It is with regret that I am announcing an indefinite break for the Punish The Pedals website.

I am relocating to Western Australia in the coming weeks as a new work venture takes me back to my homeland.

We will be looking at options for re-launching this site with new features and more up to date and current GOLD COAST cycling information with new contributors and guest columists as well as up to date info from your local clubs.

Please stay tuned to our facebook page for updates on where we are up to with a new launch date. For now we will do our best to add more detailed updates and local race information to the Facebook page.

Thank you for joining us – we will be back shortly!

FOR ALL YOUR LOCAL CLUB RACING INFORMATION VISIT THESE SITES

Murwillumbah cycle club – WEBSITE

Gold Coast Gold Stars – WEBSITE

Gold Coast CATS – WEBSITE

Tweed Cycling – WEBSITE

Jason Hardy from Edge Jewellery designs in Byron is selling a Great Teschner TT alloy frame with a stunning set of X-treme wheels to match!

If your interested the frame and wheels are on Ebay HERE or give Jason a call at Edge Jewellery Designs, Byron bay on 0416244653.

And there off and running – TDF 2011 is away! last nights stage  was filled with nervous riders, plenty of crashes and a surprise leader board at the end of the day.

Pre stage favourites included Thor Hushovd and Mark Cavendish. Phillipe Gilbert and Fabian Cancellara were always in with a chance but the backers were favouring the sprinters!

A 3 man breakaway started proceedings from the drop of the flag and lasted until around 20km to go. The race was plagued with a series of crashes and nervous mistakes marked by a major crash with around 8km to go. A spectator on the side of the road took her chance at 15 minutes of fame and was cleaned up by an Astana rider (hopefully Vinokourov) who proceeded to bring down half the peleton and split the field. From then to the finish line it was full gas for both the new lead group and the chase group.

The lead group had a number of quality riders including Cadel Evans, Chris Horner, Geraint Thomas and Thor Hushovd so the pace was on. Behind them Contador was stuck in no mans land with a group of unorganized panicking cyclists losing time on the lead group. With just over 3.0km left another crash saw Andy Schleck and Brad Wiggins and most of the other GC contenders join the Contador group and finish 1:20 down on the leaders. (those involved in the last crash were given the same time as the lead bunch)

Up front the race was not as well designed for the sprinters as it was made out to be. With a solid climb nearly 2km in length and heading up around the 240m mark to the finish line the likes of Cavendish and Petacchi had no chance of sticking it to the stronger riders in the field.

Fabian Cancellara had the first swipe jumping of the front in a spirited attack with around 1km to go however Spartacus’s legs gave out on him seconds later leaving Phillipe Gilbert on his wheel with no where to go but on to the line. A little earlier than he would have liked but Gilbert jumped and never looked like being caught.

The exciting news for the Aussie fans – Cadel Evans finished 2nd taking 1:20 out of Contador and Sam Sanchez. Unfortunatley due to the last crash being with in 3km of the finish Schleck and Wiggins are only 6 seconds down on Cadel – Go Cuddles!

STAGE RESULTS

GC STANDINGS

Well the early part of the season has come and gone, hopefully everyone is fighting fit and racing hard.

But how well are you racing? Is your fitness lacking that little bit of sting that could bump you up a grade or get you your first win of the season?

Why not have your fitness levels tested by a professional testing company based on the Gold Coast?

AusFitnessTest.com is based in Burleigh heads and offer a massive range of various tests to suit everyones needs! This is the perfect time of the season to head in and check how well you are actually travelling! Use your results as a base to build the rest of your season from!

Check out the AusFitnesstest.com website at this LINK where you’ll find all the info you need on any test your after. Check out Dan Mckenzie’s (proprietor) other website DanMck.com.au for some great photos and press releases.

As many of you will know local Gold Coast legend Brendan Brooks (OK – so he’s not exactly from the gold coast but he’s been here long enough for us to claim him as one of our own!) has been racing in Europe for the past couple of months living the dream racing through out belgium, Paris and all those other cycling mecca’s!

Many of you will know Brooksy as the tall bike mechanic from Shortis Cycle and Tri in Tweed Heads, Brooksy raced for the Shortis racing team for a couple of years and won last years Elite male QLD State championships and was 2nd in the Grafton to Inverell as well as smashing almost everyone on the coast for the past couple of years!

Brooksy grabbed a top 10 over the weekend in Belgium racing at Horebeke and from all reports has been getting some good results and racing most weeks. A certain reprieve for the A graders on the Goldie!

Brooksy is off to race a 5 day tour in France called the Tour Nivernais Morvan. If you speak French the website is here for you to take a look at. WEBSITE

I’ll try to let you all know how the big fella is travelling over there but I am basically stealing info from his Facebook page… If your on FB track him down and “friend” him – there are a few great shots of him racing over there on his page.

GO BROOKSY!

They say a week is a long time in cycling… Well i’m not sure who said it or when but i’m sure somewhere a commentator has thrown that cheap cliche into the mix.

I’ve been away on a lovely cruise through the pacific ocean around Vanuatu and New Caledonia for the past week or so without a hint of decent internet connectivity to check up on the world of pro cycling.

So upon returning yesterday I was keen to see how far ahead of the world Cadel Evans would be in the Critérium du Dauphiné and how well my outside favourite Joaquim Rodriguez was travelling in the mountains.

To my utter surprise British Douchebag Brad Wiggins is actually winning the tour! I think its the first time I have seen Wigglet not completely disappoint anyone who has paid any interest in his career. (You may be able to tell i’m not a fan of wiggins! No one ever said this site wouldnt show a biased opinion!)

So to recap after stage 6 here are the current results

General Classification

Prologue – Lars Boom (Rabobank)

Stage 1 winner - 144km – Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega pharma lotto)

Stage 2 winner - 179km - John Degenkolb (HTC-Highroad) (Vinokurov leading tour)

Stage 3 winner – 42.5km – Tony Martin (HTC Highroad) (Brad Wiggins leading tour)

Stage 4 Winner – 173.5km - John Degenkolb (HTC-Highroad) (Brad Wiggins leading tour)

Stage 5 Winner – 210km - Christophe Kern (Europcar) (Brad Wiggins leading tour)

Stage 6 winner – 192.5km – Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) (Brad Wiggins leading tour)

Stage 7 – Final stage – 117.5km

A couple of surprises in the top 5, perhaps a good showing and a sign of surprises to come pre TDF? I still cant see Brad Wiggins finishing top 10 at this years tour but you never know hey? Aussie hero Cadel Evans looks strong and controlled in the key lead up race before his tour campaign kicks off and hopefully we can see him giving Cuntador a run for his money next month.

Now over to the Tour De Suisse. Stage 1 was the Prologue over 7.3km and for the 5th time the king of TT Fabian Spartacus Cancellara took line honours ahead of Tejay Van Garderen and Peter Sagan. With 8 stages still to come the racing will only heat up from here but its great to see Cancellara in good form coming up to Tour De France time, should be a great battle between Spartacus and Tony Martin for TT honours in July.

The current leader board at the tour de suisse after the first stage

From an outsiders point of view I have been far more wrapped up in whats happening at the Tour of California that the Giro. There is so much hype surrounding the TOC, the quality of racing has been very high class and it has been very well publicised.

The first stage of the ToC was abandoned due to torrential rain and dangerous conditions, each stage from then has been contested. Stage 2 went to Ben Swift from SKY, Greg Henderson also from SKY took stage 3 before Chris Horner from Radio Shack dominated the first climbing stage winning stage 4. Stage 5 went to youngster Peter Sanan from Luquigas-Cannondale in a very tight sprint. Stage 6 TT went to David Zabriski from Garmin Cervelo in a course record and dominant performance.

At the end of the TT stage 6 the overall GC standings are currently below. With Saturday’s stage including some serious climbing on Mt Baldy it could be a stage for a breakaway that could win the tour, or Horner could just smash the peleton to pieces as he did on the Seirra roads in stage 4. Smart money is on Horner to keep the leaders jersey into the Finish on stage 8.

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 6

Well stage 13 is complete and Alberto Contador is stretching out his lead in what is starting to look like a very one sided tour.

Last nights stage 13 included a ripper of a final 20km climbing the Grossglockner, it was meant to be the beginning of a shake up for the GC riders. The shake up didnt eventuate as Contador simply rode away from Scarponi, Nibali and one else that seemed to fancy themselves as a contender for the overall lead.

As we saw a couple of stages ago on Mt Etna the only man capable of sticking with Contador in the mountains is the mini man José Rujano from team Androni Giocattoli. Contador attacked around half way up the climb, Scarponi responded and grabbed contadors wheel but was dropped quicker than Llyod Flanders popularity! Rujano managed to stick with Alberto and even came through to take a couple of turns.

Rujano was rewarded for his strong ride with a gifted win from Contador. It was a piece of fine sportsmanship from Alberto to give the stage win to Rujano who deserved the accolades after strong performances in both mountain stages so far. Contador i’m sure could have out kicked Rujano for the win but graciously let the Argentinean rider take a popular win.

John Gadret claimed 3rd and Hubert Dupont 4th. The big names again disappointed and it looks like a one man tour with the rest racing for 2nd.

Stage 13 photos – HERE and Graham Watsons pics HERE

Finishing video HERE

STAGE 13 Results

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER ROUND 13

POINTS

KOM

SPRINT

YOUNG RIDER

TEAMS

Here is a brief look at the races each Gold Coast club are hosting for the next few weeks.

LINKS TO EACH CLUB

MURWILLUMBAH

GOLDSTARS

GOLD COAST CATS

MURWILLUMBAH CYCLE CLUB

SATURDAY 21ST MAY 2011

Johns Series Round 3

2:00pm start @ Pat Smith Park on Dulguigan Road Murwillumbah

Brays Ck via Dump Hill/Tyalgum, Chillingham  (ABC) – 80 kms
Dump Hill, Chillingham, (DE) – 60 kms

SATURDAY 28TH MAY 2011

Handicap

2:00pm start @ Pat Smith Park on Dulguigan Road

Tumbulgum, Chillingham, Crystal Creek – 60 kms

SATURDAY 4TH JUNE 2011

Northern Rivers Signs Series Round 3

2:00pm start @ Pat Smith Park on Dulguigan Road Murwillumbah

Bald Mtn, Esau’s x 2, Nobby’s Ck, Urliup Hill (AB) – 75 kms
Bald Mtn, Esau’s x 1, Nobby’s Ck, Urliup Hill (CD) – 65 kms
Bald Mtn, Chillingham, Nobby’s Ck, Urliup Hill (E) – 55 kms

GOLD COAST GOLDSTARS

SUNDAY 29TH MAY 2011

CRITERIUM @ Computer street Arundel

Racing starts at 7:15am

SUNDAY 12TH JUNE 2011

CRITERIUM @ Computer street Arundel

Racing starts at 7:15am

GOLD COAST CATS

SUNDAY 22ND MAY 2011

CRITERIUM @ nerang Circuit, Hope Street Nerang.

Racing starts at 7:15am

SUNDAY 5TH JUNE 2011

CRITERIUM @ Luke Harrop Circuit, Sports drive, Runaway bay

Racing starts at 7:15am

After what the riders have described as a much needed rest day the boys were back on the roads for stage 10.

A couple of sprinters didnt make it over Mt Etna in time and were DQ’d from the tour, namely Robbie McEwan and Graeme Brown. The other big names toughed it out and managed to get over the mountain in time. Some dispute that Cav scored a lift from the team car to get himself over the hill on time but none the less the officials turned a blind eye and Big Cav scored his first win of the 2011 Giro with a text book sprint.

Petacchi went to early and didnt have the legs to hold of Cav -  guess that makes it 1 all?

Here is a video from Youtube of the final 10 minutes of stage 10, sorry its not in english - those videos are much harder to find! 

A quick mention to Greg Henderson the adopted Kiwi/Aussie who took out stage 3 of the Tour of California this morning with a win in a sprint finish where he went from 500m out not realising Ben Swift was not on his wheel and holding his lead to the line! Quality!

Great win Hendo!

Click here to view the embedded video.

STAGE 10 RESULTS

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION RESULTS AFTER STAGE 10

POINTS

KOM

SPRINTS (I cant understand why Petacchi or Cav are not on the list?)

YOUNG RIDER

TEAMS