News

Monday 3rd September - It looks as though PureBlack Racing has brushed off the bad luck that was hanging over them at the Tour of the Great South Coast, with a huge effort by the team on the first two stages of the Tour of Murray River.

Managing to avoid a major crash coming into the final stretch of the morning’s 36km crtierium in Yarrawonga, the team placed well and proved they were ready to mix it with the big Australian teams.

“My heart was in my stomach while running to the corner where the crash was,” said Director Sportif, John “Harry” Harris, “All I was thinking was, ‘this can’t be any of my boys, we have already had enough bad luck already,’ thank goodness it wasn’t.”

The crash sent the organisation of the peloton, which PureBlack Racing was controlling, into disarray, creating a mad dash to the finish line.

“The boys were looking strong and in a good position to finish well until the crash threw everything out the door,” said Harry, “But they rode aggressively and we are really starting to show how we are coming together again as a team.”

Just an hour and a half after the conclusion of the criterium, the riders were on their bikes again for a 77.8km road race from Yarrawonga to Cobram.

“It was a bit of a slow race with not much action, but that is always the way with short road races, there is not a lot of time to make any big moves,” Harry explained.

In spite of this, PureBlack Racing still remained active today and found themselves in the breakaway through James McCoy and Joseph Cooper, who finished 5th and 7th respectively. At the conclusion of the first day James and Joe are sitting in 7th and 10th on the individual GC, just 14 and 16 seconds behind leader Anthony Giacoppo (Genesys Wealth Advisors).

“We were matching with the likes of Genesys and Drapac [Professional Cycling],” said Harry, “so all in all it was a really good day for the team.”  Solid finishes from the other team members leaves PureBlack Racing sitting in second place on the Team General Classification, just 20 seconds off the pace set by leaders Genesys.

Harry is looking forward to Tuesday’s road race; with 155.1km to play with, there will be a lot more time for big moves and plenty of action. “This is where we will be having a really big go at the stage win, it will be a more even playing field.”

But first, today’s action sees PureBlack Racing lining up for a 25.5km criterium around Numurkah at 1pm NZT followed by at 82km road race from Numurkah to Nathalia at 3.15pm NZT.