Mercedez-Benz Adelaide-Blackchrome Dominant in the TTT and Mitchelton-Scott deliver on expectation

Saturday's Round 7 of the Super Series saw team’s battling it out in the Team Time Trial. On a lumpy course based at The Range, teams were met with some strong winds and slightly colder temperatures than would be expected for this time of year.There were several tight tussles across the six categories. This was not the case in Category 2 Masters, where ADX Depot used their strength in numbers to put a sizeable margin into Power-On-Resonate Acoustics. Finishing with all five of their starting riders, they further consolidated series leader Brad-Lee Bennett’s grip on the overall title.The Category 2 Men guaranteed to be a tough contest as each of the teams battle to make their mark on the Series. Harry Askew (Cycling SA State Development) has been a consistent standout performer from the start, earning him a commanding lead in the general classification. However, with a few key teammates missing, a win in the TTT looked sceptical for Askew. After several strong performances during the Copper Coast Cup, Gravier.CC X Spin Cycle Clothing looked keen to continue their streak over Norwood Cycling Club and Adelaide University-From Physio Racing. In the end, it was Gravier.CC X Spin Cycle Clothing who took the win after a commendable team effort. Adelaide University raced into second, and Cycling SA State Development finished in third.In the Category 2 Women, a similar situation existed. The State Development Team held the leader's jersey through Hannah Seeliger. But with only two teammates to support her in Staci McCudden and Chelsea Holmes, it was going to be difficult for them to defend this lead in what has been the tightest battle across the series. Despite calculated riders from Blackchrome Butterfields and the three Port Adelaide Teams, the State Dev Team showed their strength to take the win in a time of just over an hour. Blackchrome Butterfields held onto second 1:13 further back, with Port Adelaide Silver just 13 seconds behind.The Category 1 Masters only had four teams registered for the 2018 series. But these four teams are all very evenly matched. At the Copper Coast Cup, it was the BE BMW team who had stamped their mark on the series with Jarrod Currie taking two stages. But for Round 7 it was Lightsview who took the stage, and in doing so giving Tim Decker a little more breathing space in the general classification. In a tight tussle for second, BE-BMW came home just 5 seconds faster than Keystone Cycling.In the Elite Women, Mercedez- Benz Adelaide – Blackchrome stormed home to take the win. It was no surprise that they took this victory, but few would have predicted their almost 2 minute winning margin. The two SASI teams were close to each other, with SASI-Red coming home in second and SASI Blue taking third. For the third time in the series the leaders jersey changed hands, with 2016 series winner Jessica Mundy (MBA-Blackchrome) taking it off the shoulders of SASI’s young gun Maeve Plouffe. Currently second overall, former leader Breanna Hargrave (SASI) will have a battle on her hands to overcome her deficit on Mundy with only three rounds remaining.Mitchelton-Scott were a firm favourite for the round Victory. Being made up of the best teams pursuiters in the world, the team time trial format suited them to the ground. What wasn’t clear was who would be joining them on the podium. SASI, Lightsview, Cervelo-Oliver’s Real Food Racing were all contenders. Lightsview duly delivered with a strong second place showing, just over a minute behind the victorious Mitchelton-Scott. It was Unified Solutions Group who came through to take the third podium spot. USG’s star has been on the rise in 2017 after some careful recruiting since the 2016 series.Full results can be found here.Racing continues this Sunday (12/11) at the Victoria Park Criterium Track. With only three rounds left in the series make sure you head down their this weekend to check out all the action!