Brendon Morrison

We are gathering the best people we can to help us make the largest sporting event in Western Australia. If you have a passion for Cycling, Media, Logistics, Photography or even Motorbikes, we could have a place for you on one of our crew or volunteer teams. If you would like to be a part of the tour please send a brief resumé outlining your experience and your particular field of interest or expertise to tomr@hotmail.com.au Applicants from the Eastern States will be considered in addition to those from Western Australia.

The opening and closing ceremonies of the 2015 tour will be held at the most iconic of Margaret River venues in Leeuwin Estate. Expect the best of all the things that Leeuwin is famous for …. Art, Food, Wine, Music, and all with the addition of a Cycling Trade Expo. Make sure that you have a clean bike and matching socks for the team presentations and ensuing photographs.

More spectator barricades, more parking and more food options in the village, these are a few of the ideas flowing through to our desk post tour. Already we have also had several teams approaching us looking to secure invites for 2015. We need to look at our invites in context of our desire to incorporate at least a few teams from the Eastern States and a few from overseas. We are also conscious of the fact that securing a place sooner rather than later is relevant to the planning and sponsor procurement of our participating teams. It’s a nice problem to have with more teams wanting to race than we can cater for, but never the less it is a real problem and one that we will be looking into over  the next few weeks.  Two things that we can say for sure about 2015; The Pro-Am format will be back and we will be pushing out into the hillier areas of the greater Blackwood Valley.  Feel free to send us your feedback and feel free to send us details of potential stages that you would like to see included in future tours.

He may have narrowly missed out on taking home the Satalyst Green Jersey to team mate Shannon Johnson, but Stephen Hall’s courageous effort to start and complete Stage 5 will remain one of the endearing memories of the 2014 Tour. The above podium picture celebrates his decisive victory on the final climb of Stage 2 just hours before his tour nearly came to a premature end during the sprint finish of Stage 3.

She may not class herself as a climber, but a decisive move on Stage 2 set Arbitrage Racing’s Rebecca Mackey up to win the tour’s Pink Jersey. Mackey didn’t have it all her own way though and had to see off strong challenges from team mate Cassia Higgs and up and coming star Erin Kinnealy.  All three riders consistently showed the ability to break away from the women’s peloton during the tour.  Mackey spent most of the final stage of the tour in a break with Kinnealy before riding away in the final kilometre to secure her third stage victory.

In a reverse of the result from the previous day Satalyst Giant’s Theo Yates came over the top over Shannon Johnson to win the final stage of the tour. Johnson’s second place in the stage was enough to elevate him above courageous team mate Stephen Hall in the tour’s final overall standings. Hall suffered a serious fall in Stage 4 but bravely rode through his injuries to finish a credible 9th in the final stage.  Dylan Pierre-Humbert rounded off the open podium to cement and outstanding tour for the Wormall Civil Team.

Some amazing scenery and some amazing performances on day 3 of the tour. Our Men’s Leader was taken out in the sprint, Johnson lived up to expectations, Kinnealy thrills her South West fans and our Total Travel WA Sprint Jersey moves to Group 3!  As much action as the Tour de France? We think more! Tomorrow is Super Sunday for spectators, if you live within driving distance you absolutely have to make the journey down South.

We have had some patches of inclement weather and glimpses of the perfect Spring days, but after two stages Stephen Hall and Rebecca Mackey lead to the race in their respective categories. Both riders have the support of strong teams as evident in the Stage 1 Time Trial and both will look to secure their positions in a lumpy Stage 3 that will take the tour through some beautiful countryside before ending up in the normally peaceful rural hamlet of Rosa Brook. Stage results can be found at metarace.com.au

We will have a few of our Kerry Brooks designed posters left over that we will be selling from the Tour Village. Get in early Thursday if you would like one and then get around with your marker pen and see if you can get the signatures of all of the pro riders featured on the poster. Your bedroom wall or poolroom will never be the same.