Australia s34

[Vos]

9    Baron Ferdinand      31   0: 11"   130      Nibbixwoud
17    Sammy Alfier      31   0: 14"   40      Catalonia_Team
18    Pat Foley      32   0: 14"   30      bestiesnegres

Very surprising results !
Alfier dissapointed with a 17th place, but that was overcompensated by the impressive, lucky results of Foley and Ferdinand.

Also surprising ; Hunter was the best Australian in s4 on the 14th place, but dropped in s5 to the 26th place, 0:02" outside the points.
The less experienced but higher ranked other Aussies did not play a role in this race ;
32º Herd and 37º Boit, both on 0:19" what is 4 seconds outside the points. 40º Garza on 0:20" and 59º Butcher on 0:24"

Of course, I'm very satisfied with this unexpected total of 200 points.
In fact, only 3 countries did better ; Italy ( 625 ), Estonia ( 490 ), and Germany ( 300 ).
And Australia could even hold on to the 3rd place in the season ranking. 

TOP 10 season ranking after 4 races =

1.    1.415
2.     995
3.     980 
4.     710
5.     700
6.     560
7.     540
8.     510
9.     480
10.   460

[Vos]

It is still possible in the next 2 days or so, to scout a very good 19yo, but it is rare.
And now the Giro is almost halfway, I assume that most managers already stopped with recruiting and scouting.
Therefore, for the last time this season the u20 lists.

A high number of 19yo's, for a big part caused by 2 new Australian teams ;

RUTEROS ( since 9 sep. )   &  TheWorstTeamisback ( since 14 sep. )

To both teams ; have fun and good luck ! 

There also cyclists of another new team in these u20 lists ; PRUEBA_TEAM.
But that is a not active Latvian team with the scout set on searching in Australia.

Anyway, happy to see 2 new Australian teams, because now we have 7 teams Down Under ( incl. the known semi-active teams ).
No remarks about the quality of the 19yo's, because talent rating and how they will be trained, are both of big influence.



Australia u20 ( 51 cyclists ) :

[Vos]

RACE 5 : Castilla- La Mancha

33ºC

Guadalajara, Spain,
A very strong NT selection, and hopefully many points in this windy race.

Australia NT selection :

Shaun Sifford ( 25 ) Villavante
Colin Ronnald ( 28 ( MortoviaCycling
Emerson Brown ( 28 ) IKIBASQUE
James Crickton ( 29 ) Álvaro_Pino_Boys
Walt Furey ( 25 ) Villavante
Andrew Morse ( 30 ) FrançaiseDesJeux
Bruce Hunter ( 28 ) RHyNeStOnEs
Terrell Clapton ( 27 ) Antequera
Kevin Footman* ( 27 ) Antequera     ( debut )

[Vos]

VICTORY !
After a great race of Australia, teamcaptain Sifford could finish it off with a splendid sprint-á-deux win versus the famous Zarubin.

1    Shaun Sifford      25   0: 00"   300      Villavante
13    Colin Ronnald      28   0: 24"   90      MortoviaCycling
16    Andrew Morse      30   0: 29"   60      FrançaiseDesJeux
17    Walt Furey      25   0: 29"   40      Villavante

Australia scored the most points in this race, even more as in the cobblehills race of previous season, that was won by Sifford also.
The excellent results in this NT race 5, caused that Australia moved up one place in the season ranking ;

TOP 10 season ranking after 5 races =

1.    1.625
2.    1.470 
3.    1.165
4.    1.005
5.      740
6.      710
7.      710
8.      700
9.      540
10.    510

[Vos]

RACE 6 : Imola

38ºC

Forli, Italy
Hopefully some points in this race.

Australia NT selection :

Oliver Lewis ( 26 ) azerite
Virgil Seaman ( 29 ) Álvaro_Pino_Boys
Derek Jons ( 32 ) ZG
Sam Griffin ( 27 ) La_Vie_Claire
Bobby Ferdinand ( 26 ) Turrones
Devin Ronnald ( 26 ) azerite     ( debut )
Pete Dix ( 26 ) KL_Cycling_Team
Shaun Sifford ( 25 ) Villavante
Emerson Brown ( 28 ) IKIBASQUE

[Vos]

8    Oliver Lewis      26   0: 09"   140      azerite
15    Virgil Seaman      29   0: 15"   70      Álvaro_Pino_Boys

Very good results ! 
The season ranking looks promising now, because a podium place should be achievable and Australia can even battle for a WC title.

TOP 5 season ranking with 1 more race to go =

1.    1.685
2.    1.680 
3.    1.545
4.    1.095
5.      910

[Vos]

RACE 7 : Breskens

27ºC

Breskens, the Netherlands,
The start and finish is in the Netherlands, but almost the whole race is in Belgium.
It is up to Pernom to try to get an excellent result in this final race where a WC title is at stake.
What would be a very surprising result, looking at the general strenght of Australia and looking at this not so suited NT calendar.
But so far this season, all NT races went (more than-)very well, and hopefully that is also the case in the crucial final NT race.

All 8 Australians with a golden flat-cobble icon are selected already.
edit ; Today the last one is selected, cobblehills specialist Sifford, who won NT race 5.

Australia NT selection :

Bob Pernom ( 30 ) TeamEuroscalt
Kobe Duncan ( 25 ) TramontanaTeam
Gilbert Ray ( 31 ) Thorboassonarvesen
Angus Dixon ( 27 ) ICSluj
Rick Sand ( 26 ) Galletto
Markus Harris ( 30 ) CajaRuralZamora
Dave Adams ( 30 ) Kroton
Gilbert Logsdon ( 28 ) Blanes
Shaun Sifford ( 25 ) Villavante

[Vos]

2    Bob Pernom      30   0: 00"   250      TeamEuroscalt
10    Gilbert Ray      31   0: 38"   120      Thorboassonarvesen
12    Kobe Duncan      25   0: 38"   100      TramontanaTeam

Excellent results ! 
A superb season because all seven NT races went more than very well, what even resulted in :

FINAL TOP 3 season ranking =

1.    2.150 
2.    1.885
3.    1.785



Australia = world champion !

Maybe this is the most surprising WC title of all 18( ! )times that Australia was world champion.
Big thanks to all managers that trained or raced with Australian top cyclists, who made this Australian world championship possible !

[AJFactoryCycling]

Well done Vos, congrats!

[Vos]

Thanks AJ 

[horace_vr]

NO WAAAAYYY!!! The Vos has done it again! Against all odds! Well done!
You... ahem... outfoxed the opposition!

Unfortunately again not a good NT season schedule, because this is in favor of (flat-)hills-specialists, and Australia is not good at that.
And no expectations this season, because Australia is not good in 4 out of the 7 races, see stars-rating :

[Vos]

Thanks ! 

And the next sentence is certainly not a reply to you, but just a remark in general ;
I still stand by my preview, I think it was very realistic and not exaggerated.

To me a big surprise that a world championship was possible, I guess that Australia had a very lucky season.
And maybe this had a little bit of influence as well ; 

outfoxed the opposition!

[Vos]

I just see that there is a candidate for the NT of Australia ; Tomas ( Teamclaes ). 

Maybe there will be other candidates, but maybe very unlikely because almost never Australia had a NT candidate.
Well, who ever it might be, it will be someone who makes his debut as Australian NT manager,
because besides me, the just 4 others who did this honorable funjob as well, did stop( 2x ) or not available( 1x ) or emigrated( 1x ).

And I'm not a candidate after being NT manager 8x in a row( ! ) now.
In total I was even 17x the Australian NT manager ( = 2x bronze, 3x silver and 12x world championship ).

Important remark =
besides that every week a full NT selection is expected, further more no expectations and no pressure Down Under,
just have fun and enjoy to ride with the best Australians !

Good luck to the new Australian NT manager of season 35. 

[Aurora Australis]

Great job Vos.  We're not going to get a similar result next season, for the simple fact that our entire crop of climbers is heading toward retirement, our remaining TTers have had their final properly competitive season, & our sprinters are weaker.  It's a question of how quickly a suitable replacement guard can come through the ranks.

Btw, for curiously & comparison, are you able to do a current rankings list?

[Vos]

Thanks AA 

On request ;