Hanging with AJ!

Many may not have known who Anthony Giacoppo was before the New Year but one thing is for sure a lot more know about him and who he is now... twitter doesn't lie!! (hey alex?)

AJ finished last season off like anyone would dream of, with a victory in the last race of the NRS 2011 Series. He also started the 2012 season off in similar style winning his maiden Bay Criterium Stage, beating none other than state rival Luke 'Turbo Durbo' Durbridge. AJ with form and confidence then went onto win the Australian Criterium Championship in a superb sprinting display in front of a stellar crowd in Ballarat last week. I sat down quickly with AJ at nationals with the aim of learning a little more about him, for both you and I.

Firstly Congratulations on your Australian Criterium Title, must be excited for the year ahead in the jersey?

Thanks, it's exciting to have a nice start to the year, especially with wins in January against great riders, I really enjoyed the bay series and then to go to Ballarat and win was fantastic, it gives me extra motivation for the 2012 season.

Last year was your first year with Genesys Wealth Advisers Pro Cycling Team, what was your most memorable moment?

Not one to be proud of but one that will stick with me for an eternity was when Haasy was 2nd on GC by a few seconds and I rolled him in an intermediate sprint taking away vital bonuses... luckily he went on to take many more in that stage and take an unassailable lead and go onto victory. I ended up third in that tour (Tour of Geelong), which was a nice memory too as it was you and haasy for an all Genesys podium there.

What did you learn from last season?

That team work is essential to win races consistently and that it takes several mates sacrifices to achieve great goals, something I think we did as a team every race in 2011.

What are your goals for 2012 season?

First goal for all of us is to bring home a 3rd successive NRS Teams Classification for Genesys, if we achieve that then I think results will naturally come to the guys in orange. For me personally I hope to have a successful NRS campaign and would like to win a tour overall.

If you could win any race in the world which one would it be? and why?

Giro d'Italia of course! Need i explain why? It's the giro, Giacoppo is Italian and I have always love the race since being on the road. It excites me every year, being there one day would be a dream for sure!

Favourite aussie race and why?

Has to be Tour of Murray, for its length and amount of stages. There is something different that sets Murray apart from the other races, its a bit of a chess game, being so long. A lot of team rivalry and many mental games...

Thanks for the quick chat AJ, everyone will be keeping a close eye on your efforts in 2012 I'm sure.

No worries, look forward to it again soon!

Ciao a tutti

twitter: @shawry_07
@AnthonyGiacoppo

Callin' the Shots with Shawry - I talk with Jono L!

Here is an interview I did with team mate Jono Lovelock, he is an great guy and intelligent, check his blog out too!!!

Everyone in Australian cycling knows Pat Shaw. At this stage in his career he would have to be the most experienced 25 year old racing in Australia. From Victorian Institute of Sport Scholarships, to Junior Worlds Teams, to Herald Sun Tour National Teams, to ripping it up with Italian Amateur teams. He’s been around the block a few times at  least.

He’s got a big heart, big lungs and at times a big mouth. There’s no doubt many people have been on the wrong side of a verbal contest with ‘Shawry’. Nonetheless, cycling is a tough sport and it’s this tough love that makes Shawry who he is. No beating around the bush. The job gets done and more often than not, races get won.

one of the most formidable combinations in Oz at the moment!

He brings this expertise and experience to Genesys this year and has been pivotal in the success the team has experienced so far. From smashing everyone at training camps to taking over the reins in the heat of the sprint and guiding the Genesys lead out train to many victories. To cap it all of, he has just come away from the Tour de Intermediate Sprints (Murray River) with an overall victory, pretty good for a skinny bugger!

From the heat of Malaysia to the cold of Korea, let’s see how the year has gone and get a look at what’s under that tough exterior…

Jono: You’ve spent time racing with state teams, national teams, Italian amateur teams, how are you finding life racing with Genesys?

Pat: I have raced in many different teams but by far my time at Genesys has been the most enjoyable and most fulfilling. From the riders to the management to the sponsors (who have a very personal involvement) I just really enjoy them all. Being so happy makes it all so much easier.

Jono: What was it like getting settled back into the Australian racing scene the last two years? In what ways does it differ from your time in Italy?

Pat: Australian racing is no doubt different but I didnt find the transition all that difficult. I think Italian racing is what has giving me the required characteristics to be successful in Australian racing. In Italy its all about saving all your energy for the amazingly difficult finale! Every race in italy starts off fast and then gets progressively faster all day until everyone is 100% at the end! In Australia we race a lot more tactically which i find adds more flavour to the racing with no radios, it means the team must always be alert and make fast, correct decisions…

Jono: What’s the one thing you miss the most about racing in Europe?

Pat: Probably not the racing, probably the culture in general, the extreme acceptance of cycling as a sport and the appreciation of your local community and supporters after each and every race. These are all qualities that the Genesys team have, a culture… of pride, loyalty, passion and companionship!

Jono: But there are always good sides to being at home, and it must be nice especially since you and your wife celebrated the birth of your first child! How’s it all going? Have domestic duties taken away from your training time?

Pat: Yes of course, I love being at home. Since the arrival of Carter (now 6 months), Bec my wife has been absolutely amazing in that I have been able to fulfil all my training and racing requirements. It’s always great to come home after a hard race and see Bec and Carter, no matter what my result, I always remain their dad and husband which is what matters to me most.

Jono: I don’t want to dwell on all the bad things, but, training through winter in Ballarat must be a struggle! How do you deal with those icy days? Do you lather up in whale blubber or stick to the Ergo?

Pat: Ergo is a frequent enemy through winter but it always brings me great form, I always hate doing them but know I will have no problems come race day if I do them. Besides that if its not horrible wet weather I will usually organise 1-3 guys to train with and as a group we battle the freeze together!

Jono: Earlier in the year you were ripping it up at the Tour of Korea racing for at least a GC podium. Unfortunately the weather turned ugly and snow and sleet were unleashed on the peleton. I have received reports from inside the team car that you were in all sorts of trouble! What happened that day? Are you filled with anticipation to get back to Korea after that?

Pat:To be honest I don’t know what happened, obviously I froze, probably because I didn’t wear enough clothes but I have never been in such a dark place as I was that day, its one I would rather forget but I tend to think about it often to make bad situations seem not so bad. I definitely have a great hunger and desire to return to the race and do well, it suits me well I think and its at a positive time of the year for me.

Jono: There’s no doubt you’re as skinny as they come. Nonetheless, you’ve just walked away from the flattest tour in Australia (and possibly the world), the Tour of the Murray River, as the victor! How on earth do you manage to consistently battle it out with guys 15-20kg heavier than you?

Winner 2011 Tour of Murray

Pat: I’m very hard on myself and set myself difficult objectives to achieve. I don’t like to let myself down and I find that drives me, but the reason I could consistently match it with faster guys in the Tour of the Murray was because of 7 outstanding team mates that dedicated themselves 100% for 7 days so I could maintain my lead, thats the selflessness that we have at Genesys and I admire everyone of our guys for that.

Jono: Similarly, earlier in the year in Malaysia you were one of the few guys who could find his way to the front in the hectic dash to the line. Got any secrets for the rest of us? Or does it just come naturally?

Pat: It takes a while to learn your limits, but when you do you find that your capable of doing many things you thought weren’t possible, I find that I look at a point and go for it 100% if the door closes I stop and start again if I get to the point then I do it again and so on until I achieve the bunch position I desire.

Jono: Finally, what are your aspirations for the next phase in your cycling career? Is it back to Europe, or will you be content ruling the roost in Ballarat?

Pat: Happiness and enjoyment are the two things that drive me now and I have found both of those back here in Australia, so I’m happy to stay racing here and hopefully I can give some guidance to the younger guys coming through the Genesys development program with Andrew Christie Johnson and watch them progress and make big things of there careers…

Jono: Thanks Shawry, see you out on the road!

Thanks for your time and effort in this interview jono! Next time I will interview you!

Ciao a tutti

Twitter: @shawry_07

@JONO_L

Face to Face with Alex Carver - A Talent ready to re-launch in 2012 with "Orange Army"

Genesys Wealth Advisers has made some well calculated and healthy additions to its list for 2012 and none more than Alex Carver. A rider that has interested me since i first saw him race, he is a flexible rider, one who could be the complete package in a short period of time... I'm really looking forward to racing with him in 2012, but first lets pick his brains a little so we can all know him a bit better... follow him on twitter @AlexCarver91

I sat down with Alex as he prepares to launch his assault on the 2012 season with the "Orange Army", here is what evolved;

Firstly Alex what excites you about riding for Genesys Wealth Advisers in 2012?

I am super excited about riding with Genesys Wealth Advisers in 2012! I am looking forward to a year where I can get some good results for myself and for the team. As, in the last couple of seasons I have been in Italy pretty much getting my butt whipped by those little Italian climbers. The level of racing in Australia has increased immensely in the last few years and I cant wait to get into some competitive racing with arguably the best team on the domestic circuit!

What are your first races with the team? And what are you hopes and expectations going into these events?

My first race with the team will be the National Championships in Ballarat in about a week and a half. I will be racing Bay crits with Hassy, Steele, Heino and AJ but my first official race for the team will be nationals. The next race on the calendar will be The Tour of Mumbai in India that will be at the end of January. After that I have about 2 weeks at home before going to Perth to defend my Perth Crits Title that I won last year riding for Jayco – AIS. Last year I beat Steele to take the win there in Perth so hopefully I can do the same this year.

Alex was in sensational touch last year in Perth and its going to be great going back in 2012 having him on the team there, such a great event.

Some readers may not know about you talent as a track rider, could you give some highlights of your track results up to now?

I have always ridden the track and but I have not always been that good at it. As a junior I began my bike-riding career on the local track in Lidcombe. Since then I won my first national title as an u17 in the team sprint alongside Scott and Jackson Law. Two years later, I won the points race and scratch race at the U19 national track titles, which got me a spot in the Junior Worlds team to go to Moscow, Russia. In Russia, I rode the Points race, Scratch race and the Madison. I crashed in the point’s race, got 4^th in the scratch race and won gold in the Madison with Luke Durbridge. That sparked my love for the Madison. Three months later I raced and won my first u23 six day Madison with Scott Law in Ghent. The next year I went back to the six day with Scotts little brother Jackson and we got second in Ghent. 2 days after the Ghent six had finished, Jackson and I raced the Zurich six day and won it by 7 laps. And since I got home from that trip in 2010, I have put the track on hold to concentrate on the road.

This gives a little insight into the flexibility of Alex as a rider, something i believe is incredibly important, even more so in Australian NRS series.
  

What are your goals and objectives for the 2012 season at Genesys?

I have a few goals for the year with the team. One objective of the year is to learn and grow into a better bike rider than I am today. Along the way I would like to win at least one stage of each of the NRS tours and races and to also pick up a couple of overseas wins/podiums. It will be my first season I have raced in Asia so I am really excited to get a result in one of the races over there this season.

You have spent some years in the AIS program and now find yourself at Genesys. What do you bring with you to Genesys and what do you hope to achieve from your time with Genesys?

I spent two years in the AIS program in Italy. In those two years I learnt a lot about myself and what it takes to win bike races. I was thrown into the deep end as a first year 23 as I had never raced a road race outside of Australia before. I quickly figured out that it was a REALLY hard sport. Over the last two years I have raced some pretty big races all over Europe including, Italy, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Norway and France. Each country had their different styles of racing. I rode in races like Tour of Flanders (Espoirs), which had cobbles, Valle d’Aosta (Italy/France), which had 35km, climbs and Thüringen Tour (Germany), which had a Team Time Trial in it. Riding all these races allowed me to gain a lot of experience in all different types of racing. My bunch and positioning skills have improved greatly and also my ability to read races has also improved immensely. I hope to bring all this experience with me to Genesys and to also teach some of the other guys in the team what I have learnt over the last couple of years and apply it to racing in and around Asia. I hope I can also learn even more off some of the guys in the team like you to further improve my ability and chances of winning races.     

If you could win any race in the world, what would it be and why?

Milan San Remo, its just such beautiful race. It's one I have always felt passionately about and it would be an absolute dream to compete in it one day!

Thanks Alex for your time mate, i think 2012 could well be the year that you prove your true worth and I look forward to experiencing it along side you... Forza "Orange Army"!


twitter: @shawry_07
@AlexCarver91

BLAKE HOSE INTERVIEW

Here is the interview i did with new Genesys recruit, Blake 
Hose, I looked forward to it just as much as you all did I'm sure... It gives great insight into a young upcoming cyclist that few know much about! After this though I suggest you write his name down!


Name: Blake Hose

D.o.b.: 06.07.1992
City of birth: Geelong

What makes you most excited about joining Genesys? 

Well there's probably too many things to list in one answer! Really though I think it's just the fact that I have been given an amazing opportunity by the guys running the team. To be a part of an outfit that's run with such professionalism and that has enjoyed so much success in the last few years is really exciting. I can't wait to start going away to the races with such an experienced and knowledgable group of people to learn all I can about the sport i'm in and develop myself as much as possible.

Tell us a little about your 2011 season and maybe some insight to what it's like on the other side of the Genesys fence in races in 2011...

2011 was a pretty up and down year for me. I was happy to be starting a fresh year after I was injured in 2010 and kicked things off at Mersey Valley with a 14th overall which I was fairly pleased with. From there it was a bit of a rollercoaster as I had some bad luck with being caught up in crashes, punctures at the most inappropriate times and illness! All these combined left me with no results for the middle part of the year. As the season pressed on though I had gotten myself back on track and managed to put in a strong showing at the Tour of Tasmania with a 12th overall and backed it up at Grafton a few weeks later... Then before I knew it I found myself wearing the kit I had envied so much all year! This definitely being the highlight of my 2011.....

Being the competition of an obviously well drilled unit is a pretty arduous task. Week in week out you find yourself wondering how the 'Orange Army' do what they do so well and how they manage to dominate races. More so, how can I beat them? After a while though you realise the success comes through the selfless teamwork put in place at each event and that no individual ever does it by themself. In the lead up to all of the races it was a matter of who could take down the Orange train but for the 2011 season it was pretty much nobody!

Why did you get into cycling? 

I have always had some level of interest in the sport, spanning back to when I was riding motocross in my early teenage years. Though I never took it too seriously and really just did it as a bit of fun and to keep myself fit. After I had been injured many times and broke many bones on the motorbike I made the decision to give up the motor and try something a little less extreme, so I took up triathlon. From there I did a season of tri's and had some good success (mainly due to the bike leg) but got tired of running and swimming fairly quickly. So the switch was made to focus solely on riding my bike and ever since i've just been flat out loving it! 

Tell us a little about your moto-cross days? 

I was always pretty out-there when I was little and loved riding around on my BMX doing jumps and crashing frequently. Soon enough this developed into the want of a motor to go with the two wheels, so I started saving for my first motorbike. After I had the one it escalated from there and I was always nagging dad to take me out riding and it's fair to say that the crew in the local motorbike shops probably got pretty sick of me...

Eventually I ended up getting into a bit of racing and had some great fun but it's definitely a sport that comes with a lot of risk. Before I knew it I had a compound fracture in my left leg (if you don't know what that is, google it) , a broken humerus and way too many stitches to my name. This was when I decided that the risk wasn't worth the reward and hung it up for good! Though i've found that this sport isn't too much safer, haha.

What are you goals for 2012? 

For the coming year I really just want to develop as much as I can and learn from everybody around me. I could never ask for a better opportunity than what i've been given riding for Genesys and I plan on making everything count in the coming year. It will be nice to improve on my own results and hopefully get some podium finishes but ultimately i want to learn how to be an integral part of what the team created in 2011 and hope that will help the teams success. 

What will be your first races? 

I'm going to kick things off at Bay Crits using those as a bit of a tune up for the National titles which follow. At Nationals I intend on riding the Crit, Road Race and the Time trial but my focus is mainly set on the Road Race. After Nationals I'll keep the training going and then head off to New Zealand for the Tour of Wellington-this is one that i'm really looking forward to as it will be my first shot on the international scene!

I decided to get some insight from Andrew Christie-Johnson (Genesys Wealth Advisers Pro Cycling Team Director Sportif) about the 'Blake Hose' he saw in 2011 and why he decided Blake was a good choice for the team in 2012... Here is what Andrew said...

What made you decide to pick Blake for 2012?

I wanted to pick a up few u23 riders for 2012, so I started watching all the young guys at the nrs races to see what i could find. I first really noticed Blake at the tour of tassie, every time the road went uphill he made the front group. He is a young rider who shows plenty of ability and determination to succeed.

What do you think will be Blake's strength in 2012?

I think Blake's strength will be his climbing, I believe he will be at the front every time the road tilts upwards. Blake is only young and will need a few years to develop. He will also need sometime to develop his race skills, something I expect my senior riders to teach him. Aye Pat?

Where do you think his improvements will be in 2012?

I want to improve Blake's  overall fitness and work on his Time Trialing and Sprinting. I think next year you will see Blake improve in most areas of his cycling, then in 2013 watch out.

An interesting insight and a justified one too I say... I'm looking forward to helping the younger guys develop in 2012! Now back to a bit more Blake before we sign out...!

You did the training camp, give us your thoughts on it! 

Overall I had a great time at the camp! It was really good to meet most of my team mates for the coming year and learn a bit about them all. I think camps like that are a really good team-building tool and everyone seems to come out of them with better form than what they came into it with. ACJ had us working pretty hard but it was well worth it when I finally got my first taste of the Praties baked spuds I'd heard so much about... They are amazing!

What is the normal day in the life of 'Blake Hose'? 

Life for me is pretty straight forward. I normally try to be up and at it by about 7am and get out of the house training by 8-8:30 everyday, differing a bit depending on the session at hand. Once training is over I try to get any jobs or erands that have to be done out of the way so that I can get back home with only recovery to worry about! I do have a job at a local bike shop called Beretta's Bike Hub and work whatever days I can, usually it's made pretty hard being away at races so often. Some sort of income is essential though! In my spare time which I have a fair bit of, I do enjoy a good session down at my favourite cafe 'Fuel', coffee there is unparrallelled and I recommend it to everyone visiting Geelong! You could say that a Normal day for me is a pretty damn good one! 

If there was one race or a particular stage in the NRS you would love to win in 2012 what would it be?

Now that there is no hometown tour for me, I think a stage in either the Tour of the Grampians or Tour of Tasmania would be really special.


Thanks Blake, I'm sure that has given everyone the right to say they know a bit about Blake. Welcome to the 'Orange Army' and look forward to working with you in the 2012 season! Get behind Blake, Campbell Flakemore and Sam Davies at the U/23 National Championships in Ballarat in 2 weeks time!


http://www.cycleballarat.com.au/


http://www.genesysprocycling.com.au




Ciao a tutti


PS


twitter: @shawry_07
@blakehose
@cflakemore
@genesyscycling