05.09.12

PureBlack Racing continue to show their strengths at the Tour of Murray River - Joe Cooper fires more shots in Stage Five

Pureblack Racing Tour of Murray River

Wednesday 5th September: PureBlack Racing continued to show their top form during the fifth stage of the Tour of Murray River yesterday.

Unlucky not to pull off a stage win after dominating breakaways throughout the stage, Director Sportif, John “Harry” Harris, said the team did not put a foot wrong during the 155km road race.

“We had a great day out on the bike, we attacked, we showed we had gas and on three occasions we inflicted damage on the peloton,” said Harry.

This damage came in the form of Roman van Uden, and Joseph Cooper who found themselves in the breakaway that stuck until the last 5km of the course.

It was Roman who made the first move, and Joe, not to be outdone by his captain, made it his job to join his teammate shortly after. Working closely with Taylor Gunman and James McCoy, Joe made another aggressive move into the break – something he is swiftly become renowned for in Australia.

“I spent the first part of the stage at the back, conserving my energy, then coming up to the final hill I asked Taylor and James to protect me from the wind and took off when I had the chance,” said Joe, “I bridged across to Roman coming up the final hill climb with about 20km to go.”

After consolidating his position, Joe waited for his opportunity to move clear of the break, and secure the stage win.

“I knew I needed to be aggressive, Roman and I made some moves in the breakaway, waiting to tests the waters before surrendering, there was a lot of attacking and counter attacking,” said Joe, “Then I just had to make the move, it was head down and boxing all the way into a head wind.”

With 15km to go, Joe was off the front out solo, accruing a 36 second lead, but he knew the guys from Genesys Wealth Advisors would be out to catch him, and he was right. With 5km to go, Genesys, working with Budget Forklifts reigned in the break, setting up sprinter Anthony Giacoppo for his third stage win for the tour.

“Joe was unfortunate not to get the stage win, but when you have eight Genesys riders coming after you while controlling the peloton, it becomes difficult to keep that lead,” said Roman, “We might have missed out in the end, but it was still a really good stage for us.”

“The team did nothing wrong today, they are absolutely riding like a team, good communication, excellent attacking and everybody is getting involved,” said Harry, “We laid it on the line today and all we can do it take from what we did today, and work on it. We are going to keep fighting until we cross the line first.”

PureBlack Racing have definitely made their mark on this tour; Australian riders have commented to Harry at how impressed they are with the PureBlack Racing team and how well they are riding in the Tour of Murray River. Genesys rider, Pat Shaw tweeted after yesterday’s stage: “Joe Cooper - I want what he is having for breakfast”.

Joe was awarded the most aggressive rider award for stage five, giving him the outright lead in the Most Aggressive Rider jersey.

With the Tour of Murray River at the halfway mark, James McCoy is still holding onto his third place on the individual G.C., 37 seconds behind the leader Joel Pearson from Genesys. PureBlack Racing is also sitting in 3rd place on the Team G.C.

Today the teams will compete in two criterium today; the first a 39km race around Moama starting at 1pm NZT, followed by a 36km criterium around Gunbower starting at 4pm NZT.

AVANTI RIDERS