Von Hoff's domination in Gippsland first fruits of decision to ride full-time

Image 1 of 2

Five stage wins and overall victory were the rewards for another dominant Genesys performance in the National Road Series, this time at the Lakes Oil Tour of Gippsland. Steele Von Hoff was a stand-out for the team, proving almost unbeatable in the bunch-sprints. The 23-year-old recently completed his apprenticeship with a boiler maker and has since been focused full time on the road.

Team director Andrew Christie-Johnson was not surprised with Von Hoff's stellar ride in Gippsland, but with the team riding so well together it was not all that unexpected.

"We [Genesys] had good form and we’ve always had good form - all year. Coming into one of the bigger races of the year [Gippsland] you look at your riders and you think they’re going well but it’s hard to compare until you match them up with the other riders in the country and see just how successful you’ll be," Christie-Johnson told Cyclingnews.

"We didn’t plan to win the Tour with Nathan Haas, that just fell in our lap, it was always about Steele. When you have someone like him [Von Hoff], a guy that’s super talented and super quick it’s a lot easier. When you’ve got a team that’s got confidence in a guy to perform it also becomes a lot easier."

Genesys have come off overall wins in all three of the previous NRS races, with Nathan Haas [Mersey Valley and Canberra] and Pat Shaw [Toowoomba] getting the team's season off to the best possible start. Christie-Johnson however played down the team being a level above their competition.

"There are some good teams - and some good riders out there. I think the problem is a lot of them seem to be riding as individuals," he said. "You’re never going to beat a team of well-drilled riders when you try and do it alone."

That insight was perhaps most obvious with respect to New-Zealander Rico Rogers (Lakes Oil) who arrived in Gippsland without a team, and despite a number of podium positions was unable to repeat the same success he had in last year's race.

The Genesys director also predicted things to get considerably closer in the races ahead as the NRS welcomes back some of the bigger overseas based teams.

"I think in the races ahead you’ve got Drapac and Fly-V coming back and those teams have budgets way bigger than ours, so you won’t see the kind of domination that took place at Gippsland."