On Top: InForm TM Insight MAKE Leads the NRS after a strong Tour de Tweed
After another weekend of strong and successul riding at Tour de Tweed, the InForm TM Insight MAKE boys head into the business end of the National Road Series on top of the leader board. It’s a position that the team have collectively worked incredibly hard to get to, and DS Pat Lane says it’s no small feat.
“At the start of the year we set out to try and win the NRS. This was always going to be a very difficult challenge, but we wanted the guys to have a winning mentality,” says DS Pat Lane
“Now, we’re over the halfway mark and we’re where we wanted to be. To take the lead is an achievement that I struggle to put into words. Our normal line up has six out of seven riders under 20, so to be taking it to the older riders and leading overall is a real testament to our team spirit and the way the guys have come together to support each other.”
While the team didn’t walk away with the tour win, we now hold the most important spot in the NRS rankings, which was achieved thanks to some brilliant results from our young boys:
The ever consistent Jarrad Drizners won his first stage in the time trial, and is second overall in the general classification.
The increasingly strong Rudy Porter finished the time trial stage in third and collected a young rider’s jersey along the way. Porter was very consistent, finishing in 7th in stage two.
David Williams - another young rider who is constantly improving - finished fourth in the stage one road race, also picking up a young rider’s jersey.
Below, we share some of the highlights from an exciting weekend for the young guns, with commentary from DS Pat Lane along the way.
Photography: Andrew Davies
DAY ONE – FRIDAY
Stage 1: Friday Tyalgum & Stokers Road Race
Distance: 127km
Elevation: 1597m
Aggressive racing early saw lots of splits in the peloton, with David Williams and Rudy Porter in the break of 12. With so many good riders from other teams represented, we sent Nathan Elliott and Jarrad Drizners across after 50kms of racing.
With four riders in the lead group, InForm was heavily marked in the group of 20 riders that blew out to 4 minutes. Even though he was sick, Elliott (as usual) put in some solid team work and got dropped leaving three in front. A small mistake left us on the back foot chasing a three rider break away in Thomas, Lyons and Hill.
Not only did he put in a sold race for his team, but David Williams was also able to cross the line for 4th. This also put the young gun in the young rider’s jersey.
DAY TWO – SATURDAY
Stage 2: Saturday Madura Tea Estate Road Race
Distance: 140km
Elevation: 2232m
Stage two was a tough race with lots of climbs, three of them being through dirt. Our guys marked all the moves early and tried to set up the finish for Drizners to have a sprint. Carter Turnbull spent most of the stage in the breakaway with Carter Beetles. When they were caught, another group got away with 30km remaining and this time Porter was in the move. Porter finished in 7th on the stage, finishing 1st in the young rider’s category.
“The whole team was fantastic at Tour de Tweed. We didn’t win the tour but to see two of our young riders, David Williams and Rudy Porter come of age this week and show they can perform at the NRS was great to see. The team is all about developing young talents and for everyone involved that was like a victory for us.”
DAY THREE – SUNDAY
Stage 3: Individual Time Trial
Distance: 9.95km
Drizners and Porter rode fantastically, finishing in 1st and 3rd respectively.
Interestingly, this was Jarrad’s first NRS win after so many consistent results. Our Raphael Freienstein won this TT last year, so it’s been a good stage for us.
Their fantastic results put both of them in the top six.
From Pat Lane:
“Jarrad and Rudy taking out 1st and 3rd in the Time Trial was phenomenal. This also set up a good general classification position for us with two in the top five.”
Stage 4: Stan Brims Criterium
Distance: 30 laps x 1.4km circuit (42km)
Elevation: flat and fast
We went into the criterium backing in Drizners 100%, and the team rode well to control the race while conserving energy to do a big lead out in the final laps. InForm took it up with six laps remaining and controlled it until the final lap. Unfortunately, Drizners got a flat tire that ended our chances.
“On the side lines, I was getting so nervous watching this one, the boys took it up early and controlled the whole race. It was as good as any lead out I’ve ever seen. When Jarrad punctured in the last lap it was disappointing, but they took a lot of confidence out of this race”
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