Tour de Perth first men's event, Women's series begins with Adelaide Tour
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All smiles for Jack Haig after claiming his first overall NRS title(Image credit: Mark Gunter)
Australian pair Darren Lapthorne (left) and Adam Phelan both of Drapac Cycling finished third and second respectively on the opening stage(Image credit: Shane Goss)
Katrin Garfoot (Pensar SPM Racing) warms down after finishing second in the opening stage of the women's Battle on the Border(Image credit: Alex Malone)
Nathan Earle presented Jack Haig with the NRS leaders jersey.(Image credit: Mark Gunter - markgunter.com.au)
The 2014 Australian Subaru National Road Series (NRS) will showcase 19 events including a new women's event as well as the return of Australia's marquee domestic events, the Tour of Tasmania and the nation’s longest one-day race, the Melbourne to Warrnambool.
This year there are 11 men's events and eight women's events in the series which will encompass every state and territory in Australia bar the Northern Territory.
All of the debut events from 2013 return including the men's Tour de Perth (WA) which opens the calendar, the women's Tour of the King Valley (VIC) along with the Adelaide Tour (SA) and the National Capital Tour (ACT).
Feature men's events such as the Tour of Tasmania (TAS), Tour of the Great South Coast (VIC), and the iconic one day races, the Melbourne to Warrnambool (VIC) and the Grafton to Inverell (NSW), will all shape the calendar for the coming year and are sure to be decisive in deciding the overall NRS champion.
2013 Subaru NRS champion Jack Haig (Avanti Pro Cycling) will return to the domestic scene briefly before switching to the dirt in time for the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Cairns, while his Tasmanian based team will look to secure the 2014 NRS teams classification for the fifth year in a row.
Drapac Professional Cycling will continue to show their support to the NRS following their ascension to Pro-Continental ranks in 2014 which will see them also race in America, Asia and Europe.
As the only Australian team to provide the pathway to the WorldTour ranks in the form of a Pro-Conti licence, Drapac's continued presence in the NRS is a critical, not only for the team's athletes, but also for the domestic calendar.
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Drapac Directeur Sportif Henk Vogels said that the NRS was an important part of the Drapac season.
"I'm really looking forward to taking the boys out on the road in Australia as part of the NRS," said Vogels.
"The domestic program continues to strengthen and the standard of racing could rightly be considered as the world's best when you look at regional competitions. I hope Drapac continues to stamp our authority on these races as we have over the early part of the 2014 season."
In the women's series, the Mersey Valley Tour (TAS) will once again showcase Tasmania's toughest terrain while the dual events, the Tour of the Murray River (VIC) and the Battle on the Border (NSW), return to the calendar while the successful Tour of the Goldfields (VIC) concludes the series.
For the first time, the Amy Gillett Foundation (AGF) will host an NRS event with Amy's Otway Classic set to give the elite women's domestic scene a boost.
Katrin Garfoot's 2013 series propelled her into the Australian women's endurance Jayco-AIS squad and will compete in Europe throughout the season.
Cycling Australia is anticipating the continued growth of the series following a successful 2013 which saw male registrations up by 261 and female participation almost doubling from 2012.
In a new initiative, NRS riders will have the opportunity to showcase their early season form at the Subaru Australian open criterium held in Mooloolaba, Queensland on March 15.
2014 Australian Subaru National Road Series calendar
Men Tour De Perth: 26-29 March Adelaide Tour: 3-6 April Battle on the Border: 15-18 May Tour of Toowoomba: 22-25 May Tour of the Murray River: 30 Jul – 3 Aug Tour of the Great South Coast: 13-17 August Tour of Gippsland: 3-7 September National Capital Tour: 19-21 September Tour of Tasmania: 28 Sept – 5 October Melbourne to Warrnambool: 11 October Grafton to Inverell: 25 October
Women Adelaide Tour: 3-6 April Mersey Valley Tour: 2-4 May Battle on the Border: 15-18 May Tour of the Murray River: 1-3 August Tour of the King Valley: 22-24 August Amy’s Otway Classic: 14 September National Capital Tour: 19-21 September Tour of the Goldfields: 17-19 October
