Awesome Day...

Cadel Evans Event:

To wake up in the morning and find out that newly formed Australian Pro Cycling Team GreenEdge has successfully been granted their 2012-2013 World Pro Tour license was a great start to the day.

To even think that an Australian Pro Cycling Team WILL be riding in the Tour de France is probably the 2^nd best thing that’s happened in Australian Cycling to date, behind Cadel Evans’ 2011 Tour de France win of course.

After an exciting start to the morning with the GreenEdge news, the day was going to get even better!

Mum and I were off to Barwon Heads to manage yet another Corporate Ride with Cadel Evans.

Before going to Barwon Heads however, we had to make a ‘B-line’ for the house of Australia’s best commentator Matthew Keenan.

From there, the trip in the car to Barwon Heads was spent talking cycling, it’s great to hear Matt’s views on all the past and present cycling related news which populates our papers, internet, cycling central and of course our News Feed on Facebook.

Upon arrival at Barwon Heads it was great to catch up once again with Cadel himself as he is my inspiration and such a great role model. It’s also not every day that you get to ride with a Tour de France WINNER.

Before the ride Matt Keenan conducted a Q & A session with Cadel which gave all the corporate sponsors (and myself) a great understanding of the lifestyle and the success of such a champion cyclist and sportsman in general.

We then went for a 40km ride with Cadel and 35 Corporates, I had the opportunity to ride alongside Cadel and have a very nice chat about his training and off season commitments. It was nice to hear him ask about my riding and racing as well and was pleased to hear I have bounced back well from a serious injury. He said “…serious accidents like yours only makes you stronger” – I totally agree! At the end of the ride a few group and individual photos were taken and then it was time for Cadel to continue his training. What a great day at Barwon Heads!

Sandown A Grade Race:

Arriving at Sandown after a stressful day riding with Cadel Evans, it was time to get into race mode and concentrate on the task ahead.

On the start line and even before the race, I seemed to be a lot more relaxed which for me, seems to be the best way for me to achieve results. There is no pressure, no stress, just having fun catching up with mates and fellow competitors – that’s my kind of preparation. In saying that though, when then race takes off, it’s like a switch has been turned on and from that point onwards (to the finish line), it’s head down and race-face on!!!

Early on, the attacks were frequent with some breaks lasting a lap and others being pulled straight back together.

It wasn’t until the 30min mark of the 1 hour race that a break was formed. I was fortunate enough to position myself well in the bunch and make the right move to join the break. There were 8 riders, all relatively strong riders who ‘got the gap’ and we all worked well to establish what was going to be the winning break. It wasn’t until the last few laps that riders started to miss turns and tactically save the legs for the finish. I knew it would come down to a sprint and looking amongst the riders, there was two strong sprinters in the bunch – Nick Walker and Andrew Stalder. I had tired legs from the Tour of Bright on the weekend but my sprint never disappoints me. I took the win in what was a strong sprint to over-power Nick at the finish and cross the line in 1^st place. This was my first win since my serious Toowoomba accident in June which left me in a coma, hospital for 1 week and in rehab for 2 months.

Stay tuned for further results and news updates,

Brenton