Down Under surrounds next stop for Target-Trek all-rounder
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Nathan Elliot (Target-Trek), Dan Bonello (Parramatta), Darren Lapthorne (Drapac), Tom Kaesler (Euride) and Cam Bayly (search2retain-health) formed the major break of the day(Image credit: Mark Gunter)
The three-man break of Nathan Elliot (Target-Trek), Robbie Hucker (Drapac) and Jack Anderson (Budget Forklifts)(Image credit: Mark Gunter - markgunter.com.au)
Consistently riding amongst the general classification contenders in the 2013 Subaru National Road Series is by no means an easy feat but Nathan Elliott has managed to string together a solid and enduring run of results since his first competitive outing at the Jayco Herald Sun Tour in early January. The Jarvis Subaru Adelaide Tour which begins on 24 May will be Elliott's next chance to push further up the NRS ladder.
The Sun Tour may have been a little too early for the Biomedicine graduate but he promptly went about showing himself at the New Zealand Cycle Classic when he took second on Stage 3 on the way to riding into 14th-overall at the end of the five-stage race.
Come the first NRS race of the year Elliott was still firing, picking up 10th at the Woodside Tour de Perth before falling just shy of another top-ten at the Battle on the Border.
The third and most recent round at the FKG Tour of Toowoomba resulted in a GC table flooded by riders from the Huon Salmon-Genesys squad after the team time trial and so Elliot ensured he put himself up the road in search of a stage result. Riding aggressively is a style the 22-year-old prefers and with the Adelaide Tour featuring a tough 158.4km road race, Elliott is hoping his endurance will keep him up the front in what is expected to be the most decisive stage.
"With a shorter and faster team time trial the time gaps are going to be a bit smaller," Elliott told Cyclingnews. "My goal is the road race. I think in terms of GC the road race will the stage where the time gaps will be. The time trial and road race will decide the race.
"It sounds pretty tough and a little bit of dirt road will be good for a bit of a change and it's also a bit longer which I also like," added Elliott who demonstrated his resolve in arguably Australia's toughest one-day race in 2012 at Grafton to Inverell.
"I rode Grafton last year and came 11th. That's my favourite race for sure, I love the races of attrition, those that are really long and difficult," he added.
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Despite already banking a handy amount of race days this year Elliott says he's still on the way up and that the opportunity at Target-Trek has meant he'll never be shy of racing. His overall place in Toowoomba's general classification may not have reflected his actual condition but his aggressive approach to the four-day tour instead of playing the GC game was exactly how he likes it.
"I just wanted to do as much racing as I possibly could and Target-Trek are keen to do the whole NRS," he told Cyclingnews.
"The more racing I do the better I feel so I think with every tour, especially after Battle on the Border, it meant I felt much better at Toowoomba. I think I'll keep building with every race.
"I just wanted to be aggressive as possible [at Toowoomba]. I prefer to ride that way," he added.
The three-day tour in the hometown of the Santos Tour Down Under will be Elliott's final race before taking a short break but once that is done, there's plenty of goals yet to be achieved.
"I'll do most of the NRS races but the main ones I want to target are South Coast, Tasmania and the Grafton."
The Target-Trek line-up for the Jarvis Subaru Adelaide Tour includes: James Boal (Vic), Rowan Dever (Vic), Nathan Elliott (Vic), Christopher Green (SA), Dylan Hately (Vic), Oliver Kent-Spark (Vic) and Joel Strachan (Vic).
