31.08.12

Tour of Murray River - PureBlack Racing have recovered from the Tour of the Great South Coast and are ready to take on the Australians once again at the Tour of Murray River.

pureblack racing

Friday 31st August - PureBlack Racing have recovered from the Tour of the Great South Coast and are ready to take on the Australians once again at the Tour of Murray River.

The eight-day tour begins on Sunday with a 36km criterium around Yarrawonga, and finishes the following Sunday with a 60km criterium through Swan Hill. The 16 teams will cover 782.8kms over the course of the Tour of the Murray River, which is celebrating 17 years of being a part of the Scody Cup this year.

During the Tour of the Great South Coast, PureBlack Racing suffered injuries due to aggressive Australian racing, and the wild weather that was thrown at them, and hope that they can avoid the same fate over the next eight days.

“We had a rough time at the last tour, it was just a tour full of bad luck for us, and we are hoping that we can bounce back from that and produce some stage wins,” said Director Sportif, John “Harry” Harris.

“The team is in a really good frame of mind now and if the moon and clouds are shining the right way we should be able to produce some results.”

PureBlack Racing will once again be up against top Australian teams including Genesys Wealth Advisors and Drapac Pro Cycling; both teams have shown great strength in the Tour of the Great South Coast.

The racing style in Australia is very different from the style of racing in other parts of the world but Harry hopes that after one tour the team has adapted now and are ready to show the Australians they can be just as aggressive in the peloton.

“It is difficult to go through the different hemispheres and adapting to the new styles, but the boys are finding their legs,” said Harry, “The Scody Cup is designed for the Australian programme and it is up to us to fit in with them.

“In particular racing the criteriums are different to those in North America however I am still confident we have the horsepower to produce results.”

The five-man team for the Tour of Murray River is:

Joseph Cooper
Louis Crosby
Taylor Gunman
James McCoy    
Roman van Uden (Captain)

The Tour of Murray River has a prize pool of AUD$40,000 over the ten criterium and four road races.

Day One hosts two stages; the 30km criterium around Yarrawonga followed by a 77.8km road race from Yarrawonga to Cobram.

AVANTI RIDERS