VeloVeritas caught up with Evan Oliphant recently to chat about his and his team’s very successful racing trip to the states, here’s what Ev had to say about it.
Why were Plowman Craven in the US, Evan?
“There was no racing in the UK, the Archer was cancelled due to lack of police cooperation and there was another race near London where we got our entries returned because the organiser thought we’d dominate the race. As it happened, we saw the results and Rapha rode it! Plowman Craven have offices in LA; that’s a factor, but probably the main thing is that Tony Gibb’s girlfriend works for BA and got us a great deal on the air tickets!”
Evan gives it laldy.
How does the US scene compare to the UK?
“I’d say the standard is slightly higher than Premier level here. There are bigger crowds and the standard of promotion is better. For instance, the Sea Otter was advertised on TV, it’s a big event, there were 8,000 riding the mountain bike races. Cycling is definitely on the up-and-up in the US, there are a lot of good European and Aussie riders over there.”
Do you think you might “do a Malcolm Eliott” and go and race there?
“The racing certainly suited me where we were, the climbs are shorter; you get up them on power.”
What was your race programme?
“We rode the Redlands Classic, but we were a bit jet-lagged because we had only been there two days. Simon Richardson was 22nd and I was 40th in the prologue. But we were the only team not on time trial bikes, we didn’t take them because of the airline baggage charges. I was finishing in the front groups but I punctured on the last stage. If you’ve got power, you’ll do OK there. Bottero (overall winner, Colombia & Rock Racing) was very strong on stage one, where he grabbed all his time. Toyota and Healthnet were chasing full on – we were doing 50 mph – but they couldn’t get him back. Having said that, he was toiling in the criterium – he’s not the best bike handler.
Taking advice. Or a rest?
“After Redlands we rode a crit at Santa Barbara, there was a women’s volleyball tournament on and there were all these scantily clad, drunk girls stumbling about at eight in the morning – it was great! We were working for Tony Gibb, he was second, one of the Successful Living guys pipped him. Tom Barras was fifth and I was eigth – so it was a good day’s work.
“After that we had a race with a $30,000 prize list, I was in the lead group but crashed; I ended up 13th; the cash was only for the top ten. It was a hard race, there were only 20 left at the death; Healthnet did a one-two, with Hilton Clarke winning it.
“The Sea Otter was next, over 75 miles, it’s a huge event with a full programme of events, including mountain bike races; there’s also a big trade show. The race is on a circuit, eight laps, but there’s a leg from the start/finish out to it; it’s a tough one – hilly. The finish was tough because the leg back to the line has a two-and-a-half mile climb.
Fabulous solitude.
“I was actually riding for my team mate, Simon Richardson – he’s going very well. I got away, but was caught – I got stung on the lip by a bee! I got away again and held it to the line. There wasn’t a big crowd at the finish because most of the fans were out on the circuit. Plowman Craven’s boss, Simon Barnes was there with his US and UK executives, so that was nice.
“Simon Richardson sat on once I was away and he nicked second; he told me that Rock Racing stopped chasing me with a kilometre to go – I was just up the road and Simon was really surprised when they sat up.
“The Rock Racing guys came up and congratulated me after the finish, but then they vanished, they wouldn’t attend the prize presentation – I think they were very disappointed.”
Evan atop the podium at the Sea Otter Classic.
Are Rock as ‘glam’ as we’ve heard?
“Well, the team cars were Bentleys, Lamborghinis and Rolls Royces! They’re riding the Ras (in Ireland) and we asked what they’ll do for team cars; “Oh, we’ll just buy some over there!” “
Morale must be good in the PC squad?
“Yeah, it’s a good set up. Tony Gibb is team captain – if there’s no hills! Tom Barras is a good guy, he’s always on the radio telling us what’s going on and keeping morale high. We rode another race after the Sea Otter, it was on the Laguna Seca motor racing circuit. I was seventh, Successful Living won that one.”
You had bad luck at East Midlands, when you got back?
“I crashed on the second rough section but the team brought me back up. I was feeling good but I punctured with about 20 K to go and ended up 22nd. The break was just up the road when it happened, we could see them.
“It was obvious that it was falling apart, but two of them managed to hang on to the line (Ciaran Power of Ireland & Pezula won from Jan Bos of Ruiter De Kapellen & The Netherlands after they survived the day long break.)”
Plowman Craven pulls in the Sea Otter Classic, with the Rock stars tucked in.
What’s next?
“The Chas Messenger stage race (Evan was third on stage two; Russ Downing won overall); the Lincoln, then the Ras, where we’ll be up against Rock Racing again.”
What do you put your good form down to?
“I’m more experienced and I raced less in Australia over the winter, in previous years I think I’ve done too much and been a bit tired at the start of our season. My motivation is good too, it’s the first time I’ve had a set up like we have at Plowman Craven, with a team working for me. At Recycling I was always working for someone else.”
VeloVeritas wishes Evan all the best for the Lincoln and the Ras – should be good!
Ed's been involved in cycling for over 50 years. In that time he's been a successful time triallist, a team manager and a sponsor of several teams and clubs. He's also a respected and successful coach and during the winter months was often working in the cabins at the Six Days for some of the world's top riders. Ed remains a massive fan of the sport and couples his extensive contacts with an inexhaustible enthusiasm for the minutiae and the history of our sport.
In February 2023 however, our dear friend and beloved colleague Ed suffered a devastating stroke and faces an uncertain future; Ed has lost his ability to speak, to read, and has lost movement on the right side of his body. He's working with speech and physical therapists on rehabilitation, but all strokes are different and each patient responds differently, so unfortunately recovery is one day at a time. Ed ran his own business installing windows, and will probably not be able to work again. Please consider joining us to make a contribution to Ed's GoFundMe page to help stabilise and secure his future.
Dan Fleeman has been British National U23 Road Race Champion and twice British Hill Climb Champion; and now he's gone and won another national title - the British Cross Country Marathon Mountain Bike Championship. We'd been meaning to speak to him about his new title for ages but needed our memories jogged; so he came up with eighth place in the Beaumont Trophy road race putting him among the UCI Euro Tour points. And then - he placed 14th in the British Elite Road Race Championship.
Henk Vogels is an Australian with a very Dutch heritage and a long and varied career. We managed to track down the super-experienced rider on the Gold Coast to hear about his past and present. It’s perhaps appropriate that his first big wins came in the Flatlands, where his father was born, and his last victory should come in the New World where he spent half of a career which criss-crossed the North Atlantic.
Matt Green’s is a typical story, a young Englishman who gets into cycling, trudges the well trodden path to the Flatlands of Flanders, gets a contract on low budget teams – Cyclingnews, Cinelli, Marco Polo – and then...
The progression stalls; but rather than bang his head against the combines in Flanders for another year, he’s decided that there’s a New World of cycling for him – across the pond in the USA. He’s secured a private sponsor to pay his wages and all he needs now is a team – here’s his tale:
A few Sundays ago we saw Tom Dumoulin time trialling his way to Tour de France stage glory in the thin-aired horror that is Andorra; but there was a much more important race against the watch going on in darkest North East Scotland – the Scottish ‘50’ Mile TT Championship. Back at the ‘10’ Champs, winner Chris Smart (GTR) told us that there was a ‘changing of the guard’ taking place in Scottish time trials – and so it proved, with new name, Jon Entwistle (Team JMC) taking the 50 mile honours in 1:44:45 from Chris (1:46:15) and 2015 champion, Alan Thomson (Sandy Wallace Cycles, 1:48:07).
It’ll be nine years, this January since we ran our Gary Wiggins obituary. Wiggins, father of Knight of the Realm, current World Hour Record holder, reigning Olympic Team Pursuit Champion and former Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins, died in hospital in Newcastle, New South Wales the day after an ‘incident’ in Muswellbrook the previous day.
Sometimes a ride comes along and right away you can just tell he has what it takes. We first caught sight of Joe Dombrowski at the Italian Valle d’Aosta stage race, last year. Aosta, l’Avenir, the Baby Giro and the U23 Worlds are where the pro talent scouts do their window shopping.
A phone call from Craig MacLean the other day;
"I'll be up in Edinburgh on Monday morning, to do some promo for the Edinburgh Nocturne races at the end of the month, fancy catching up?"
For sure mate. And so I pottered along to the press launch of the Nocturne event today, which centered around an exhibition of roller racing, with the wonderful backdrop of Edinburgh Castle.
Bardiani-CSF is going to face a new important event of its season, the Tour of Poland 2016. The short stage race, from July 12 to 18, will be the sixth World Tour race for the #GreenTeam.
We humbly ask for your help to support our dear friend and beloved colleague Ed Hood. Ed suffered a devastating stroke in February last year and faces an uncertain future.
As a result of the stroke, Ed has lost his ability to speak, and to read, and has lost movement on the right side of his body. He’s working with speech and physical therapists on rehabilitation but all strokes are different and each patient responds differently, so unfortunately recovery is one day at a time.
Ed ran his own business installing windows but will not be able to work again and his financial future is uncertain, so please consider joining us to make a contribution to the GoFundMe page to help stabilise and secure Ed's future. Thank you.
