Team Launch – Saturday 21st September 2019

On Saturday 21st September 2019, we officially launched Team Coupland’s Bakeries Cycling to the public at Coupland’s Bakeries factory in Te Rapa, Hamilton. The team launch was attended by Team Captain Josh Page, Nick Kergozou, Glenn Haden, Madi Hartley Brown, Tom McCallum and Team Manager Bruce McCallum. More FM were on site for the afternoon with a spinning wheel giving away lots of prizes including Coupland’s Gift Vouchers and other goodies. We also had a BBQ going for a gold coin donation to the local school, Pukete School. Lots of young children came out and were very keen to meet the new team, get photos and signatures on their own cycling merchandise.

After interviews and photos, we invited the team into our Retail Store to view our delicious baked goods and pick some goodies to help fuel the weekends racing. Cyclists love baking after all.

2pm came around and the team were very keen to start the cycling season off with a bang. The team went straight out after the team launch to scope the course and discuss the tactic they would employ for the Team Time Trial and Round One Race that was on the following day. A Team Time Trial is where the team must cover a set distance in as fast a time as possible with the minimum number of riders to finish, in this case 3. The time of the team is taken on the third rider across the finish line, thus they must all work together to cover the distance as fast as possible as a unit. The Team Time Trial is also considered a good benchmark of the team’s strength.

That evening, the team dined out on Coupland’s Frozen Meals including Lasagne, Shepherds Pie, Macaroni Cheese and Butter Chicken.

Race Day, Dynamo Series – Sunday 22nd September 2019.

Team Time Trial 25km

The morning of round one of the Dynamo Series dawned, and all the hard work to get Team Coupland’s together would come into fruition today. The team were excited for the day, and after a solid breakfast including toast from Coupland’s, the team headed out to begin their warm-ups. A warm-up generally takes around 30 – 60 minutes depending on the rider. The team had already decided on the team order and tactic for the race the day prior, and it was fitting that Tom, instrumental in the formation of the team, lead them out. The team start rider is important because if you start too strong you can exhaust the whole team and cause them to lose time getting breath back and getting reorganised. The team quickly settled into their pace and set off. There was a head wind on the way out, so the team needed to keep their pace as high as possible and use the team’s strength to make as much time as possible on the weaker teams. This means that you must time your turn on the front to end just before you weaken. The team held a 47kph average on the way out, and with a tail wind on the way home, they managed to drive the pace up to 49.6kph. The team finished the Team Time Trial course of 25km in just over 30 minutes! After the final team finished, last year’s Team Time Trial winners ‘Spoken”, Bruce checked the final times with the timekeeper. Team Coupland’s had done it, they had won their first race as a team by 3 seconds over last year’s champions! The team knew they had put in a solid effort, well done!

After the race, the team headed back to Nick’s house to debrief and fill up on some more baked goods before Round One Race, this afternoon. Morale was as high as it could get on day one of the team being together!

Round One Road Race 60km

It wasn’t hard to get the team motivated for the 60km road race. With one of the most powerful sprinters in the field, Nick Kergozou (Kergy), one of the strongest teams in the race and a flat road race the team had planned to go all in and get a win for the team.

And they were off! Glenn and Josh were to cover any moves early in the race to ensure if an escape would happen, the team would have a representation in the breakaway. The first half of the race proved that and there were attacks and moves constantly. After 30km a dangerous move happened, and Josh jumped across to it. Most of the teams were represented and it looked like it would be the move of the race. 5 – 8km later, however, the team launched Nick across to the break, which strengthened the group immensely. Not long after, Glenn was able to make his way to the group and soon after they were joined by Madi. With now 4 riders in the lead group of 12, it was looking like it was going to be a win for the team, although the work still needed to be done. Glenn, Madi and Josh set to keeping the pace high and covered any dangerous attacks, shutting them down or following them to discourage them from getting too much of an advantage. Team Coupland’s took the race inside the 1km to go mark and Madi began winding up the sprint to set Nick up for his sprint finish. At 300m to go there was a sharp left-hand turn and a late attack came from another team overtaking through the corner. Unfortunately, this left Madi with nowhere to go and he turned sharp. As a result, his wheels came out from under him. Nick had to break to avoid crashing and then opened his sprint finish. This left him chasing to make up ground, but he managed to hold on for second place! Not quite the result the team were looking for on the day, but a good result considering what could have happened if Nick had become tangled up in the crash as well. Glenn also managed to back up his strong work with a 4th place finish. Josh flagged the sprint and stopped to make sure Madi was OK and not too injured, which cost the team a win in the team’s classification on the day. It showed the team’s strength and unity by Josh stopping and it also showed the team’s strength and unity by both Nick and Glenn rushing back to check if Madi was OK after crossing the finish line.

Results

• Team Time Trial Win
• 2nd Road Race – Nick Kergozou
• 4th Road Race – Glenn Haden
• 2nd Team Class Road Race
• 1st Equal Team Classification in the series after the first day of racing

Next up

Morrinsville Open: Nick and Josh

Dynamo Round Two: Nick, Glenn, Josh, Tom, Madi, Mark Langlands

Keep an eye on Team Coupand’s Instagram Page for the latest information on where the team is at next or follow CyclingTom on YouTube