a group away of roughly 12. Michael Fitzgerald and Adam Semple also made the move which was great. From there it was to be a very very tough day at the office. The KOM jersey and Jeremy Yates were there too  and it was a very very strong group. i was really struggling to pull a turn in the first 15km but was hanging in there as others were dropping like flies. We were down to eight solid riders and i had come round so we had all eight of us plugging away into terrible terrible winds to say the least. we were rolling well and the peleton held us steady at roughly 1.30min. With 18km to go a very very strong group with all the major contenders smashed the peleton to pieces and when they caught us they caught us in some massive crosswind section and smashed all of us 8 from the break out the back, they were going. the chase group of about 15 behind caught us which included Nic who again rode superbly and it wasn't until the last three km that i got dropped from them and rode in solo. Nic finished with that group and Wil and Graham finished a few groups after that..

IT'S TOUGH, REAL TOUGH but we are sticking it out. Tomorrow sees us going over the crown range so it is much hillier and we are all looking forward to that. We are in good spirits and enjoying the ANTARTIC as much as possible..

Nathan Jones

More crosswinds and a big crash

Today's 165km stage started off at the Invercargill velodrome and headed to Gaul!!! The stage was again continuously blown into groups because of the harsh weather and winds that the south island of New Zealand has to offer.

In the first four km of the stage there were 4 hot spot sprints which led to a very fast and interesting start. After 30km there was a rather large crash that occurred in the peleton with both Stephen and Nic coming to grips. Nic was able to get back on soon after but Stephen fell awkwardly and broke his collarbone. While this was happening Will had attacked along with five others. There gap blew out rather quickly as none of them are in contention for GC honours at this stage. Will was riding superbly and the bunch was blown into pieces every time a crosswind section occurred. I was continuously in the back group as it is very hard fighting for wheels at the front of the peleton as that is where every man and his dog wants to be. Nic was also finding it difficult today but each time after a hard fought battle in the winds we managed to get back to the front group. Graham was riding superbly and managed to stay in the front after every split.

With roughly 30km remaining of the bike race Will had found it tough going in the lead and succumbed to the constant pressure up front. He rode a superb race in front for 100km and did a sterling job for the team.

In the end we had Nic, Graham and I in the front group behind the four leaders. We finished 4.22min down on the four up front. Will came in a bit later but once again he had a super ride. Nic is 15th on general and we are 6th in team’s classification.

Tomorrow sees us riding 190km all up. 101km in the morning and 90km in the afternoon. if the winds the first two days are anything to go by we are in for another gruelling mentally and physically challenging day, a day that the four of us are 100 per cent ready for and ready to show what we can do...

Nathan Jones

It doesn't get much worse

They say that you have to do most things once in your life and i can honestly say after 2 stages of the tour of southland this is a once in a lifetime experience.... they say cycling is hard at the best of times but when you are thrown into the antartic to battle the external factors that are thrown at you i.e. rain, hail, snow, 70km/hr winds, steep hills into headwinds it tends to be quite difficult or atleast character building. Stage two was an 81km slog from invercargill to the top of bluff hill. the race started pretty fast with a cross tailwind and then turned into a tailwind for a couple of km and then a massive crosswind after about 10km. THEN, there were about 15 different groups splintered over the road. Graham, Nic, Wil and Steve were all in the main group of about thirty riders behind a lead group of 12 which included 5 riders from colour plus and 3 riders from zoo keepers. i was battling my way through to the third group on the road until the guy in front of me lost the wheel because he was cleanly swept into the ditch..... from there that was where you stayed unless you got dropped from your group. geeeeeeeez, the wind was so strong and for most of the headwind sections it was small chainring going flat out at 15km/hr aaaaaaargh Then, it was more crosswinds and learning what a 45 degree angle really is. Will was riding well until he was involved in a crash due to the strong cross winds. Brendan our director was also in amongst it with a bit of road rage due to the strong winds buffetting the convoy, most cars were seeking shelter just as much as the riders... Nic capped off a brilliant ride to finish in 13th place at about 8 minutes down to the guys in the lead. graham and steve were about a minute behind the flying walker and Wil finished about 14min down and myself 20min. All of us are in good spirits and trying to take it one day at a time. It is tough but this is what sets bike riders apart from other athletes. We are all remaining positive and i think once we get past thurs it will be smooth sailing from there. what doesn't kill you will only make you stronger, that's the philosophy for the week ahead.. Tomoro is a 163km stage from invercargill to Gaul. The weather looks reasonable with a minimum of 5 degrees and a maximum of 12. There should be a tailwind for about the first hour hour and a half and then hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmn not sure. headwinds are always good but one day at a time Nathan Jones

They said the weather would be bad...

Well well the sun is not shining here in sunny old invercargill, rather it is 5 degrees and not hailing nor snowing but icing.... well, hailing ICE.. They said the weather was going to be bad but i did not expect anything like this. i think if we can all make it through this then we can survive anything that the great highway of life intends to throw at us. Today's first stage was a 4.5km individual time trail around queens park in central invercargill. the circuit was a rectangle and it was quite windy with only a smal section of tailwind, the first 200m and the last 300m. Nicolas walker was first off and as he left the house to go to the start it started hailing, i mean icing... how funny that was until i had to leave the house for the start and it also started icing, karma hey!! Nic did quite well with a time just under 6min and i did a time of about 6min. The other three have not gone off as i write this so we hope that they do well. the wininng time thus far is 5.30min.... Today's afternoon stage starts at 1.oopm and is a 85km road stage that finishes up the notorious bluff hill, a 2.5km slog at an average of about 15 per cent. the difficulkt thing here is the large amount of crosswinds before the climb starts. It will be a big accomplishment to be in the front group at the bottom of the hill.

i will keep all posted on the great weather and the results.

Nathan Jones

Tour of Southland begins Monday

Some of the Savings & Loans team’s riders have jetted off across the Tasman to ride in the Tour of Southland next week. The tour is in its 51^st year and is one of the most picturesque rides in the southern hemisphere. But don’t worry, there’s plenty of hard climbs and long days in the saddle during the tour!

We’ve teamed up with a New Zealand information management company, Gen-i, for the tour, and will feature some new riders – Victorians Steven Robb and Nick Walker, brother of pro riders Will and Johnnie. An old hand of the Savings & Loans team, Will Dickeson, will also compete in the tour, fresh from a strong performance in the Jayco Herald Sun Tour.

Rounding out the Savings & Loans/Gen-i team for the Tour of Southland will be Kiwi Graeme Stone and Western Australian Nathan Jones, two guys with plenty of European riding experience.

I won’t be heading over to New Zealand for the tour, but I’ll keep you updated with how things pan out.

For more details, have a look at the Tour of Southland website.

If you’re in Adelaide this weekend, you might see a couple of the guys from the Savings & Loans team (including myself) racing against some very unconventional looking bikes as part of the World Future Cycle Challenge. We’re involved in the last two stage of the event, from Jamestown through to  Adelaide. Have a look at the Challenge website for more information.

Good riding,

Steve

A solid tour for the team

Well the tour has finished and it's time for us to reflect on the week and establish what worked well and not so well for the team. But first, a brief rundown on our performance in Sunday's criterium.

It was a really warm day, about 33 degrees and we were expecting the pace to be hot also. And it was. Brett positioned himself well in the race and got away early in the race in a break of about 15 riders. That's exactly what we wanted, but after the first sprint three riders from this group got away and started to put time on everyone else. Brett tried on a number of occasions to get them back, along with others in the group, but to no avail. You see the problem was that with the tight hairpin corners on the course, it was almost easier for a small group to work together than it was for a larger group. So the three in the break were able to work more efficiently than the chasing group.

Of course, we now know that Aaron Kemps ran away with the stage victory. Brett was our best performer coming in 11th.

It was a really well put together tour, and one that continues to grow each year. It really is on its way to becoming Australia's premier cycling event, and certainly it has a strong focus on developing Australian cycling talents by giving them the opportunity to race against some of the world's best riders. It's races such as these that are going to continue the growth of the sport in Australia, and help produce riders of the calibre of Cadel Evans, Stuart O'Grady and Robbie McEwen.

Here's my summary of this year's Tour

Best cyclists - Obviously Unibet's Matt Wilson put in a gutsy effort to take the win and was well supported by his team. But he was helped out by a couple of penalties to Steve Morabito and Joost Van Liejen. Morabito took two stage victories, including the toughest Falls Creek stage and the time trial. Queenslander Aaron Kemps also rode very well to take two stage victories, as well as the prologue.

Best team - Pro-tour teams Unibet and Astana both had very strong tours, and they should as they are working with budgets much bigger than most teams in the field.

Best stage - It was an extremely well laid out course this year, but I'd have to say the highlights of the tour were the Bendigo prologue (for the 10,000 watching the race), the Falls Creek climb (for the beauty and challenge of the climbs) and the final weekend in Melbourne.

So now it's on to the Melbourne to Warrnambool this weekend, where David Pell will start as a strong favourite for this historic one-day race. We will then compete in the Tour of Southland in November, before a break over the December period before preparing for the Australian Road Championships in Ballarat in January.

We hope you keep following our progress. We're looking for an exciting 2008, perhaps with some new riders in the team and hopefully some strong results.

Until next time, happy cycling

Steve Cunningham

A matter of seconds

Just like last year, the tour is set up for a close finish with just 3 seconds between the yellow jersey holder Matt Wilson and second place. Unfortunately, this year we aren't in contention for the jersey but we've had a good tour with a young team. Tomorrow we will be looking for a stage win and of course, we have Brett Aitken who we believe can bring home the goods. The state of the race means that it won't be easy, as each of the teams in contention for yellow will set a frantic pace in a bid for sprint bonuses.

Today was a solid day for the team. Again, David Pell was the best performed team member, putting in a good time trial to finish around the 20th mark. The other guys got through with some good times, but we didn't want to work too hard today because we want to save some energy in the tank for tomorrow.

So tomorrow is our last chance for a stage win. Hopefully we can pull something out of the bag - so keep watching this space to see how we do.

Pat Jonker