The second main objective for the season is here. After not finishing the Tour of California I am super motivated to win this weekends race after the let down from the ToC. I'm still in disbelief that I got time cut from stage 5 but I will just have to deal with it.

The Philadelphia International Championships is classified UCI 1.HC and is 251km in distance. I have raced this race before and she is a tough won to say the least. Last year I had some unfortunate luck coming into the sprint so I know I have the potential to do well if not win. It will be televised in the US on versus at 10.30am west coast time and I think you can stream it live on a some website.

Well post ToC I had some time off and went out to Las Vegas for some sown time and played the slot machines and lazed by the pool for a couple of days. This was just what I needed. Trained easy last week and ramped it up this week so I should be recovered and ready for this weekend.

Hope all is well around the world.

Jonathan 

I cant believe the Tour of California is already here. Well I have been training for this all year but when time finally comes around you feel like "wow" and need to sit back and realise that its time.

I and the team are very well prepared and are excited to be here racing against the big boys of the sport. We have pretty much dominated the American domestic scene and now the pressure is on so we hope to show our true potential and ultimate goals of racing in the Pro Tour division.

First stage tomorrow should come down to a bunch sprint with Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia) and Tom Boonen (Quickstep) being here, not to mention that there won't be to many opportunities this tour to come down to a bunch sprint. This years tour consists of a lot of climbing so I'll have my helmet strapped up very tight and holding on for dear life up those climbs :)

Well wish me luck and keep and eye out for the results.

To all Australians back home channel SBS two will be covering it live from 7am each day (AEST).

JC 

It's going to be a very busy month. Last week was a solid 800km training/race week in preparation for Joe Martin Stage Race which starts on Thursday 6th and finished on Sunday 9th, then the Tour of California starts the following Sunday 16th.

On the weekend Bernie and I travelled down towards San Diego to race in the Barrio Logan Grand Prix on Saturday and Mark Reynolds San Luis Rey Road Race on Sunday. We both wanted to go down there to finish our endurance training week off with some hard intensive racing which is exactly what we got. I broke away in the criterium with 5 other riders and stayed away to win the sprint. My average power was 350 watts for those who train with watts and for those who don't know aht I'm talking about don't worry about it :)

Sunday was a 170km road race which was like a 'L' shaped course with 2 U-turns in it and a 3km 7% climb, so it was going to be a hard race. Bernie and I started attacking right from the start and gave it everything we had. We tried to get away for the whole race but only managed to break away with 15km to go. It was a mission for that day to get away together and finish 1st and 2nd. I'm sure you know what I'm going to say next........Bernie 1st, Jonny 2nd. Great weekend in the office and the form is looking good for the coming months racing.

Well gotta go and do some stretching and core work after having today off the bike.

Jonny 

To win a NRC (National Road Calendar) race means so much more than just a local criterium in Los Angeles. Chris White and Henk Vogels put some pressure on me to win the some bigger races throughout the year so here it is boys. This is only my 2nd NRC win in my career and it will go down as one of my favourites. The Dana Point Grand Prix is renowned to be crazy fast and very dangerous yesterday was no exception. With a hectic crash with 3 laps to go the field got shuffle and split all over the place. I think a total of 20-30 riders went down!

I managed to stay out of trouble and slip straight back onto the untied Health Care train and they basically took me through to the last corner until Jamis Sutter Homes came through and took over at the front. Tactfully I slotted on their wheel and with 200m to go I stepped of barrajo's wheel and has the better legs on the day.

Here is a youtube clip of the final few laps http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ycem7bHeGic

AEG Sports has invited Fly V Australia to race the Tour of California this May. The race starts on the 16th-23rd May.

The team and I hope to make a mends on last years performance which most of the team fell sick with a terrible virus early in the tour. This years tour has also been pushed back to May compared to last years tour starting in February. This will give us plenty of time to prepare and get some racing in the legs. We also rode most of the courses after Redlands Stage Race to go over the terrain and see all the vital parts of the race. The tours website is www.amgentourofcalifornia.com for more information.