The RCA BikesOnline Race Team headed to Sydney for Round 4 of the ProVelo Super League – the Harbour City GP, a three-stage race featuring technical circuits, aggressive racing and challenging conditions across the weekend.

The team lined up with six riders: Ryan Thomas, Dylan Proctor-Parker, Craig Wiggins, Matthew Lambert, Josh Beikoff and Alex Baker.

Stage 1 - Cronulla Criterium

The opening stage was a tight and technical criterium in Cronulla, where positioning was critical from the gun.

Unfortunately, the team’s race started with a setback when Josh Beikoff crashed on the first lap, breaking his bike and sustaining a head knock. Josh was taken to hospital as a precaution and fortunately was later confirmed to be okay, but his race weekend unfortunately ended there.

With five riders remaining, the team continued to race aggressively. Ryan Thomas and Dylan Proctor-Parker were active at the front, covering moves and keeping the team represented as the pace remained high throughout.

Despite several attempts, no breakaway was able to stick and the race came back together for a fast sprint finish. Ryan positioned himself well heading into the final U-turn with around 400 metres to go, launching his sprint to finish 7th — a strong result on a difficult circuit.

Stage 2 – Tight Circuit

Stage two took place on a 1.5 km car/go kart circuit, with the peloton scheduled to tackle 60 laps (~80 km) of tight, fast racing where positioning was once again key.

The race was aggressive from the start, with Ryan and Dylan riding actively near the front and following key moves. Matthew Lambert briefly lost position during the early chaos but fought his way back to the front and was able to contribute during the middle phase of the race.

Midway through the stage, Ryan unfortunately hit the deck in a crash, but quickly rejoined the race and continued to animate the front of the bunch.

As the race progressed it became clear the stage would likely end in another sprint. With lightning detected nearby, commissaires shortened the race, removing 15 laps from the schedule.

In the final laps Dylan did a great job guiding Ryan into position, setting him up for the finish where Ryan again delivered with another 7th place, while Dylan finishing in 24th.

Stage 3 – Bowral Road Stage

The final stage in Bowral was the queen stage of the weekend, featuring a 25 km hilly circuit raced over five laps in overcast, wet and windy conditions.

The team’s plan was clear: race aggressively and make the breakaway.

The race was extremely hard from the opening lap, with repeated attacks on the climbs. Alex, Matt and Dylan covered the early moves to ensure we were represented. Around 20 km into the race, a breakaway began to form, eventually growing to 17 riders after several groups bridged across.

Ryan Thomas made the decisive move, placing himself in the front group alongside riders from the major teams.

Matthew Lambert also made an impressive effort to bridge across to the breakaway, but after battling illness during the weekend he was unable to stay with the front group.

With strong representation from the bigger teams, the breakaway worked well together and maintained a solid advantage over the peloton.

As the race reached the final laps the attacks started flying on the climbs, whittling the group down before it came to a reduced sprint between 13 riders.

Ryan held his own in the finale, sprinting to 9th on the stage with Dylan attacking from the main group in the final lap to finish a respectable 14th. 

This result secured Ryan 9th overall on General Classification for the weekend.

Weekend Wrap

Despite crashes, tough circuits and challenging weather conditions, the RCA BikesOnline team showed strong teamwork and aggressive racing throughout the Harbour City GP.

Ryan Thomas’ consistent performances across all three stages delivered a well-earned 9th overall, while the rest of the team played key roles animating the racing and supporting throughout the weekend.

Another valuable block of racing for the squad as the ProVelo Super League season continues.