2008 News and Stories
LLOYD DOES IT SOLO TO CLAIM AUSTRALIAN CROWN
Victoria's Matthew Lloyd is used to celebrating victories with his high profile professional team mates Robbie McEwen and Cadel Evans but today the 24 year old Silence Lotto rider celebrated a major win of his own when he outrode a world class field to be crowned Australian Champion in the road race at the Scody 2008 Australian Open Road Championship in Ballarat.
CANBERRA "CANNON BALL" OENONE WOOD BOUNCES BACK
Canberra “cannon ball” Oenone Wood bounced back from an ordinary criterium series and start to the Scody Australian Open Road Cycling Championships today to claim her fourth national title. Wood showed perfect stamina and expert timing to win the women’s 102 km road race on the famed Buninyong circuit outside Ballarat on the third day of the titles.
PREPARATION THE KEY FOR OLYMPIC GAMES HOPEFULS
Australia's leading road cyclists have this week been put through their paces at a Cycling Australia pre-Olympic Games screening camp in Ballarat.
HANSEN SCORCHES TO TIME TRIAL WIN AT SCODY 2008 AUSTRALIAN OPEN ROAD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Queensland road professional Adam Hansen today claimed his first national title with an impressive ride in hot conditions to win the 39 kilometre Mars Australian Men's Time Trial at the Scody 2008 Australian Open Road Championships near Ballarat, Victoria.
WOMAN WITH BIG ENGINE' TRIUMPHS AT THE SOCDY AUSTRALIAN OPEN ROAD CYCLING CHAMPIONSHIPS
Victorian Bridie O'Donnell has claimed her first Australian Championship with a convincing win in the 28 kilometre Mars Australian Women's Time Trial at the Scody Australian Open Road Cycling Championships near Ballarat in Victoria.
KING TAKES OUT TITLE
Darwin cyclist Matt King (SouthAustralia.com-AIS) claimed the U23 men's time trial in a nail biter, defeating his SouthAustralia.com-AIS team mate Ben King (WA) by less than a second, with multiple junior track World Champion with Travis Meyer (WA) third completing a SouthAustralia.com-AIS trifecta.
CHAMPIONSHIPS ALREADY BREAKING RECORDS
The racing is yet to begin but the Scody Australian Open Road Cycling Championships are already breaking records with 370 entrants signed up to compete.
GILLETT LEADS RIDE WITH THE CHAMPIONS
Simon Gillett, husband of Amy Gillett and avid cyclist will lead this year’s Ride with the Champions recreational ride as part of the 2008 Scody Australian Open Road Cycling Championships this weekend in Buninyong.
The ride will take place from 8am on Sunday 13 January and is a fun way for recreational cyclists to cycle the acclaimed Buninyong circuit and warm up the course just hours before the elite Men’s Road Race, where national and international competitors will battle for line honours.
MICHAEL ROGERS HEADLINES CLASS FIELD FOR SCODY AUSTRALIAN OPEN ROAD CYCLING CHAMPIONSHIPS
Three time World Champion, Michael Rogers, will return to Australia next Tuesday to contest the Scody Australian Open Road Championships being in Ballarat from the 9th to 13th of January.
Rogers last raced the Australian Open on the Bunninyong circuit in 2003 when he was the silver medallist behind Queensland's Ben Day in the time trial and eighth in the road race won by Stuart O'Grady. This time his preparation has been in a northern Italian winter where the mercury has struggled to stay above zero degrees celsius, but he says he's looking forward to challenging for the coveted green and gold jersey of Australian Champion.
"Not having raced since September 2007 I can only go on training performance which I'm confident is at a good level," said Rogers who will race the 2008 season with the ProTour team High Road Sports. "I haven't been able to ride the Nationals in the past few years due to team comitments, so I'm very excited to have the chance to be able compete for the green and gold jersey.
NIKO ADDS A FINNISH TOUCH
Fresh off the plane from icy Finland, Cycle City’s newest recruit Niko Meriläinen will be competing in next week’s Scody Australian Road Cycling Championships.
Meriläinen will have to battle with the Australian heat having spent the Finnish winter training in temperatures around minus 10 and in up to five centimetres of snow.
Dubbed the ‘Star from Finland’ by his team-mates Meriläinen, 24, first raced in Australia last year during a six-month exchange program when he studied at the University of Ballarat.
2008 TOUR DOWN UNDER RECOGNISES AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL CHAMPION
In an event first the 2008 Australian Champion will gain automatic selection in the Australian National UniSA team for the Tour Down Under.
Six riders were today confirmed for the team with the seventh being decided on 13 January at the end of the Australian Open Road Championships in Ballarat. The rider who wins the elite men’s road race will automatically be added to the team.
KING OF THE MOUNTAIN, LAPTHORNE, RETURNS TO DEFEND TITLE
Darren Lapthorne, the winner of the 2007 Australian Open Road Cycling Championships, will be back in Buninyong next month to defend his title against Australia’s best riders.
The Scody Australian Open Road Cycling Championships will be held from Wednesday 9 to Sunday 13 January with the Men’s Road Race on the final day.
Lapthorne said he always looked forward to the Championships with its mixture of uphill climbs, fast winding downhills and a flat sprint to the finish.
He said it is a real test of your strength and stamina.
SANDERS FACES TOUGH ASSIGNMENT
David Sanders, head coach of the Victorian Institute of Sport and national selector for the last nine years has no illusions about the task confronting the Olympic selectors at the up-coming Scody Australian Road Cycling Championships.
OLYMPIC NOMINATION RIDING ON NATIONAL TITLES
Cyclists contesting the 2008 Scody Australian Open Road Cycling Championships at Ballarat will have their eyes on Olympic selection.
The Championships, to be held from January 9 -13, will serve as part of the nomination process for the Beijing Games.
Cycling Australia Chief Executive Officer Graham Fredericks said today the Championships has been extended to five days to comply with nomination criteria to the Australian Olympic Committee.
