Aussie Riders in the Pro Peloton - Past, Present & Future

[swuzzlebubble]

General discussion of Aussie riders, particularly those without the profile for their own thread.

Aussies listed to start MSR:

M Scotson (BMC) < Big race for a Neo?
S Clarke (CDT)
C Ewan (ORS)
M Hayman (ORS)
S Gerrans (ORS)
M Matthews (SUN) < Might be a chance

Volta Ciclista a Catalunya
R Dennis (BMC)
D Howson (ORS)
A Edmondson (ORS)
B Canty (CDT) < Watching with interest
C Hamilton (SUN)
N Haas (DDD)
L Morton (DDD)
J McCarthy (BOH)
N Shultz (Caja)

 

[Scarponi]

Re: Aussie Riders in the Pro Peloton - Past, Present & Futur

Produce way better cyclists then the Colombian and Portuguese love affair on here but I notice a lot of people hate or dislike them.

 

[Jakob747]

Re: Aussie Riders in the Pro Peloton - Past, Present & Futur

Jack Haig has started the season really well, he is also a discuss talent for sure. I really expect him to ride Vuelta Catalunya, or else I don’t understand the Orica management quite frankly.

I like the look of Brendan Canty´s schedule as well. Catalunya, GP Miguel Indurain, Branbantse Pijl, Amstel Gold and Fleche Wallonne several punchy races which should suit his rider-repertoire perfectly!

 

[GuyIncognito]

Re: Aussie Riders in the Pro Peloton - Past, Present & Futur

Produce way better cyclists then the Colombian and Portuguese love affair on here but I notice a lot of people hate or dislike them.

That's expected. Sports is a massively more important thing in australian society than any other, so they produce better athletes than most countries in most sports. Just like finland produce a lot of good heavy metal musicians, sheer quantity.

Colombian love affair? Debatable, but maybe. Portuguese love affair? No, just an oddly high number of portuguese posters around here

I don't see any hate for australian cyclists in general. I see a lot of dislike for specific individuals like Gerrans and Matthews for riding every race like cowards, but that's about it. Others like Adam Hansen get a lot of consistent praise. In any large group of people like "australian professional cyclists" you're going to have both people who are liked and people who are disliked

 

[Echoes]

Re: Aussie Riders in the Pro Peloton - Past, Present & Futur

Thread headline suggests we may also talk about Aussie past riders but I don't see too much of that in posts.

 

[claude cat]

Re: Aussie Riders in the Pro Peloton - Past, Present & Futur

General discussion of Aussie riders, particularly those without the profile for their own thread.

Volta Ciclista a Catalunya
R Dennis (BMC)
D Howson (ORS)
A Edmondson (ORS)
B Canty (CDT) < Watching with interest
C Hamilton (SUN)
N Haas (DDD)
L Morton (DDD)
J McCarthy (BOH)
N Shultz (Caja)

I'm definitely interested in seeing how Canty goes at Catalunya too. I assume he's in support of Carty and Talansky though and you might not see that much.

 

[swuzzlebubble]

Re: Aussie Riders in the Pro Peloton - Past, Present & Futur

Thread headline suggests we may also talk about Aussie past riders but I don't see too much of that in posts.

Gerro got a mention

 

[RedheadDane]

Re: Aussie Riders in the Pro Peloton - Past, Present & Futur

Produce way better cyclists then the Colombian and Portuguese love affair on here but I notice a lot of people hate or dislike them.

Oh... I dunno. I can name a few Colombians doing pretty well.

Thread headline suggests we may also talk about Aussie past riders but I don't see too much of that in posts.

Also, wouldn't present indicate present riders in general, rather than simply riders who'll happen to take part in the upcoming races?
Though... how are we gonna talk about future riders? We don't know anything about future riders, because they aren't riders yet.

 

[Angliru]

Re: Aussie Riders in the Pro Peloton - Past, Present & Futur

Thread headline suggests we may also talk about Aussie past riders but I don't see too much of that in posts.

You say this after only 3 posts? The day and the thread is young.

 

[greenedge]

Gerrans could have a good chance at MSR too, his sprint seems to have improved over the last few years. I'm wondering if Edmonson will ride the cobbled races too, if so Catalunya seems to be an odd race for him (even though there is a TTT and he has to gain mountainous endurance somewhere).

 

[Echoes]

Re: Aussie Riders in the Pro Peloton - Past, Present & Futur

You say this after only 3 posts? The day and the thread is young.

After one post was enough. Since there's no mention of past riders in the OP I may logically ask the question whether discussions about past great Australian riders do belong here given the fact that I would rather talk about them than about current riders...

 

[RedheadDane]

I think we're supposed to be the ones talking about the riders. After all; listing all past and present Aussie pros would be quite a feat. And that's not even getting started on those future riders...

 

[yaco]

Re: Aussie Riders in the Pro Peloton - Past, Present & Futur

Jack Haig has started the season really well, he is also a discuss talent for sure. I really expect him to ride Vuelta Catalunya, or else I don’t understand the Orica management quite frankly.

I like the look of Brendan Canty´s schedule as well. Catalunya, GP Miguel Indurain, Branbantse Pijl, Amstel Gold and Fleche Wallonne several punchy races which should suit his rider-repertoire perfectly!

Jack Haig is still working his way into race fitness - Will ride Pais Vasco.

Canty as an older cyclist is a gifted climber - Very excited about what he can produce in the next few years - personally think his upcoming schedule sucks - He will be a stage racer.

 

[yaco]

Re: Aussie Riders in the Pro Peloton - Past, Present & Futur

Produce way better cyclists then the Colombian and Portuguese love affair on here but I notice a lot of people hate or dislike them.

Oh... I dunno. I can name a few Colombians doing pretty well.

Thread headline suggests we may also talk about Aussie past riders but I don't see too much of that in posts.

Also, wouldn't present indicate present riders in general, rather than simply riders who'll happen to take part in the upcoming races?
Though... how are we gonna talk about future riders? We don't know anything about future riders, because they aren't riders yet.

I'll help you with future riders - Australia had a bit of lull with new WT riders in the last 2 or 3 years - The next 2 or 3 years should see the introduction of quality Aussie cyclists

- Chris Hamilton
- Mitchell Storer
- Jai Hindley
- Robert Stannard
- Samuel Jenner
- Cyrus Monk
- Ashley Porter ( if they get him off the track )
- Callum Scotson

About half of these riders are climber types and may end up being GC riders - Australia last year won the Teams GC at L'Avenir, as well as winning a stage and having 2 in the top 10 - Potentially this could be a golden 2 or 3 years for Australian road cycling.

 

[yaco]

Re:

Gerrans could have a good chance at MSR too, his sprint seems to have improved over the last few years. I'm wondering if Edmonson will ride the cobbled races too, if so Catalunya seems to be an odd race for him (even though there is a TTT and he has to gain mountainous endurance somewhere).

Gerrans will be the back up protected rider like in 2012 when he won MSR - Remember Goss was the protected rider in 2012 - Orica seems to think Edmondson will be a Ronde Vlaaanderen rider, though I've seen nothing to indicate this in his riding - Orica expect a podium from A.Yates at Catalunya - This will be supported by a strong TT squad in the 41km TTT.

 

[Angliru]

Re: Aussie Riders in the Pro Peloton - Past, Present & Futur

You say this after only 3 posts? The day and the thread is young.

After one post was enough. Since there's no mention of past riders in the OP I may logically ask the question whether discussions about past great Australian riders do belong here given the fact that I would rather talk about them than about current riders...

Honestly, couldn't you have contributed an in depth post about the great Aussie riders of the past to get things started since that is the area of the discussion that you saw being neglected? I know that based on your posting history, you have the knowledge to share. You would be sharing your wealth of knowledge with those, like my self that only can go back as far as Phil Anderson's era.

 

[yaco]

Let me help

- Phil Andersen is criminally under-rated in Australia - Seriously struggles to make the top 10 best riders of all time in Australia - The only rider who I have ahead of Andersen is Evans ( This assessment is Aussie riders who have made it in Europe). Always thought Gilbert had a similar his riding style.

- Going back around 90 years, Hubert Oppermann was a fantastic rider with a glittering palmares. Russell Mockridge was a gifted who tragically had his career cut short by a fatal crash in a race around 60 years ago.

- McEwan must be rated highly with his record in sprints at the TDF and The Giro.

 

[StryderHells]

Re: Aussie Riders in the Pro Peloton - Past, Present & Futur

Jack Haig has started the season really well, he is also a discuss talent for sure. I really expect him to ride Vuelta Catalunya, or else I don’t understand the Orica management quite frankly.

I like the look of Brendan Canty´s schedule as well. Catalunya, GP Miguel Indurain, Branbantse Pijl, Amstel Gold and Fleche Wallonne several punchy races which should suit his rider-repertoire perfectly!

Jack Haig is still working his way into race fitness - Will ride Pais Vasco.

Canty as an older cyclist is a gifted climber - Very excited about what he can produce in the next few years - personally think his upcoming schedule sucks - He will be a stage racer.

I wouldn't say he's an older cyclist only turning 25 in January this year but I guess he's a late comer to the pro peloton. You are dead wrong about his schedule, he had a health set back in Oz which is why he was late to start in Europe but either way his races next up are great. While he does look like a stage racer he has plenty of scope to do well in punchy one day races, I don't think he'll be top shelf but could see him doing well in lesser one day races.

 

[RedheadDane]

Re: Aussie Riders in the Pro Peloton - Past, Present & Futur

Produce way better cyclists then the Colombian and Portuguese love affair on here but I notice a lot of people hate or dislike them.

Oh... I dunno. I can name a few Colombians doing pretty well.

Thread headline suggests we may also talk about Aussie past riders but I don't see too much of that in posts.

Also, wouldn't present indicate present riders in general, rather than simply riders who'll happen to take part in the upcoming races?
Though... how are we gonna talk about future riders? We don't know anything about future riders, because they aren't riders yet.

I'll help you with future riders - Australia had a bit of lull with new WT riders in the last 2 or 3 years - The next 2 or 3 years should see the introduction of quality Aussie cyclists

- Chris Hamilton
- Mitchell Storer
- Jai Hindley
- Robert Stannard
- Samuel Jenner
- Cyrus Monk
- Ashley Porter ( if they get him off the track )
- Callum Scotson

About half of these riders are climber types and may end up being GC riders - Australia last year won the Teams GC at L'Avenir, as well as winning a stage and having 2 in the top 10 - Potentially this could be a golden 2 or 3 years for Australian road cycling.

But those are already riders, making them not future-riders.
Okay, the OP does say "In the Pro Peloton"...

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Re:

Let me help

- Phil Andersen is criminally under-rated in Australia - Seriously struggles to make the top 10 best riders of all time in Australia - The only rider who I have ahead of Andersen is Evans ( This assessment is Aussie riders who have made it in Europe). Always thought Gilbert had a similar his riding style.

- Going back around 90 years, Hubert Oppermann was a fantastic rider with a glittering palmares. Russell Mockridge was a gifted who tragically had his career cut short by a fatal crash in a race around 60 years ago.

- McEwan must be rated highly with his record in sprints at the TDF and The Giro.

Let's get Don Allan in there too, first Aussie to win a stage at the Peace Race, a rolling stage into Kielce in 1973 before turning pro. His career is neatly bookended by two terrible crashes that injured his spine and pelvis.

 

[Echoes]

Re: Aussie Riders in the Pro Peloton - Past, Present & Futur

The first Australians to come to the European scene were Iddo ‘Snowy’ Munro, Don Kirkham, Fred Keefe, Charles Snell and Charles Percey. They would race (and finish!) some the best classics in 1914: Milan-Sanremo, Paris-Roubaix, Paris-Tours(at that time it was what we would call a "monument" today) and the Tour of France. Kirkham did their best performance reaching the 9th place at Milan-Sanremo.

Sir Hubert Opperman is the first Australian to win a classic in Europe: the 1931 Paris-Brest-Paris and a track classic event the 1928 Bol d'Or (24h on the track).

In the 1970's beside Don Allan, you had Gary Clively, Clyde Sefton, Danny Clark and Graeme Gilmore (the two latter were trackies but occasional roadies too). Then came Phil Anderson and Michael Wilson and then Alan Peiper.

 

[RedheadDane]

I know this isn't actually cycling as such, but how was the transport options back in 1914? Simply getting to Europe from Australia could be quite a feat.

 

[StryderHells]

Re:

I "know this isn't actually cycling as such, but how was the transport options back in 1914? Simply getting to Europe from Australia could be quite a feat.

35-40 day trip via the Suez Canal on a boat was what it took to get to Europe from Australia in 1914 with stopovers in Eygpt, Yemen and Sri Lanka

 

[Echoes]

Re: Aussie Riders in the Pro Peloton - Past, Present & Futur

To give you an idea, Sir Hubert Opperman doing some home trainer on the ship to Europe in 1928:

 

[StryderHells]

Re: Aussie Riders in the Pro Peloton - Past, Present & Futur

Sir Hubert Opperman is the first Australian to win a classic in Europe: the 1931 Paris-Brest-Paris and a track classic event the 1928 Bol d'Or (24h on the track).

Opperman has been quoted on a few occasions stating that 1931 Paris-Brest-Paris win was his greatest achievement in cycling and when looking at the boat travel and several other things he would of had to overcome I would tend to agree with him. He also managed to finish 12th in the 1931 Tour which also had another notable performance from an Australian, Richard "Fatty" Lamb was the first and so far only Australian to take home the famed lanterne rouge. This is an often overlooked part of Australian cycling history