**Nathan Clarke takes Bunch Sprint to Win Stage**5 September 2008 Tour of Murray River Stage 11
Ouyen - Patchewollock - Ouyen, 86.5km, 2 sprints, 7 hill climbs?? With Nathan and Will keen to take on the record for the most vanilla slices consumed in a sitting, the pressure was on as Andrew had said "no result, no vanilla slice." Although they are both big lads with big appetites I was quietly confident that the record set the previous year by the Silver Fox (Dave Eldridge) was pretty safe. Dave had commenced serious training from the moment the tour started and had worked up to his herculean feat of six snot blocks over a months of bad eating.
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5 September 2008 Tour of Murray River Stage Ten
Another day another criterium. Today was the one that everyone was had been waiting for, not so much for the racing more for the vanilla slice festival that takes place every year. It's snot block heaven with the best vanilla slices in the land being put before the judges vying for the coverted "best of the best" title. No snot blocks until the end boys there's a race to win first!
Read More4 September 2008 Tour of Murray River Stage Nine
After Naths big effort this morning we would have been pretty happy to just consolidate and not lose any of the time he had made up in the morning. The Euston criterium has been in the tour since in began and historically it's really hard. The racing was on from the start again with all the boys taking turns at following moves.
Read More4 September 2008 Tour of Murray River Stage Eight
Robinvale was the scene for this mornings kermese around a 2.4km circuit along the beautiful Murray River. With the GC contenders watching each other like hawks it was going to be very hard to get bonus seconds through intermediate sprints. The plan was to try and slip Nath in to a break where none of the other major players were present, get some time back and take a stage win, easy!
Read More3 September 2008 Tour of Murray River Stage Seven
Baranald hosted todays stage, a 63km criterium and the only stage for the day. The township put there hands in their pockets and bumped up the prize money to makes today's stage a bit more interesting. With $2500 for the win more than a few riders had set themselves for this one and with the GC battle still being fought out in earnest it was diffucult to predict what would happen.
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**Norton Confirms Class** 2 September 2008 Tour of Murray River Stage Six
Brad "The Hitman" Norton took stage six out today with a well timed sprint that left his breakaway companions in his dust. The stage was from Swan Hill to Manatanga, 84km, 4 sprints, 2 KOM's ??. There wasn't a neutral section at the start today so when the gun went so did the riders. The action was thick and fast as riders constantly attacked trying to get away. The boys were on song today sharing responsibility for covering the attacks making sure that we always had someone in the move. It wasn't until about 30 km into the stage when the mix was right and a break finally stuck.
Read More2 September 2008 Tour of Murray River Stage Five
Swan Hill hosted the criterium that was stage five. The weather gods were really smiling today, so the guys just had to worry about the racing instead of the weather. The course was characterised by a roundabout at each end with the start finish line situated at the top of a small rise which meant that the riders faced an uphill kick out of each of the roundabouts.
Read More1 September 2008 Tour of Murray River Stage Four
The days second stage took riders from Kerang to Cohuna. A journey of some 70+ kilometres, the strong winds were sure to play a part. It was going to be crucial to have numbers at the front to help Nath as we didn't want to be playing catch up and have Nath having to do too much work.
Read More1 September 2008 Tour of Murray River Stage Three
Kerang hosted stage three's criterium and the weather had improved markedly overnight to a sunny day with a little wind still hanging around to make things a little interesting. Dylan was determined to make ammends for his stage two ride and attacked from the gun eventually dragging Sean Finning (VIS) and Craig McCartney (S&L) clear as well. The trio built a maximum advantage of 26 seconds whilst behind the team remained vigilant and tried to disrupt the chase as much as possible.
Read More31 August 2008 Tour of Murray River Stage Two
Stage Two and the conditions had worsened, the wind was really blowing with intermitant rain squalls keeping the riders nice and cool. The smack went down from the gun with Virgin Blue throwing it in the gutter. A big fall involving Brad and a couple of S&L guys was enough to really split the field and as is the norm when riders hear a crash they normally put the hammer down. Luckily Brad was up and underway again quite quickly and only had a few bruises. Dan did a monster turn to get Dylan to the front group which meant that we had three as Nath and Tim were also there.
Read More31 August 2008 Tour of Murray River Stage 1
Tour of the Murray is normal characterised by sunny skies and warm temeratures but that wasn't the case today. The mercury would have been hard pressed to pass 10 degrees and the rain whilst welcommed by the farmers of the region was not looked on as favourably by the riders. Echuca hosted today's stage one criterium, a fast 850m oblong course featuring a couple of very dodgy slippery corners at the start and finish of the home straight.
Read More17 August 2008 Ballarat Grand Prix Road Race
The road course is the same circuit used every January for the Australian Road Championships. At 153km long the distance isn't really a problem it's more the climb every lap that does the damage. For those that aren't familiar with Buninyong the race starts in the centre of town before heading out on to the highway and straight into the climb that continues on for about 4 km before winding it's way back around towards Ballarat through some light bush and farmland before a final turn back towards Buninyong to complete the lap. In short it's a course that favours a strong allrounder.
Read More16 August 2008 Ballarat Grand Prix Criterium
Held in Ballarat's CBD the crit is of the traditional type, four corners, flat out. Usually it's pretty hard for anyone to get away but that doesn't stop people from trying so it's still important to cover moves and make sure that the team has someone in the mix. The pace was really hot early on and try as they might nothing would stick and the inevitable bunch kick loomed.
Read More15 August 2008 Ballarat Grand Prix Time Trial
The Ballarat Grand Prix kicked off today with the 38km Time Trial. With an incredibly strong field in attendance the whole weekend will be a closely contested affair. Dylan Newell was the top performer for the team today managing to shake off the lingering effects of the flu to achieve a strong 5th place with Nathan Clarke securing 10th giving Praties two in the top ten.
Read MorePraties Cycling To the Herald Sun Tour
The Praties Cycling Team has officially been invited to compete in this years Herald Sun Tour. It's a major coup for the team and is a just reward for the last year's brilliant domestic season and this years solid start. With less than 10 weeks to go competition will be fierce among the remaining teams vying for a spot in Australia's oldest race.
Competition will also be fierce within the team as riders have been told that no one is guaranteed a position and the final team will only be picked after the Tour of Tasmania in late September. Richie Porte is back on the bike after his broken hip and Josh Wilson is starting to build form after open heart surgery so hopefully the team will have a full squad to draw from. Andrew Christie-Johnson was keen to play down the teams chances but said "It's always going to be tough with such strong proffessional squads, but we have a strong squad too and the recent experience in the States has benefitted the boys a lot."
**Big Will Holding On In Stage 3**Lakes Oil Tour of Gippsland
Check out the finish of Gippsland stage 3 with Big Will just managing to hold it up when his rear wheel explodes in the final corner.
**Big Nath Takes Out Criterium Championship**Lakes Oil Tour of Gippsland Stage 8
Nathan Clarke wrapped up the the criterium championship for the Tour of Gippsland today courtesy of second place in the Paynesville Criterium. Paynesville should have been spelt Painsville as that was what was being dished up. With the GC competition coming down to a battle of the sprints the racing was hard and fast as the teams of the non sprinters were keen on getting their riders away in a bid to gain time whilst Virgin Blue had to keep it together to give Bernie a chance at the sprints.
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**Big Nath Makes it Two Stage Wins for Praties**Lakes Oil Tour of Gippsland Stage 7 2nd August 2008
Nathan Clarke put the finishing touches on a great team effort today taking out the seventh stage of the Tour of Gippsland. Nathan found himself in a break away that escaped with about 20km left in the 120km stage from Metung to Omeo. Some how the big guy clawed his way up the final 10km category two climb and then played the final sprint to perfection to beat David Kemp.
Read MoreLakes Oil Tour Gippsland Stage 6 1st August 2008
A big square criterium around Bairnsdale awaited riders this afternoon and with a tough stage already in the legs it was going to be interesting to see who had the legs. Even though we had Dan and Dylan in 1st and 2nd on General Classification it was going to be hard to hold off a crit specialist like Bernie Sulzberger. Bernie has just come off a successful stint in the States ripping up the crits at Superweek, so it was going to be important to try and contain him as much as possible. With bonus seconds on offer every two laps there was a lot of time up for grabs.
Read More**Newell takes Stage**Lakes Oil Tour of Gippsland Stage 5 1st August 2008
Dylan enacted the team plan to perfection today, using a brilliant display of controlled aggression and some very aerodynamic shoulders to ride away from what was left of the field in todays tough 74km stage from Dargo to Lindenow in Victoria's picturesque Snowy Country.
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**Dan the Man takes the Yellow Jersey**Lakes Oil Tour of Gippsland Stage 4 31 July 2008
113.7km Orbost to Lakes Entrance, 7 climbs, 2 sprints and a whole lotta hurt. With Dan and Nath in the mix on GC and Dylan ready for battle stage 4 loomed as an opportunity for some destruction. The climbs all came in the first half of the race but the second half was still undulating meaning that the course would definately produce some big gaps and probably sort out the real GC contenders.
Read MoreLakes Oil Tour of Gippsland Stage 3 31 July 2008
Orbost was the venue for stage 3 of this years tour. A bright sunny day greeted the riders for 11 laps of a 1.4km oblong criterium. The mission was to try to set Nath up for the criterium championship and hopefully a stage.Dylan and Dan were under orders to conserve as much as possible for the afternoons road stage. The spanky new marquee got a run and provided the perfect shelter for the riders to sit back and relax prior to the start.
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Lakes Oil Tour of Gippsland Stage 2 30 July 2008
Another stage and another strong performance from the team. This time it was Dan representing the team in the break and with Nath sitting in second overall he was able to sit in and protect the teams GC position. 8 laps of an 11km course with a cat 3 climb every lap was going to be decisive.
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Lakes Oil Tour of Gippsland Stage 1 30 July 2008
The Tour of Gippsland got off to a flying start today in the tiny coastal hamlet of Malacoota. Last years race saw Ben Mather fly the Praties flag when he achieved an awesome third place on general classification. Today It was Big Naths turn to stand on the podium when he finished second in a photo finish to fellow Tassie boy Bernie Sulzberger in an uphill sprint in the tours stage one criterium.
Read More!!!NEWS FLASH!!! NEWELL DOMINATES VIC CHAMPIONSHIPS
Dylan Newell aka Dennis, won the Vic road championships today. Newell first managed to make the major split of the day and then started the hostilities repeatedly attacking until he finally managed to simply ride away winning solo by 13 seconds over Sean Finning and Casey Munro. Dylan and Nathan Clark were the only Praties representitives this weekend but rode with intelligence and strength to secure another great win for the squad.
Look out for an interview with the huge shouldered man in the near future.
Eagle Outfitters Tour of Pennsylvania Day Six
Stage six was a 50 mile circuit race around downtown Pittsburg. Prior to the stage the boys had an engagement at the Alcoa Marquee where they met some of the hard working guys from Alcoa. The marquee was part of an expo that had various stands and displays and was absolutely jam packed with people. The team signed some autographs and made themselves available to the public before heading off to check out the course and complete a warm up.
Read MoreEagle Outfitters Tour of Pennsylvania Day Five
Day five and probably our last chance to really shake things up. With 1 second seperating first and second on GC and the top 10 all within a minute the stage was shaping up as a battle royal. The stage was 91 miles/ 146km long with no climbs of note but up and down all day.
Read MoreEagle Outfitters Tour of Pennsylvania Day Four
Stage five and after yesterdays strong showing Dylan was fired up. Check out the related video to see Dylan in the break.
Read MoreEagle Outfitters Tour of Pennsylvania Day Three
Stage four and the first real climbs of the race, the stage finished in the home town of our sponsor Cannondale so we were keen to come up with a result and try to resurrect our tour. Two KOM's and a 104 mile stage with 30 degree temperatures was going to make the going difficult.
Read MoreEagle Outfitters Tour of Pennsylvania Day Two
Stage three, the first road stage, 93 miles long with one categorised climb. The plan was to have Dan go for the KOM and look after Dylan and Josh.
Read MoreEagle Outfitters Tour of Pennsylvania Day One
Well day one of the tour began with a 4km TT around a picturesque park in the old section of Philladelphia, right down the road from the steps made famous in the Rocky movie where Sylvester Stalone runs to the top and punches his arms in the air. Unfortunately we lost Brad before the tour even started due to a crash in the week prior to the race. He sustained a bad concussion, torn abductors and was walking around in a daze for quite a while.
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50 Hours of Travelling
Well we made it! This may seem like a silly statement but after nearly 50 hours of non-stop travelling at times we were't sure that we would. We all have some war stories some of which I will impart some I won't but the trip was alot of fun and after the hillarious drive from New York to Hershey Pennsylvania I don't think my sides will stop hurting for some time.
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Eagle Outfitters Tour Of Pennsylvania
Praties Cycling is off to the States to compete in the richest under 25 race in the world, The Eagle Outfitters Tour of Pennsylvania. The team was chosen to compete from a pool of 60 teams vying for entry and will compete against teams from Germany, Holland, South Africa, Canada, Italy, Argentina and a strong contingent from the US itself.
Read MoreDerwent Valley Classic 26 April 08
Well, either the journey from the North of the state was going to require too much effort or the course scared everyone off as it seemed that only the riders with a bit of ticker bothered to turn up to what is arguably one of the hardest races on the open calendar
Read MoreMelbourne Festival of Cycling 20 April 08
Big Nath is a sprinter again!! After yesterday's effort in the Baw Baw Classic, the big fella morphed back into a sprinter for todays race around the beautiful Albert Park.
Read MoreBaw Baw Classic 19 April 08
Mount Baw Baw is rated as the second hardest climb in the world by cycling pundits. It is definately not a race for the vertically challenged. After last years awesome effort which saw Nearle 2nd and Richie 3rd the team had a pair of size 13's to fill. Sadly we had been cut off at the knees by flu with Ben Mather opting to stay at home and recover and the rest looking far from their best. But in true Praties style the boys were determined to have a crack.
Read MoreMersey Valley Stage 3
Starting and finishing in the metropolis of Kimberley today's stage was going to be a real doozie! If the riders thought yesterday was hard they hadn't seen anything yet as the climbs today were the real deal. Timothy Roe(Savings and Loans) was in yellow after yesterdays storming ride followed by David Kemp(Virgin Blue) then Ben Mather and Dylan Newell(Praties) in 3rd and 4th respectively. Dan was in the pokadot jersey of best climber after his efforts from stage two.
Read MoreMersey Valley Stage 2 126km
Riders arrived in Sheffield to be greeted by 20km/h N/W winds and bleak overcast skys. With three laps of an undulating course to complete it was definately a day for the hardmen. Russell Van Hout was in yellow courtesy of his TT win in stage 1 so the onus was on the other teams to put them under pressure and take some time back.
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Mersey Valley Stage 1 TT Results
The first stage of the Tour of the Mersey Valley was a tough 23km out and back Time-Trial. Starting in the small town of Forth the course follows the river passing farms and state forrest along the way.
ResultsMersey Valley Tour Preview
After returning from Perth on Monday the team has had to regroup and recover to prepare for the Mersey Valley Tour starting this Friday. The tour is certainly one of the toughest races on the national calendar, featuring some testing climbs and a long 21km time trial. Once again all of Australia's big continental teams will be in attendance so the racing will be on from the start.
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Tour de Perth Stage 4 - Big Nath Makes It 4 From 4 Richie Takes The Overall
Lost for words............
Read MoreTour de Perth Stage 3 - Two for Porte Three for Praties
Well I'm running short on superlatives that even come close to describing the incredible results from the boys this weekend. In scenes reminicent of the Nationals Richie simply rode away on the last lap and no one was able to follow.
Read MoreTour de Perth Photos
Photos from day one.
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Tour de Perth Stage 2 - Porte Takes Time Trial
That's Two from Two!!Richie backed up stage one with a strong performance this afternoon to take out the time-trial of the Tour de Perth.
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Tour de Perth Stage 1
DAN THE MAN triumphant at the Tour de Perth. Dan showed the bunch a clean set of heels sprinting to a two bike length victory in the rain soaked stage.
The boys have landed in the west and are busy preparing for the Tour de Perth. The race will be Richie's last in Australia before heading off to Italy to race the Aussie winter for Gruppo Lupi.
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Tour de Perth Preview
Northern Camp Wrap Up
Well the training camp has finished and the boys have all returned to their respective parts of Oz. The camp was as Borat would say "a great success" and whilst some of the boys are still licking their wounds I'm sure that they are all the better for it.
Read MoreNorthern Camp Report
Day three saw the team heading to the north west of Tassie to reccie the stages of the upcoming Mersey Tour.
Read MorePraties 5 Day Northern Camp Report
Five days of hard riding was only just part of the schedule for the teams first camp of the year.
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Houston the Super Sixes have landed
But only just, weighing a scant 7.2kg with training wheels in they feel like they could just float away.
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Congratulations Brad and Rhianon
Praties new recruit Brad Norton has taken on a recruit of his own tying the knot on top of the mystical Mount Baw Baw.
Photo courtesy of rosemphotography.com
Congratulations to you both from all at Praties we wish you joy and happiness in your lives together.
Sad News 21 Feb 08
The team was saddened to hear of the loss of Mark and Sandy's (Bike Ride) house to fire early this week.
We are glad you are both safe and are thinking of you in this difficult time
Checkout Some Awesome TDU Video
Some guys from Uni SA made a sort of fly on the wall doco about the Tour Down Under. They followed The Uni SA Team and captured some awesome footage of the race and behind the scenes. Follow the links and check it!
TDU VideoPraties Dominates The Tour Of The Channel
1st 2nd 3rd and 4th. That was the result of the first race of the 2008 Tasmanian Cycling Roster.
Richie, Tim and Dan were only just back from the Tour of Wellington whilst Benny Mather was back on the road bike after competing on the dirt for the past few months.
Read MorePraties Cycling RSS Feed
Yes it is official Praties Cycling has gone all tech with the addition of our RSS Feed.
Keep up to date with team reports and articles by subscribing.
It's really simple just click on the feed and follow the instructions to subscribe. It's a great way to keep up with everything that's going on.
Trust House Tour of Wellington
Hey all, Just got home from New Zealand today so thought I would fill you in on how the tour finished off for us.
Day three the longest stage of the tour, at 185km was always going to be hard with two hard climbs coming in the last 20km. The stage was made even harder by the weather as the temperature did not drop below 30C the whole day.
Read MoreNEWS FLASH
Porte takes Stage Two Solo
Praties Richie Porte has won the 2nd stage of the Tour of Wellington in New Zealand today.
Details are still sketchy but it appears that Richie and Daniel made the break of the day that formed towards the end of the stage. Daniel rode selflessly for Richie driving the break to ensure its success until Richie attacked over the top of the climb to ride away and take the stage ahead of Travis Meyer and Hayden Roulston.
REVIEW
08 Cannondale Slice Carbon TT Machine
By Steve Price
Check it out! This is the bike that Richie piloted to 5th place in the Senior Time Trial at the Nationals. One of only a couple in Australia, we received the bike only a few days before we left for Buninyong but made the decision that it was worthwhile building up as we knew Richie would gain a significant advantage being onboard.
Richie's first ride went well and after a few tweaks here and there he started to feel right at home. Just before leaving for the Nationals he rode the Slice in the road leg of a triathlon in Launceston and beat his previous year's time by over 3 minutes!
Read More27th January Stage Six 88km
Well in what must have been a severe case of Deja-vu for the Uni Sa team members who rode last years tour the final day scenario was not much different, how to make up a seemingly insurmountable deficit on the last stage. The boys had to ensure that they kept the field under control so that Alby had a chance to gain time back on the terminator.
The barriers barely contained the thousands of spectators keen to get a glimpse of the worlds best cyclists as they tore around the city streets led by the Uni SA team. Andrew?s quick head count put the crowd at an estimated 1.2 million which we thought was pretty good.
Read More26th January Stage Five 147km
Being Australia Day hopes were high for the Aussies in the tour to make us proud and give us something extra to celebrate. The Willunga stage is always the queen stage of the tour consisting of 3 laps of 40km and one final lap of 27km which takes in the infamous Willunga Hill.
We spoke with Portey last night and he said the team were geed up for a big ride and thought that if they could get Alby over the climb within reach of the leaders they would have a really good shot at the stage as well as the overall as the general consensus was that Alby could out climb most of the other sprinters.
Read More25th January Stage Four 134km
Today the stage went from Mannum to Strathalbyn and included one major climb about 20 km after the start and then mostly undulating terrain.
We had a coffee with Wes and Richie last night and they were in good spirits. Richie put away a milkshake and a pancake before my meal had even arrived so they are obviously working up an appetite.
Read More24th January Stage Three 139km
Well the Uni SA boys were in the thick of it again today. First Simon Clarke had a go at getting in the break; Richie was next to attack and succeeded in getting off the front taking Calstrom, Gilbert and Johansen with him.
Apparently on the SBS highlights Phil Liggett described him as £the aggressive Tasmanian at it again!!§ Word is he even has a fan club over here, unfortunately for him they are all 60 something ladies from the CWA, at least they can give him cake and stuff.
Read More23rd January Stage Two 148km
Ok, so we flew in to Adelaide today rushed from the airport to Stirling where the stage was to start and missed it. No problem, off to Echunga and the KOM. The crowd on the climb was pretty impressive and lined both sides of the road for about a kilometre.
Three Frenchies were up the road with a five minute + advantage. So it seemed like it was going to be much like yesterday with a break allowed to go up the road only to be brought back close to the finish to ensure a bunch sprint.
Read More22nd January Stage One 129km
Well what a day out for Portey. Starting in the first ever Pro Tour race to be held outside Europe, the tour's tenth anniversary and his first time in a National team you would probably be content to sit back, let the nerves settle a bit and take in the scenery right? Wrong!
Ritchie not one to let the occasion get the better of him decided to attack after the first and only KOM taking two Frenchmen with him. The trio spent the next 90km¢s off the front gaining a maximum advantage of six and a half minutes before alarm bells sounded and the main field started to chase.
Read MorePraties Richie Porte has earned a spot in the Uni Sa team that will contest the Tour Down Under in South Australia from the 20th to the 27 Jan 08.
Courtesy of a new ruling by the UCI Australia was granted permission to field a National team in the event which has just received entry to the Pro Tour , the highest category in cycling. The step up ensures that the race is attended by the best teams in the world and will attract a massive world-wide audience.
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