Joseph Cooper concludes BC Superweek with 2nd place in the Tour de White Rock

PureBlack Racing have completed their block of Canadian racing on a high after Joseph Cooper finished in second place in the final stage of le Tour de White Rock in Canada.

After breaking away from the peloton around the halfway mark, Cooper finished just 30 seconds behind Orica-GreenEDGE Pro-Tour cyclist, Christian Meier, who has previously finished the Giro d’Italia.  Meier and Cooper managed to evade sprint specialist Ken Hanson (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies), with Meier’s team mate, world Time Trial silver-medallist, Svein Tuft, chasing hard in fourth.

Director Sportif of PureBlack Racing, John Harris said, “I’m extremely happy with the way Joseph rode today, it was a class act ride.  He knew he needed to be in the breakaway and get time between himself and the other top riders, he executed it perfectly.”

Cooper said, “I just stuck to Harry’s [John Harris] plan, he told me to race it like it was the last race I will ever do and that is what I did.”

The 135km road race saw the conclusion of BC Superweek, which has seen PureBlack Racing compete in nine races over ten days.

PureBlack Racing has made their presence shown in Canada.  Louis Crosby also made the podium in Stage One of le Tour de White Rock, a 700m hill climb sprint up Buena Vista Avenue at a 16% gradient, Crosby clocked the fastest time of the night before coming third in a race off with the top five riders.

Of their time in Canada Harris said, “I am extremely happy of the boys’ efforts, we can always do better but we have managed to get in some really solid racing and training which is invaluable to the team.”

PureBlack Racing returns to New Zealand later this week for a short stop before heading over to Australia to compete in the Scody Cup.