Good Results just keep flowing in

Another good week of results for MTR-Racing with Travis Atkins being the standout for the week.

Travis finished 9th overall in the Western Suburbs Enduro on Tuesday with Travis finding great form heading into his first 70.3 race coming up. Travis' strength is his bike and with a very solid run, great results will keep flowing.

Other MTR-Racer was Archie Ball, who once again podiumed in his age group finishing 2nd. Archie is also going to race the 70.3 and has no reason not to perform at his best and finish the race with a PB.

On the crit circuit, MTR has some mixed results with newly promoted "A" Grade ride Xavier Coppock breaking a crank half way through his race, which meant a DNF.

In "B" Grade Rod Stormonth & Marcus Coppock both performed well with Rod doing most of the work again, this time reel in the breakaway. Unfortunately, both riders were spent once the sprint started and finished with the peleton.

The other rider Carla Lawson, competed solidly in her race with the volume of k's showing towards the end of the race and just missed the break for the sprint. This is a very encouraging sign due to being in large volume for New Zealand.

With Geelong 70.3 upcoming and some athletes competing in that, MTR will have a quite week on the track with only Rod Stormonth & Xavier Coppock the likely candidates for racing this week.

Reece Treloar is in heavy training will his season start not to far around the corner as is Chris Soanes who is due to head off overseas within the coming months.

Jason Quigley, also has some major races forthcoming and will get a summary from him over the next few days.

Stay tuned.

Stormy beaten by a storm!!

The only thing that MTR-Racing member, Rod Stormonth was beaten by was the weather. After setting up a handy breakaway in "B" grade, Rod Stormonth's lead was taken from underneath him by a stop in the race 35min in by rain. This enabled the peleton to have the restart at the same time. After being in good form the previous few races working for the team, this race was the perfect opportunity for Rod to take a leadership role and having Marcus Coppock help work for him.

After the restart, Rod was once again on the attack and once again was stopped by the weather and having the race cancelled.

Was a similar situation in "A" grade with Xavier Coppock holding onto the main peleton until the weather ended the race early. This is the second race for Xavier in the top grade and after just getting around in his first attempt, his race 2nd up looked more comfortable for him.

The other MTR-Racing member racing today, Carla Lawson, after suffering a mechanical Thursday night and being unable to finish, showed once again good form for her attempt to qualify for the Hawaiian Ironman at the upcoming New Zealand Ironman in 6 weeks time. Carla once again finished Top 10 overall and was once again first female across the line.

MTR-Racing athletes are becoming a good solid talking point at the crits with regular showings across all grades and also with the help of the main sponsor:

With more regular racing, and riders becoming fitter and stronger, all athletes will progress in no time.

First Win of season for MTR-Racing

Saturday's criterium involving three MTR-Racing members, Rod Stormonth, Marcus Coppock & Xavier Coppock controlled the "B" Grade race to ensure that Xavier could get into a break away early and stay away for the remainder of the race.













Whilst Xavier was in the break away, Rod & Marcus played the team role back in the peleton and helped control the pace so that the breakaway was never going to be caught.



Meanwhile in the breakaway, Xavier & two others continued to keep pressure on right up to the finish. The sprint saw Xavier take line honours and now most likely sees him move in "A" grade.

Below is the write up from the Footscray website:

Carrying on sizzling form from the National Ironman Series, 31 yo Point Cook resident Xavier Coppock blitzed the field to take a strong in in B-Grade's race today. Coppock, fresh from competing in Western Australia, made his intentions clear when he pressured the 32 riders in the bunch straight out of the box, causing quite a few riders to be unceremoniously dropped in the early stages of the race. Coppock, who has spent the last 12 months focusing on Ironman triathlons in preparation for the upcoming New Zealand race, then attacked again and was out on his own for quite a while, which was dangerous enough, but once he was joined by the powerhouse that is the big Darren Henneken and the wily and experienced Phil Tehan and Drew McDonald, the peleton did its best to work hard and bring back the break; but with two experienced time triallers in Coppock and Henneken riding at a tempo that no-one could match, it was "game over" for the chasers. Towards the end of the race, McDonald drifted back into the peleton, and in the mad rush into the final straight he and another rider crashed and both fell heavily; riders dodging left and right in an effort not to join the fallen. In the end, Coppock took the win, well clear of the valiant Tehan and Henneken, taking the strongest of possible wins.

It has been a strong start to the year for MTR-Racing, things are looking very positive for this new and exciting team.

Also, a few more announcements to be made in the upcoming weeks.

MTR-Racing announces new sponsor.

MTR-Racing would like to welcome on board Team Degani as the major sponsor for the year 2010.

MTR-Racing will be racing under the Degani Logo for this year as George from Degani Cafe & Bakeries has kindly joined the team.

Following this announcement 3 MTR-Racing members raced a Criterium at Footscray Cycling club. Xavier Coppock & Rod Stormonth were very active in the "B" Grade race and were unlucky to stick in a winning move with both athletes trying at every opportunity.

Carla Lawson, in her first criterium for many years saw her placed tied for 3rd and also tied for first female in "D" grade.

These three athletes along with Marcus Coppock, Reece Treloar & Chris Soanes will be regular place getters in the upcoming year for MTR-Racing, stay tuned.

Carla finishes 3rd in the Victorian Olympic Distance Championships

Although in heavy training for Ironman New Zealand, Carla still managed to peel off the fastest ride time in her age with a 1hr 4min ride for the 40k.

This set up her race and managed to still run a solid 10k to finish 3rd in the 30-34 age group category.

Carla's next race is the Geelong 70.3 Half Ironman, followed by New Zealand Ironman in March.

Other MTR-Racing athletes were Archie Ball, who placed a very creditable 7th in his age and Travis Atkins, who in his first Olympic Distance race, blasted out a 1 hour ride for the 40k. Travis also finished witha very competitive time of 2hr 10min. Both Athletes are heading to Geelong to compete in the 70.3 also, where MTR-Racing will have 4 Individual Ahletes and 1 Team competing.

COMING SOON!!!

A New concept involving all 3 cycling disciplines.

COMING SOON....

WATCH THIS SPACE....

Athletes & Sponsors to be announced within weeks....