Praties Cycling Team, Tasmania

The Promotion of Australian Road Cycling "Think Piece"

As a hectic season draws to a close and the riders all take a well earned break, I thought that it's probably a good time to pause and reflect on the year and the current state of domestic road cycling.

This article is not intended to be contentious, although it maybe. Nor is it meant to be overly critical, really its more about looking for a way forward where Australia cycling can continue to grow and be self sustaining. Most riders look to Europe, USA and more recently Asia when trying to make a career out of the sport. Wouldn't it be good if staying at home was also a viable alternative?Wouldn't it be awesome if riders could make a decent living out of riding a bike here in Australia? What can we do to make that happen? What lessons can we learn from other countries? How can we move cycling from the "other sports" listing in the media to having it's own category as we all know it should?

Flooded by Rider Resumes 3 Nov 08

Thank you to all those that submitted resumes for the 2009 season, the response has been overwhelming. We should be able to notify everyone by this week. Thanks Again.

Praties Crowned National Teams Champions

The Praties Cycling Team sealed the National Team series on the weekend after another strong result by the boys in the Melbourne to Warrnambool Classic. So dominant was the teams performance throughout the season that they really only had to start on the weekend to ensure that they claimed the series. The National Series prize has been a major goal for the team this year after last years second place and has confirmed the team as one of the powerhouses on the rapidly growing domestic scene.

The team will be presented with the award at the Cycling Australia Gala Dinner on the 23rd November. The Australian cyclist of the year will also be announced on the night as our cycling elite gather to celebrate another successful year for Australia in the sport. Congratulations to the whole team and everyone involved on a fantastic achievement.

Warrnie Live Report

Click on the link to see our coverage and the results from this years race

PREVIEW - 2008 Melbourne to Warrnambool

If you were to mention "Warrnie" to a non-cyclist it would probably conjure up images of the legendary Aussie cricketer or maybe explicit text messages? But if you were to mention it to a cyclist or sports fan they would know that you were referring to the Melbourne to Warrnambool, one of Australia's true cycling monuments. The world's second oldest race(Liege Bastogne Liege is the oldest), the Warnie was first run in 1895. Since then it has gone on to capture the imagination of purist and punter alike and is now also known for being the longest one day race in the world. It's a hard man's race. a race where only the strongest survive, a race where after 150kms you are only halfway, a race where for most just finishing is a victory. One things for certain the rider that wins the Warrnie will go down in history sharing the honour with a who's who of Australian Cycling. Names like Mockridge, Opperman, Woods, Gilmore, Mckenzie and Gerrans are all there. Who will take the prize this year and add their name to the honour roll?

Savings and Loans have a couple of likely contenders with David Pell and Joel Pearson. Pell has been looking forward to this all year and although he seemed a little out of sorts in the Sun Tour should be all the better for it and will definately be there at the business end. Pearson has been improving all year after returning form an horrific car crash and will try to use his speed to good effect if it comes down to a sprint. Budget Forklifts have imported some talent in Cam Jennings back from the now defunct Pezula Racing and Kristian House and Tom Southland from the UK. On paper they seem like the team to beat with House and Southland fresh whilst everyone else is probably still feeling a bit weary after the Sun Tour.

The Praties boys are looking to put the finishing touches on an outstanding year and will benefit from long distance specialists Josh Chugg and Will Clarke. Big Nath seems to have recovered and with super domestic Richie Porte at his disposal will be trying to keep out of trouble unitl the last 50km's where the gloves will come off and the real racing starts. Either way the team looks set to comfortably take out the National Teams Competition and a win on the weekend would be the icing on the cake.

HERALD SUN TOUR STAGE SIX - LYGON STREET CIRCUIT RACE

The 66km long circuit around Lygon Street featured 3 hot dog turns. This basically means that you go from 60km/h down to 20km/h every corner and then have to kick back up to speed before going through the whole process again. The riders at the front are already accelerating away before the riders at the rear have made it to the corner. It's really easy to say you have to ride at the front but very hard to do because everyone has the same idea. Melbourne turned on it's charm and with the mercury rising to the low thirties thee conditions for the thousands of spectators lining the course were ideal. The crowds were pretty impressive really, no doubt they were increased by all the cyclists turning up for the "Round the Bay in a day" ride taking place on the following day.

HERALD SUN TOUR STAGE FIVE - INDIVIDUAL TIME TRIAL

Only seconds seperated the top ten on the general classification heading in to the time trial. At 16 kilometres long you could be excused for thinking that the time differences wouldn't be that great but the difficulty of the course meant that if riders weren't on top of their game they could easily lose their place on CG. The Praties brain trust in Dom McNamara and Fatty VanDerAa had concluded after months of calculations and deliberations that the best wheel combination for the course was Zipp Sub 9 rear and Zipp 1080 front. Richies bike was also decked out with a 54/42 chainring combination as we thought it was possible to gain an advantage on the downhill sections this way.

HERALD SUN TOUR STAGE FOUR - ALEXANDRA TO MT BULLER

Todays stage finished on top of the hors category climb of Mt Buller.CSC were in a strong position with O'Grady yellow and Lars Bak only seconds back in fourth place. The most likely scenario was for a non-threatening break to go up the road and then the GC contenders would sit and wait for the final climb for the real race to start. Early on a group of 9 managed to get away, the highest rider on GC was Chris jongerward more than 6 minutes down so the break was allowed some room. Brad McGee and Lasse Bockman of CSC went to the front to control the peloton and keep the break within reach. Dan had made the break for the team and managed to win a sprint and get second in another to claim a bit of pocket money and help pay for the teams fines (long story). Also in the break were Luke Criland and Chris Jongerward (Panasonic), David Kemp and Pat Shaw (National Team), Cameron Jennings (Budget Forklifts), Craig McCartney (S&L) and Eric Bolley (Bicycle Superstore) and Dan Holt (Type One).

HERALD SUN TOUR STAGE THREE - WARRAGUL TO MARYLANDS

The longest day at 130km with a 30km climb thown in 10km from the finish. It was going to be really tough, the course didn't offer any chance for recovery so it was definately going to be a case of the cream rising to the top. The attacks were relentless until two riders were allowed to gain a small advantage and the peloton settled down with CSC riding tempo at the front to keep things under control. The breaks advantage never made it past more than a minute and a half, so it was clear that the smack was going to go down on the days final 30km climb.

HERALD SUN TOUR STAGE TWO - INVERLOCK TO WARRAGUL

Stage two was a one hundred and eighteen kilometre jaunt from the coast back inland with two categorised climbs in the first half of the race. With a stage profile that barely showed any flat ground those in the know were predicting carnage.

HERALD SUN TOUR STAGE ONE - TRARALGON TO INVERLOCK

Windy wind, really windy wind, not really what we were after. It was really blowing today and the race was going to be an absolute smash fest. team meeting - Stay at the front - reinterated about 10 times. Pretty simple really. The stage was 130km in length with two intermediate sprints and two KOM's. While the climbs weren't really that selective the wind added another dimension and meant that if you had been shuffled on the climb over the top when you hit the wind there would be know where to hide.

HERALD SUN TOUR PREFACE - SUNNY TRARALGON

The Jayco Herald Sun Tour kicked off today in Traralgon and whilst the race would have no bearing on the overall the fact that it was being shown live on Channel Ten meant that teams were keen to get a bit of time on the teley keep sponsors happy and blow the cobwebs out of their legs. The Tour Village was in full swing with the support races keeping the crowd entertained whilst they waited the arrival of the pro teams. The SRAM boys were out in force and had a set up that was pretty impressive. The whole workshop area looked like it was lifted out of a bike shop whilst the SRAM Cafe, complete with great coffee and undercover seating was proving to be a real hit. It was great to catch up with Snozza, Rob and the boys and we left the enclosure decked out in all the latest offerings from the company that is turning road componetry on it's head with all the innovations that they have introduced over the last few years. The race was on from the gun and although the outcome wouldn't have any bearing on the overall it would decide who would wear all the classification jersies, reason enough to ride for the win.

PRATIES RICHIE PORTE WINS THE TOUR OF TASMANIA - DAY SIX

The first Tasmanian to win since Grant Rice way back in the late eighties, Richie Porte won the tour in style winning two stages, both solo and comfortably dealing with every challenge he faced. Richie was quick to heap praise on the team "The boys were incredible this week, they gave everything they had and scrificed their own chances so I could win, they were awesome." Nathan Clarke also won two stages and managed third place overall in the Scody Cup behind Leigh Howard and Bernie Sulzberger.

KING OF THE MOUNTAIN, KING OF THE TOUR - TOUR OF TASMANIA DAY FIVE

Praties Richie Porte put in a royal performance today taking out the tours queen stage to the summit of Poatina. Richie capitalised on the strong work of his team mates who put in an awesome performance driving the pace in the strong cross winds in the lead up to the climb and splitting the bunch in the process. Richie won the stage in style winning solo in the yellow jersey after leaving all his rivals in his wake on the slopes of the climb.

NATHAN CLARKE TAKES STAGE 6 RICHIE PORTE TAKES STAGE 7 - TOUR OF TASMANIA DAY FOUR

In what has to be our most successful single day of any tour to date The Praties Cycling Team won both stages on offer today as well as the most Aggressive jersey, the leading Tasmanian jersey and the Yellow jersey. The team really put on a show today and will head into tomorrows queen stage up to the summit of Poatina full of confidence and self belief.

STANLEY TO DISMAL SWAMP - TOUR OF TASMANIA DAY THREE

The Nut viewed from the top of the nasty climb

You would struggle to find a better backdrop for a stage. Sunny downtown Stanley hosted the start of todays fifth stage of the Tour of Tasmania. The course consisted of eight laps of a 7.9km circuit then a 60km stretch to Dismal Swap. Each lap the riders would have to contend with a steep climb from the sea level up to the top of the bluff, once at the top riders were greeted with a false flat and a strong cross wind that threatened to rip the field apart. From there it was a rapid decent back in to town to complete the lap.

MARIST COLLEGE SMASH FEST - TOUR OF TASMANIA DAY TWO

Picturesque yes, hilly yes, dangerous yes, stupid yes! So this mornings criterium ticked all the boxes? The course was set on the side of Marist College, basically up one side then down the other with speed humps and dodgey corners thrown in to really make it interesting. The only saving grace was going to be that the field would split early on and hopefully the smaller groups would add a small degree of safety. The Praties boys decided to take the bull by the horns and push the pace early and after four laps the field had been reduced to less than 30 riders with smaller chase groups littered all over the course.

HOMETOWN HERO TAKES POPULAR WIN - TOUR OF TASMANIA DAY ONE

Praties Nathan Clarke took a brilliant win in this afternoons second stage in front of hundreds of cycling savy locals keen to catch a glimpse of this years tour. Clarkey looked the goods in the first stage as well but suffered a mechanical failure in the second last lap to finish out of the placings and Scody Cup points.

WILL CLARKE TAKES MAIDEN NRS VICTORY IN GOULBURN TO CITI PRATIES WINS TEAMS

6 September 2008 Tour of Murray River Stage 13

81.3km Merbein to Wentworth. This race was one that we needed to do well on. Nath was sitting in fifth only one second behind Ben King (Budget Forklifts) and 13 seconds behind Bernie Sulzberger (Virgin). The plan was to keep the race together to enable Nath to have a crack at the intermediate sprints. The roads were very narrow so position was very important. The boys had to dig deep to ensure that anything that went up the road we were in.

**Hitman Makes the Podium Again**6 September 2008 Tour of Murray River Stage 12

Brad Norton took out third in today's Merbein Criterium. Brad and Will Clarke found themselves in a break of 13 riders early in the stage. The VIS team of race leader Leigh Howard were happy to let it go as they had the highest placed rider in Langedyk so the responsibility fell to Virgin to keep things in check.

**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 month of bad eating.

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!

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4 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.

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4 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!

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3 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.

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2 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.

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1 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.

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1 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.

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31 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.

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31 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.

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17 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.

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16 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.

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15 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.

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Praties 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.

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Lakes 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.

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**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.

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Lakes 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.

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!!!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.

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Eagle 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.

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Eagle 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.

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Eagle 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.

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Eagle 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.

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Eagle 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.

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Derwent 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

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Melbourne 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.

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Baw 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.

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Mersey 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.

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Mersey 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.

Results

Mersey 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............

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Tour 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.

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Tour 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. Read More

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. Read More

Tour de Perth Preview

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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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.

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Northern Camp Report

Day three saw the team heading to the north west of Tassie to reccie the stages of the upcoming Mersey Tour.

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Praties 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 Video

Praties 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.

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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.

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NEWS 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!

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27th 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.

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26th 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.

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25th 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.

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24th 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 åÃå£the aggressive Tasmanian at it again!!åÃå¤ 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.

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23rd 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.

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22nd 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 90kmåÃå¢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.

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Praties 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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