CYCLING

Daily Diary: Joe Cooper talks Tour de Korea – Stage 2

By Aaron S Lee

New Zealand road race champion celebrates teammates podium finish in Korea and relishes wearing national kit abroad.

MUJU, South Korea—A day after having three riders hit the deck in a crash-marred sprint finish won by Drapac’s Wouter Wippert (NED) on the opening stage of Tour e Korea on Sunday, the Avanti Racing Team’s trio of sprinters capped a 174.4-kilometre stage 2 from Gumi to Muju with all finishing in the top 10, including Kiwi Patrick Bevin, who took the brunt of the fall on stage 1.

Australian Caleb Ewan (Orica-GreenEdge), who was also sent to the pavement on Sunday, claimed the win ahead of Bevin and Wippert.

Bevin’s two Australian teammates Neil van der Ploeg and Anthony Giacoppo finished fifth and 10th respectively after both finished in opposite order to claim the intermediate sprint points.

With the results, Bevin now moves into fourth on general classification, while Giacoppo slides into sixth and van der Ploeg rounds slips inside the top 10 at eighth overall.

NZ Bike caught up with reigning New Zealand road race champion and the 2014 Australian National Road Series winner Joe Cooper to talk about his teammates’ success and what it’s like wearing the national jersey while racing overseas.



Joe Cooper’s diary entry: Stage 2 – Gumi - Muju, 174.4km
Today was all about bouncing back from the crash at the end of stage 1 that took our three sprinters, Anthony Giacoppo, Neil van der Ploeg and Patrick Bevin down and out of contention.

Stage 2 started off with peloton staying together until the first intermediate sprint, which we gave that a go and Anthony and Neil gave it a one-two punch to take out the points.

That was our first goal of the day to get some raw time so our team sports director Andrew Christie-Johnston could move up on general classification (GC) so he can also move up in the team car because currently he’s 20th and doesn’t get to see too much of the race.

Drapac set tempo the whole day and it just turned into one of those days where you are busting for a comfort break and you’re not sure if you should stop or hold on. I chose to ride and I’m glad I held on because if you don’t get back on to the bunch and if you stop you are just going to be out there for the rest of the day trying to make up ground.

We ended up having three riders finish in the top 10, with Paddy taking second and moving into fourth on GC just eight seconds off of race leader Wouter Wippert (Drapac Pro Cycling). It was a great day for Paddy, Anthony and Vandy considering yesterday’s misfortune on the stage 1 finish.

On paper, today’s stage was the hardest. With the break out the front the climbs were ridden at a granny speed and most people got over them. If they were ridden full gas it would have been a different story, but considering they were done a leisurely pace it was actually quite nice.

It also feels bloody awesome being at this race in the New Zealand national kit, and to be honest I never get tired of wearing it. It means so much, especially when I slip it on abroad.
As for the rest of the week, we are going to be looking for lots of opportunities over the final six stages and you never know when an opportunity for myself may open up as well.

In the meantime, stay tuned...
-Joe Cooper

Tomorrow’s entry: Stage 3 – Muju - Muju, 99km
Stage 2 results (top 5)
1.    Caleb Ewan (Orica-GreenEdge)
2.    Patrick Bevin (Avanti Racing Team)
3.    Wouter Wippert (Drapac Pro Cycling)
4.    Andrea Peron (Team Novo Nordisk)
5.    Neil van der Ploeg (Avanti Racing Team)

General classification (top 5)
1.    Wouter Wippert (Drapac Pro Cycling)                           8:46:20
2.    Caleb Ewan (Orica-GreenEdge)                                    +00.04
3.    Joon Yong Seo (KSPO)                                                 +00.08
4.    Patrick Bevin (Avanti Racing Team)                            
5.    Sung Baek Park (KSPO)                                               +00.10

Aaron S. Lee is a cycling and triathlon columnist for Eurosport and a guest contributor to NZ Bike Magazine