2021 Federation UNI Road National Championship
InForm TMX MAKE put everything on the line at the recent Road national championships, With our riders winning more medals than we can poke a stick at. After many months of training and hard work, this is what we were focused on going into 2021, we came here to win, and winning is just what we did!
U23 & Elite Time Trial
With a strong start to the week in the U23 Time Trials, Carter Turnbull rides an incredible 36:50.52 into 1st place, followed by Conor Leahy at 37:35.71 for 2nd. Although Tom Benton didn’t get the result he was hoping for, he still rode a strong time, putting him into 5th place
We backed Luke Plapp’s decision to enter the Elite category, and we knew it was going to be an interesting day for InForm TMX MAKE. Although his age firmly placing him in the U23, Luke Plapp a 2-time U23 time trial champion wanted to take up the challenge of riding the Elite Catagory, and we were excited to see how Plapp would ride along-side teammate Kell O’Brien. Waiting on the finish line the suspense was real, with Kell rolling in with a 47:11.72 putting him in second, and Luke obliterating the field with a time of 46:00.73.
Criterium
Next up was the Inaugural Sturt Street criterium and Ballarat was more than ready to come to life, after a quiet time through the lockdown. With the entire street bustling, they kicked off the day with the Fixed-gear race, where I attempted to defend my national title from last year, falling short by inches I took 2nd place.
Later that afternoon once the juniors and women’s racing had all wrapped up, they kicked off a fiery and fast U23’s race. With everyone so hungry and enthusiastic to win, it made for a very interesting race. Our riders played aggressively early game, but it wasn’t enough to keep us in the race for the podium. Blake Quick took 8th place, but the spirits were still high going into Saturday’s Road racing.
The Elite men’s field was stacked with australia’s best, and with Kell and Steele being the only ones in the race, Pat Lane made the last-minute decision to jump in and give it a hot crack. With early attacks made by multiple riders, Kell made sure to put himself out there as much as possible to hopefully land himself in a solid break. Nothing stuck until the late game where Kaden, Nicholas, and Luke attacked. Pat made one last effort to help kell bridge but they were too far gone, putting Kell out on his own and landing him 4th place.
U23 Road Race
The U23’s road race has always been an important one, as it gives our young riders the opportunity to truly test themselves against the fastest and the fittest riders in Australia.
Our line up of riders consisted of:
- Carter TURNBULL
- Thomas BENTON
- James MORIARTY
- Conor LEAHY
- Blake AGNOLETTO
- Josh DUFFY
- Zachary JOHNSON
- Rudy PORTER
- Blake QUICK
- David WILLIAMS
The race began, and on the first climb out of Buninyong Town center, Tom and a few others attacked and formed a solid break that stuck for the entire race. As the laps counted down, riders in the break slowly fell off leaving Tom out solo. With only 1 lap to go, some riders attempted to bridge across to Tom but were quickly shut down by Rudy Porter and Carter Turnbull. Tom Still out the front from lap 1 crossed the finish line in 1st place, Followed by our team riders Rudy and Carter for 2nd and 3rd. An unbelievable triple podium, making for a fairytale finish to a great U23 road race.
Elite Road Race
The Elite men’s race lineup consisted of Mark O’Brien, Steele Von Hoff, Kelland O’Brien, and Fresh from the U23 category and hungry for a win, Lucas Plapp.
Multiple attempts at forming a break unfolded early until finally one stuck carrying Kell and 8 others, only to be eventually reeled back by the main peloton. Before the halfway point attacks made by Sam Welsford and Brendan Johnson to bridge. As some riders folded back, some riders including Lucas Plapp Bridged to the Lead group.
Lucas Plapp Joined his track teammate Sam Welsford alongside Brendan, and with 64km to go and a third of the race left to cover Luke made his move. All three riders attacked hard and eventually were left when Lucas rode solo off the front.
Slowly the strength of the peloton pulled back Plapp’s solo break, with only a few laps to go it was anyone’s game, but we all had our eye’s on Kell O’Brien as he found himself in a well planned solo attack only to be shut down with 5km to go. 9 riders remained separated from the peloton, including Mark O’Brien, Kell O’Brien, Harper, Meyer, Durbridge, Ewart, Whelan, Nick White, and Timothy Roe.
With Roe crashing out in one of the last corners into the Buninyong finish, riders dashed to establish themselves. Kelland went hard at the line with Cameron Meyer, but missed the win by less than an arm’s length.
Such an incredible start to the year for InForm TMX MAKE with stellar performances from all of the team. Everyone showed perseverance, all-in for the team attitude, and comradery the entire week. We hope you’ve enjoyed the recap and photo coverage.
Photo content by @derelrebel_