Australian National Championships

confusedfan said:

A few questions/comments/requests for predictions:

1) can Adam Hansen do the double and win the RR too? (he won the elite TT the other day - looking at the start list IIRC he was the only ProTour rider in it). Otherwise, predictions as to who will win? ... I'm thinking Davis must be pretty motivated to show off, being team-less as he is.

2) is Simon Clarke (U23 RR winner) any relationship to Hilton? (thunder? anyone?)

3) that Team High Road jersey is making a lot of early 2008 appearances, with Roger Hammond winning the British cross champs, Hansen winning the Aus TT title, and now Oenone Wood won the Aus womens RR title ...

1. yes.

Form guide

Hansen
Davis
Gerrans
Cooke
Renshaw
Lapthorne
Walker
Wilson
Kemps
H Clarke

2 No relation. Simon is not a brother of Hilton or Jonno.

3 High Road - High Pro Crit

thunder said:

1. yes.

Form guide

Hansen
Davis
Gerrans
Cooke
Renshaw
Lapthorne
Walker
Wilson
Kemps
H Clarke

You didn't mention Lloyd :p.

confusedfan said:

You didn't mention Lloyd :p.

Lloyd hadn't raced so it was impossible to gauge his form. On the flogging he dealt them today, my guess is his form is good.:p

classic1 said:

Lloyd hadn't raced so it was impossible to gauge his form. On the flogging he dealt them today, my guess is his form is good.:p

Yeah I can't wait until this youngster is unleashed at the TDF. He's done a year of domestique duties (Giro etc), hopefully within a year or two he can support Cadel in the mountains. I've seen him on the climbs and he's very good when the road tilts up.

Eagle of Toledo said:

Yeah I can't wait until this youngster is unleashed at the TDF. He's done a year of domestique duties (Giro etc), hopefully within a year or two he can support Cadel in the mountains. I've seen him on the climbs and he very good when the road tilts up.

not that young, will be 26 this year. Solid rider, 3rd in Baby Giro, I think he will go alright in races like the Giro. Perhaps a solid Tour domestique like Gerrans.

Will not be riding the Tour this year.

confusedfan said:

You didn't mention Lloyd :p.

I wouldn't have mentioned him either...

classic1 said:

Lloyd hadn't raced so it was impossible to gauge his form.

Oh, I know - just couldn't resist the opportunity to bug thunder 😉 .

thunder said:

not that young, will be 26 this year. Solid rider, 3rd in Baby Giro, I think he will go alright in races like the Giro. Perhaps a solid Tour domestique like Gerrans.

Will not be riding the Tour this year.

24, he will be 25 in May.

And in other national championship news, Julian Dean gets to wear white and black instead of orange and blue this year, should be interesting to see how they get the argyle into that jersey...

bump

cyclingheroes said:

24, he will be 25 in May.

Well, whatever his age (that's young by TDF standards - white jersey material) he showed his class on a very tough circuit (48 KM of climbing) and rode away with the Aussie Championships. Check out the list of DNF's. I don't really see domestiquehood in his future when he can climb like that.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2008/jan08/AORC08/?id=results/AORC086

Eagle of Toledo said:

Well, whatever his age (that's young by TDF standards - white jersey material) he showed his class on a very tough circuit (48 KM of climbing) and rode away with the Aussie Championships. Check out the list of DNF's. I don't really see domestiquehood in his future when he can climb like that.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2008/jan08/AORC08/?id=results/AORC086

but the big boys were not there to play.

If they all came to play, if Davis, Ogrady, Evans, Rogers, Mcgee, Walker and Gerrans peaked for the event, he would not have won.

The guy is a fantastic rider, one of the best we have, but he is not gonna win Fleche, nor Liege, nor a Queen stage in a GT. He will be a stage hunter, and win the odd hilly stage in a tour like Austria, or Germany.

He will get multiple wins in his career in Europe, no doubt. But there are not many career winners in Australia, Mcgee, Mcewen, Davis, Cooke have all had regular wins. The rest are left clutching. Ogrady might have been a team leader, but has never one a bunch kick. He is one of the best riders in the peloton however.

If you want to look at Australia's next star, it is either Matt Goss, or Heinrich Haussler. Very similar riders, perhaps Haussler is a better chrono rider and goes uphill a tad better, but there is not much difference, Goss obviously the better trackie.

Sutton could be the next Oscar Freire or a pale imitation.

Be interesting to see what Davis does, cycling fan anon has him going to SA AIS. I never heard that myself. He must be riding for peanuts.

thunder said:

If you want to look at Australia's next star, it is either Matt Goss, or Heinrich Haussler. Very similar riders, perhaps Haussler is a better chrono rider and goes uphill a tad better, but there is not much difference, Goss obviously the better trackie.

So, Haussler is still claimed as an Aussie, is he? I think I read somewhere that he wanted to ride for Australia - is he still an Aussie citizen, or German or both? (At the Tour presentation in London last July, he was the English-speaking Gerolsteiner rider they interviewed)

Quoted post said:

Be interesting to see what Davis does, cycling fan anon has him going to SA AIS. I never heard that myself. He must be riding for peanuts.

Is that the latest rumour? I saw somewhere last week that he was reportedly close to signing a long-term contract - you'd think if he was "riding for peanuts" he wouldn't necessarily sign a long-term contract...