Search2Retain 2011

  Last Friday evening was the official launch of the 2011 Search2Retain team. T he night was held at Search2Retain HQ in Port Melbourne. The evning was MC'd by Dave McKenzie, former Giro stage winner and now SBS cycling commentator. And was attended by a large amount of people including family, friends, media, sponsors and quite a few well known cyclists.

As i touched on last post, the 2011 Search2Retain team consists of Top domestic road and xc mountainbike racers.  This is quite a unique approach for a cycling team, but i think it is a great direction for the team to be heading.ee Here is the lineup for this season.      

Team Management

Team Manager:	Peter Shandon
Assistant Manager:	Mark Isaacs
Assistant Manager:	Chris Stefannoni
Sports Director:	Michele Primaro
Head Coach:	William Walker

Rider Roster

Cal	Britten
Tom	Donald
Jake	Klajnbat
Scott	Liston
James	Boal
Luke	Fetch
Brodie	Talbot
Neil	Van de Ploeg
Paul	Van de Ploeg
Charles	Howlett
Nathan	Elliot
Jay	Bourke
Steven	Robb

Paul van Der Ploeg = "Monster"

In 2011 BC continues it's affiliation with the Elite Australian Cycling Team "Search2Retain".

2 out of 3 on the podium for Search2Retain

As an Assistant DS of the team this year, i was recently introduced to the revamped 2011 team.
One of our star riders for this season is Paul van Der Pleog.
Paul has had an impressive start to the season, scoring some huge results.

In Jauary, Paul dominated the field in the final stage of the Jaco Bay Classic Support Event, breaking away solo from the peloton, blitzing the field by half a lap of the tight Wiliamstown circuit.

Folowing this Paul successfully his 4th Australian Championship by defending his U2Victory Salute at the Bay Classic3 XC MTB Title in South Australia.

This past weekend, Paul competed in the 2011 Oceania Championships alongside 11 other members of the Search2Retain squad. He dominated the U23 XC event, winning ahead of Kiwi Dirk Peters.

Congratulations to Paul for his great performances. Look out for him at World Cup events later on this year.

Steffo