October 10, 2006 – Today we had a 158km stage with two fairly substantial KOMs within the first 45 kms. The first 20 kms rolled along very fast as it was a slight downhill, and was combined with constant attacking. Eric Wohlberg made the first major move, but with the presence of one of the GC contenders it came back.

A move of six riders went away shortly after the first KOM including Canada’s Dustin McBurnie and Mark Walters (Navigators). The rest of the team had a comfortable ride to the finish courtesy of Health Net’s tempo, while Dustin’s group was split on the second KOM and was splintered further with him rejoining the pack with 15 kms to go. The winner on the day was the Jayco Australian National Team rider, Trent Wilson.

Tomorrow’s Stage 4 is dead flat and we should see some more cross winds and another major break.

Race Notes:

– The main goal of this race for our team is to gain UCI points.
These run six deep each stage and 12 deep in GC placements Dominique Rollin has gathered 5 points from his fourth place in the criterium

– After the race today we set out with “Snowy”, one of our team
support, on a kangaroo hunt. Since arriving, we have seen lots of
signs indicating their presence but haven’t actually seen one! After
stopping at one golf course, where they are rumoured to be rampant,
our journey took us into dirt backroads of a nature reserve. Just as
we were about to leave we spotted a big ‘joey’ hopping around behind
us. It was too dark to get a good picture but at least we got a
taste. Tomorrow our kangaroo hunt continues.

October 9, 2006 – Here’s my first race report from the Jayco Herald Sun Tour and thanks for reading it. As part of Team Giga-Bike this is an exciting time to be racing and I’m looking forward to being back in Victoria after this race to continue working on next year’s program.

I’m ‘down under’ in Australia’s Victoria province with Canada’s national team competing in the Herald Sun Tour, seven stages over seven days, that attracts top teams from Australia, North America, and Asia. This year Robbie McEwen was the surprise late race entry along with another big name, Henk Vogels, and the usual North American powerhouse teams such as Navigators and Health Net.

Stage 1 was a 60-min criterium in the downtown streets of Shepparton. The course was a narrow one-lane wide road and had some major winds blowing throughout the race. Canada’s Dominque Rollin had a great race by initiating the winning break which was able to narrowly stay away from a fast encroaching pack. Dom attacked with three laps to go, but was reeled in by Karl Menzies of Health Net, and the sprint played out perfectly for Naviagator’s Hilton Clarke who took the win, with Dom finishing a strong fourth. The rest of the guys road well, with Canada’s Eric Wohlberg and Bruno Langlois finishing in the main pack while the rest of us got tailed off and took advantage of the ‘no time cut rule’ for this race.

Stage 2 was 177 kms of pure Austrailian flatness with lots of wind. The first 30 kms were very intense as a break tried to establish. There was a mixture of guttering, attacks, and speeds varying between 45-55km/hr. The break that finally established a gap had all the GC contenders including Dom. Team Canada only had one rider in the 16-man break but we had to be content as it rolled away effortlessly. The main pack led the chase for around 10 kms but was unable to get the gap under 30 seconds and eventually gave up. As the sentiment in the pack was to ride in easy, the gap grew over 20 mins and stayed pretty much the same until the finish.

Dominque was assertive in the three closing circuits of the race attacking during the first time around but was caught by the group which contained the eventual winner Karl Menzies.

The Canadian National Team is riding under the sponsorship of Bike Superstore here in Australia and has the greatest support of any other team. If you see any pictures, look for the guys in yellow.

Tomorrow (Stage 3) consists of two KOMs within the first 45 kms. This should create a fairly intense first hour and various groups will most likely develop.
Thanks for reading.