Rock Racing makes its Australian debut

By Benjamin Fitzmaurice

The rock and roll cycling style of Rock Racing has had its first ride on Australian soil competing at the Jayco Bay Cycling Classic in Victoria. The self styled ‘Venom’ cycling kit and painted De Rosa frames stood out in the blur of color.

The team — consisting of new signing Aaron Kemps (formerly of Astana), Rahsaan Bahati, Justin Williams and Nic Sanderson — came to Australia for some of the fastest critierium racing in the world. Notable absentee from the start line for Rock was new team member Caleb Manion. Manion signed with Rock Racing after racing with Toyota United.

There was no explanation for Manion’s failure to appear for racing. Manion’s ‘no show’ does add to the recent interesting times for Rock Racing with reported signings Will Walker (formerly of Rabobank, now Fuji Servetto) and Baden Cooke (formerly of Barloworld, now Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team) deciding to race with other teams for 2009.

Despite the absence of Manion, Rock Racing had a positive start to the five-day race campaign in Australia. Bahati and Williams attacked early, gaining a small break before Graeme Brown of Rabobank closed the gap, shutting down the attempt to consolidate on the gains made.

Following the first stage, US professional criterium champion Bahati said: “It was definitely fast. I think the course made it more difficult than the speed. I actually like speed so speed was not the issue. The course was a bit of a slap in the face with the round-about, headwind and then false flat that made it pretty tough. It was definitely fast and it was exciting for me to race with the top sprinters in the world.”

With respect to racing in Australia, Bahati said: “Definitely, a lot of respect here. You could tell that a lot of the riders are good bike handlers. I like the way the Aussies race because they are aggressive, smart and safe. The top end of the field are more talented.”

Williams found the pace fast from the gun saying: “You won’t get a race in the States strong off unless someone is on the front for a good two miles. This starts strong off and pretty much stays that way.”

Kemps said he was relishing his role at Rock: “Hopefully now I might have more of a team leadership role and I can do more of my own thing in the races. It will be good for other guys working for me for a change rather than me working for them. Hopefully I can get some good results and see how it goes.”

Following the first stage, the US riders Bahati and Williams were feeling a little jet lagged but were looking to stamp their mark on the criterium series. The series moves to Geelong for the remaining four stages where there will be some tough racing with hotdog courses, false flats and expected strong head winds.

FILED UNDER: Road