Shane Dobbin

World Cup Finale, Heerenveen

2011-03-04T20:23:00.002+10:00

Written by T Dobbin
After spending a week in Inzell, Germany Shane travelled Tuesday to Heerenveen, The Netherlands for today's World Cup Finale 5,000 meter. With this weekend being the final hit out before the World Single Distance Championships in Inzell, Germany it will be only in the end result to know whether everyone will be skating 100% or holding back for the Worlds.

Shane is paired with fellow ex-inline skater and Frenchman Alexis Contin in the sixth pair of today's men's 5,000 meters. See the following link for full pairs of today's races: http://live.isuresults.eu/2010-2011/Heerenveen3/

Some of you may be able to view today's races online at http://schaatsen.nl/wc-finale/live

Tomorrow morning, Shane will then be flying back to Inzell for his final days preparing for the World Single Distance Championships. keep posted for results coming soon!

Finally, An Update

2011-02-27T02:46:00.013+10:00

Written by T Dobbin
Well it's been some time since an update has been posted on Shane's blog. This winter has gone by so fast it's hard to believe there are only two races to go and it's soon to be March.

Since the World Cup last November in Berlin, Shane has been progressing this winter and trying to make a step up from last year. It hasn’t been an easy step to make, but over the past month things seem to be coming together after a really good training period throughout December and January.

Hamar in November, the third World Cup of this season was a great step for Shane. He raced the 10,000 meter race and managed to set a new personal record, New Zealand National record, as well as finishing the World Cup with the fourth best time of the day. It was a great way to finish off the three first World Cups of the season and after his disappointment in the first two. After Hamar Shane was ready to head back to Salt Lake City and get stuck into hard training.

On Shane’s return to Salt Lake City, he was able to sit down with his Coach/father Roy Dobbin to lay out training for the remainder of the season and get back on track for the season’s goal, the World Single Distance Championships. Shane’s brother, Kalon Dobbin was in Salt Lake City upon Shane’s return and helped him with his sprint training as well as his general conditioning.

Over the month of December, Shane set new personal records in the 500 meter, 1000 meter and 1500 meter distances, as well as set a seasonal best in the 5,000 meter. The next step for Shane was to try to qualify for the World All Round Championships at the regional qualifier held in Salt Lake City mid-January. It was going to be tough for Shane as in the past has lacked a sprint, but Shane put together some good times at the regionals and ended up finishing in fourth place overall, setting another season’s best in the 5,000 meter as well a spot on the podium in second, and a personal best and national record in the 10,000 meter at the Regionals and winning the final event of the weekend. For full results of the Regional Qualifier go to: http://www.speedskatingresults.com/index.php?p=2&e=5760&s=14253 These superb results confirmed his spot to start in the World All Round Championships in Calgary in February, which meant he was able to set a time in Calgary for the World Single Distance Championships and not have to travel to Moscow, Russia for the World Cup there in late January.

The World All Round Championships were still another month after the Regionals so it was back into the training and use the All Round and the Final World Cup in Salt Lake City as stepping stone to prepare for the final part of the season. Luckily for Shane his coach/father was able to travel from New Zealand to Salt Lake & Calgary to be able to help with the final phase of his training. In Calgary, Shane had an unexpected successful weekend setting three new personal records and National records as well as finishing 5th in the 5,000 meter, 4th in the 10,000 meter and finally 9th overall. For full results from the World All Round Championships go to: http://www.speedskatingresults.com/index.php?p=2&e=6193&s=14253

From Calgary, we flew directly back to Salt Lake City where the focus was on the 1500 meter to try to confirm a position in this event at the World Single Distance Championships. Racing was on Friday and Saturday with the first event being the 1500 meter. Shane managed to skate yet another personal record and National record in a time of 1.46,19s, just slipping through the qualification status in 23rd and out of 24th places for the World Singles.

Finally racing Saturday morning, in the 10,000 meter Shane was pair with Norwegian Henrik Christensen. Shane skated his best 10,000 meter yet, skating a very “flat race” with consistancy each lap and once again, setting another National record and personal best time beating his time from last weekend in the 10,000 meter with a time of 13.04,36s which placed him the 6th best time of the day. For full results from the World Cup in Salt Lake City go to: http://www.speedskatingresults.com/index.php?p=2&e=6276&s=14253

This season Shane has managed to set new personal records in every event from the 500 meter to the 10,000 meter. Right now Shane is currently in Inzell, Germany where in less than two weeks the World Single Distance Championships will be held. Last Wednesday we arrived for one week training, before heading back to where it all started in Heerenveen, The Netherlands for the World Cup Finale 5,000 meter held on Friday the 4th of March. The very next day Shane will return to Inzell, Germany for the final week before the World Single Distance Championships starting on Thursday the 10th of March and finishing Sunday the 13th. We will be updating the results from the World Cup Finale and World Single Distance Championships so make sure you keep posted.
The program for the World Singles is as follows:

Thursday 10th March 2011
(Start Time Approximately 15:30)
1,500 meter Men
3,000 meter Ladies

Friday 11th March 2011
(Start Time Approximately 14:00)
1,000 meter Men
1,500 meter Ladies
5,000 meter Men

Saturday 12th March 2011
(Start Time Approximately 12:00)
1,000 meter Ladies
10,000 meter Men
5,000 meter Ladies

Sunday 13th March 2011
(Start Time Approximately 12:00)
500 meter Ladies (1st race)
500 meter Men (1st race)
500 meter Ladies (2nd race)
500 meter Men (2nd race)
Team Pursuit Ladies
Team Pursuit Men

For the official website for the World Single Distance Championships go to: http://www.inzell-wm2011.com

Berlin Live on NOS Sport

2010-11-19T23:44:00.003+10:00

Written by T Dobbin
For those who are able to watch online, check out the live coverage of this afternoon's ISU World Cup in Berlin at http://nos.nl/sport/schaatsen/live/ Coverage starts at 15:30 European time.

World Cup Update

2010-11-19T18:32:00.004+10:00

Written by T Dobbin

It's already been a week since the first World Cup in Heerenveen. Shane has been in Berlin since Monday preparing for the second World Cup held in Berlin. Racing last Sunday in Heerenveen wasn't one of Shane's best races in the 5,000 meter. He was very disappointed after his result so this week he's hungry to do better. Last week Shane ended up finished in 15th place with a time of 6.30.92. This time was enough to keep him in the A division for this weekend's World Cup in Berlin, however it's a whole week longer in Europe therefore he's had more time to adjust after the travel and get over the Jetlag. Today Shane will skate in the second pair with fellow ex-inliner Roger Schneider from Switzerland. For a full list of the pairs for today's 5,000 meter please go to http://live.isuresults.eu/2010-2011/berlin/d205.htm Keep posted for results from today's World Cup or go to http://www.isuresults.eu/ for full results.

See the results from Heereveen World Cup last weekend below:
1st Bob de Jong NED - 6.17.31
2nd Ivan Skobrev RUS – 6.18.96
3rd Wouter Olde Heuvel NED – 6.20.93
4th Jonathan Kick USA – 6.22.32
5th Bob de Vries NED – 6.22.44
6th Alexis Contin FRA - 6.22.67
7th Seung-Hoon Lee KOR – 6.23.40
8th Havard Bokko NOR – 6.23.73
9th Jorrit Bergsma NED – 6.24.20
10th Dmitry Babenko KAZ – 6.25.60
11th Oysterin Grodum NOR – 6.26.65
12th Enrico Fabris ITA – 6.27.38
13th Henrik Christiansen NOR – 6.30.04
14th Patrick Beckert GER – 6.30.12
15th Shane Dobbin NZL – 6.30.92

ISU World Cup Heerenveen Update

2010-11-14T04:35:00.008+10:00

Written by T Dobbin
Tomorrow is the 5,000 meter at the ISU World Cup in Heerenveen. Shane will be taking the start tomorrow with an approximate start time of 16.14 in the sixth pair with Swedish skater Joel Eriksson. You can watch Shane race LIVE tomorrow via the following website's live streaming. Click on http://schaatsen.nl/wc-heerenveen/live

The pairs for tomorrow's races are as follows including all approximate start times for each pair:

15.14 Pair #1 - Havard Lorentzen NOR / Patrick Beckert GER
15.22 Pair #2 - Norimasa Zaike JPN / Jan Szymanski POL
15.30 Pair #3 - Justin Warsylewicz CAN / Tore Solli NOR
15.38 Pair #4 - Marco Weber GER / Alexis Contin FRA
16.06 Pair #5 - Lucas Makowsky CAN / Shani Davis USA
16.14 Pair #6 - Shane Dobbin NZL / Joel Eriksson SWE
16.22 Pair #7 - Jorrit Bergsma NED / Oystein Grodum NOR
16.30 Pair #8 - Henrik Christiansen NOR / Jonathan Kuck USA
16.58 Pair #9 - Robert Bovenhuis NED / Seung-Hoon Lee KOR
17.06 Pair #10 - Ivan Skobrev RUS / Wouter olde Heuvel NED
17.14 Pair #11 - Bob de Vries NED / Enrico Fabris ITA
17.22 Pair #12 - Bob de Jong NED / Havard Bokko NOR

Times are Standard Eastern European Time and are approximate start times (approximate start time of the first pair around the World are below). Keep posted for the results.

New York, USA - 9:14am
Salt Lake City, USA - 7:14am
New Zealand - 3:14am (Monday Morning)
Brisbane, Australia - 12:14am (Monday Morning)
Perth, Australia - 10:14pm

ISU World Cup One in Heerenveen

2010-11-13T01:46:00.004+10:00

World Cup Number 1
Today is the start of the first World Cup for the 2010-2011 Winter held in Heerenveen. The program is totally different than the last year and the five kilometer is held on Sunday. The ice in Thialf is in good condition which was confirmed by last weekend’s Dutch National Championship times. The weather in Holland is still the same as always, wet, windy and cold. However, it should make for some good times come Sunday.

Shane arrived last Sunday and has been struggling with jetlag all week. Hopefully come Sunday, everything will be back to normal and Shane will be ready to race. “It’s been good being back in Heerenveen again. It’s good to see familiar faces and come back to where it all started”. This winter there are some different faces in the national teams, including new faces in the 5,000 meter.

To view the results and to watch each race live on the internet, including watching Shane skate live on Sunday in the 5,000 meter you can go to the following website. http://schaatsen.nl/wc-heerenveen/live The start time for Shane on Sunday will be posted on Saturday evening.

The program of the World Cup this weekend is below:
Friday 12th November
Ladies 1 x 500 meter
Men 1 x 500 meter
Ladies 1,000 meter
Men 1,000 meter

Saturday 13th November
Ladies 1 x 500 meter
Men 1500 meter
Ladies 3,000 meter

Sunday 14th November
Men 1 x 500 meter
Ladies 1500 meter
Men 5,000 meter

Tomorrow night the 5,000 meter pairs will be online so keep posted for updates from Heerenveen.

Two Weeks Out

2010-10-30T01:38:00.003+10:00

Written by T Dobbin
Just two weeks until the first World Cup of the 2010-2011 long track ice season starting with the WC in Heerenveen, Holland. Followed by the World Cup in Berlin the following weekend and finally heading to Norway with the final World Cup for November in Hamar.

Shane still in Salt Lake City, heads to Holland next weekend, one week before the World Cup to prepare for his race. Shane will skate only the 5,000 meter in Heerenveen which is held on Sunday the 14th of November.

With only two weeks remaining of training, Shane is hitting this final week with some hard training and finalising those minor details, followed by a recovery week when in Heerenveen.

"Things are definitely going in the right direction compared to last year. I have been able to focus 100% on long track this winter which has been a huge advantage being able to focus every training session on that".

Shane is really looking forward to skating in Heerenveen. After watching the World Inline Speed Skating Championships in Guarne, Colombia especially watching the New Zealand men's team take gold in the relay final on road today, he has a lot of motivation to keep focused on his long track and give it his all in the upcoming World Cups.

Keep posted for more updates coming soon.

Salt Lake City Update

2010-10-22T12:30:00.003+10:00

Written by T Dobbin
It's been another week down in Shane's training program and only just over three weeks to go until the first World Cup in Heerenveen. Currently Shane is having a recovery week before he hits the final three weeks of his training phase. To finish last week's hard training cycle off, Shane skated a race here in Salt Lake City skating a five kilometre. It was a good race, skating a flat race while the ice not in great condition. There is still room for improvement between now and Heerenveen, so after this week it will be back into hard training to prepare 100% for the three World Cups coming up in November.

Shane's lap times are below:

Start 19.25
30.08
31.18
31.29
30.88
30.93
31.16
31.06
31.32
31.52
31.17
31.24
31.56
Time: 6.32,64

Keep posted for more updates soon.

New Personal Record in the 3km

2010-10-10T04:02:00.004+10:00

Written by T Dobbin
This morning was the second race of the pre-season for Shane in Salt Lake City. He decided that he would race a 3km as he is still in the middle of a hard training phase so this race would be better suited. Shane managed to skate a good race finishing with a new personal best time as well as a new, New Zealand National record in the 3000 meter distance. See his lap times below:

Opener: 19.40
Lap 1: 29.55
Lap 2: 30.03
Lap 3: 30.22
Lap 4: 29.84
Lap 5: 29.32
Lap 6: 29.56
Lap 7: 30.20
Finishing time: 3:48.12

For now it's back into another week of training and another race next weekend.

What's been happening

2010-10-09T03:18:00.007+10:00

Written by T Dobbin
It has been a while since any posting on here, but thought it was time to get back into the swing of things and keep everyone updated on the upcoming 2010-2011 winter. With only five weeks to go before the first World Cup of the season, Shane is hard into his training phase and getting ready to hit the season in shape.

After last winter, Shane decided it was time he needed a change and a refocus so that he can prepare himself not just this winter but hopefully many more. Shane left Netherlands where he had been basing himself and in March went back to Australia, for yet another Winter, and get back into basics. Spending six months basing himself on the Gold Coast of Australia training many hours a week on the bike and in the gym as well as inline skating.
"Even though it's winter in Australia, the weather on the Gold Coast is perfect for training. Most of the days as sunny without any clouds in the sky, as well as temperatures always in the mid to low 20's in degrees C. Some weekends even managed to get up to the high 20's which was starting to get a little too warm when you spend many hours on the bike".
However it was a great off season for Shane and he is now ready to refocus his ice skating goals and ready to hit the ice.

Shane is now currently basing himself out of Salt Lake City in the USA. He arrived four weeks ago and got straight onto the ice. It took a few weeks to get back the feeling on ice and to gain a new feeling when he put on his new ice boots, his Marchese's. He has already competed one race, two weeks ago in Salt Lake where he raced a 3000 meter just getting the feel of getting back into race mode again and was only one second behind his personal best time. Below are Shane's times for his race, raced on the 25th of September (just two weeks after getting back on the ice):
Open: 19.16
Lap 1: 30.2
Lap 2: 30.52
Lap 3: 30.73
Lap 4: 30.25
Lap 5: 29.99
Lap 6: 30.07
Lap 7: 30.46
Finishing time: 3:51.39

Shane is set to race again tomorrow in Salt Lake City.

Keep posted for more updates throughout this upcoming winter.

Off-Season Update One

2010-04-14T07:33:00.003+10:00

Written by T Dobbin
After three weeks off training, yesterday was Shane's first day back on skates and back into training. Not having his inlines skates on since the end of August last year, it was time to put them back on and start preparing for this coming winter. "I felt good for the first ten minutes on my skates, then the remainder of my skate I was in the hurt box".

Having re-located for the European Summer to the Gold Coast in Australia where he has the chance to get away from the inline & ice scene and take the opportunity to get much needed training done rather than always having to try to fit training around his inline races. Living close to two short track ice rinks will hopefully give him the opportunity to learn something new on ice to help in the future.

Currently the weather still extremely hot on the Gold Coast with temperatures hitting 31 degrees C, 4 degrees above average for this time of year. Although Winter will be approaching soon the temperatures during the day very rarely go below 20 degrees C with mostly sunny days. "For the past three weeks it's been a great time to rest in the perfect place. Saturday i'm back on the resort golf course followed by our coming home celebration and then it will be back to full time training as of next week".

Video of Shane Dobbin thanks to KNSB.tv

2010-03-22T21:14:00.002+10:00

Written by T Dobbin
Check out the great interview and video footage of Shane Dobbin yesterday in Thialf after his 10,000 meter race. http://www.knsb.nl/topsport/knsb-tv/item/19344/

It can also be viewed on pureskatingnews known as Cado Motus, Shane's inline sponsor: http://www.pureskatingnews.com/2010/03/shane-dobbin-after-wc-allround-video.html

Day Three Of The ISU World All-Round in Heerenveen

2010-03-22T18:56:00.004+10:00

Written by T Dobbin
The third and final day of the ISU World All-Round is over with the men's 10,000 meter being the last and final race. With the new rules to qualify to skate the final event the 10,000 meter, Shane Dobbin was able to take to the start in this final race. Finally on the last day the ice conditions were back to normal. The stadium was still full of spectators and speed skating fans and as the weather forecast was much better yesterday without rain, it allowed the ice to set much better after the ice cleaning.

Shane was paired with Dutch skater Wouter Olde Heuvel in the second pair. Shane skated a very strong, consistent race throughout each and every lap of his 10,000 meter finishing with a new personal best time of 13:30,30 setting a new National Record for New Zealand, his eighth National Record broken this season. Shane ended up finishing in 7th place in the 10,000 meter which is an outstanding performance, especially this late in season.

Shane's lap times were as follows:
1. 400m 35.32 (35.3)
2. 800m 1:06.78 (31.4)
3. 1200m 1:39.08 (32.3)
4. 1600m 2:11.36 (32.2)
5. 2000m 2:43.75 (32.3)
6. 2400m 3:15.99 (32.2)
7. 2800m 3:48.29 (32.3)
8. 3200m 4:20.71 (32.4)
9. 3600m 4:53.16 (32.4)
10. 4000m 5:26.28 (33.1)
11. 4400m 5:58.65 (32.3)
12. 4800m 6:31.03 (32.3)
13. 5200m 7:03.20 (32.1)
14. 5600m 7:35.38 (32.1)
15. 6000m 8:07.90 (32.5)
16. 6400m 8:40.37 (32.4)
17. 6800m 9:12.85 (32.4)
18. 7200m 9:45.27 (32.4)
19. 7600m 10:17.98 (32.7)
20. 8000m 10:50.02 (32.0)
21. 8400m 11:22.00 (31.9)
22. 8800m 11:54.08 (32.0)
23. 9200m 12:26.21 (32.1)
24. 9600m 12:58.18 (31.9)
25. 10000m 13:30.30 (32.1)

"It's a great way to finish the season with a new personal best time and National record. I'm happy with the way I skated and have more motivation now to go home and train hard during the off-season so that i can come back next winter on the ice in better shape than I ever have".

Full results are as follows:
1 Sven Kramer NED 12:57.97
2 Håvard Bøkko NOR 13:12.13
3 Ted-Jan Bloemen NED 13:13.56
4 Jonathan Kuck USA 13:15.62
5 Sverre Haugli NOR 13:18.39
6 Jan Blokhuijsen NED 13:25.97
7 Shane Dobbin NZL 13:30.30
8 Wouter Olde Heuvel NED 13:32.27
9 Trevor Marsicano USA 13:38.11
10 Lucas Makowsky CAN 13:54.63
11 Matteo Anesi ITA 14:08.40
12 Konrad Niedzwiedzki POL 14:10.78

Now it's time for Shane to take a rest and travel back home to enjoy a few weeks of "Normal Life" before getting into his off-season training and preparation for next winter.

Shane ended up finishing in 12th overall in his first ISU World All-Round competition. For full results go to: http://www.knsb.nl/wk/allround/uitslagen-lotingen-en-meeschrijflijsten/

All photos of Shane are at: http://www.desgphoto.com/desgphoto/gallery/index.php?p=athlet&id=2687&langswitch_lang=en

Thank you everyone for their support throughout the season. We look forward to the next four years and hope that everyone continues to follow the progress. Keep posted throughout the winter for news and updates on Shane's off-season training and preparation for next winter.

Second Day at the ISU World All-Round

2010-03-21T17:56:00.006+10:00

Written by T Dobbin
With the second day of the ISU World All-Round completed and just one day to go, the men only had one event yesterday which was the 1500 meters. Once again the crowds in Thialf stadium didn't disappoint. The stadium was packed again with 12,000 people wearing orange supporting their Dutch speed skating stars. The ice wasn't in any better condition on day two as promised. There was bubbles, tyre marks and streak lines that covered the surface. It's very disappointed for everyone to finish the season in the famous Thialf ice rink with such poor ice conditions.

However, even with the ice conditions as they were, American Jonathan Kuck managed to skate a very spectacular 1500 meter setting a new personal best time to win the 1500 meter event in Thialf with a time of 1.45,36 over Canadian Lucas Makowsky in a time 1.46,15 finishing second.

Shane was in the fourth pair with Italian Luca Stefani starting on the inner lane. Shane's 1500 meter was not quite his best, however it was satisfying as he took four seconds off his last 1500 meter set in Thialf last winter.

"The 1500 meter is hard event to do when you don't train for this type of race. It's something that I want to work on during the off season and hopefully race in the World Cups next winter and be much better at".

Shane's lap times are below:
1. 300m 25.56 (25.5)
2. 700m 52.80 (27.2)
3. 1100m 1:21.32 (28.5)
4. 1500m 1:51.20 (29.8)

With the new qualification rules to be able to skate the final event at the World All-Round, Shane managed to skate a fast enough 5,000 meter on Friday and place high enough to confirm a start in the 10,000 meter today. Shane is paired with Dutch skater Wouter Olde Heuvel starting in the second pair on the outer lane. It's a great way to finish the season skating getting another chance to race the 10,000 meter event which is hard to come by, and after missing out on racing the 10,000 meter at the Olympics.

"It's probably by favourite event right now because after only being on the ice for two and half years I'm sure suited to the longer style races".

The pairs for the 10,000 meter are as follows:

Pair 1 - Matteo Anesi ITA (PB 14:01.78) / Konrad Niedzwiedzki POL (PB 13:51.95)
Pair 2 - Wouter Olde Heuvel NED (PB 13:17.08) / Shane Dobbin NZL (PB 13:34.03)
Pair 3 - Sverre Haugli NOR (PB 13:12.75) / Jan Blokhuijsen NED (PB 13:31.11)
Pair 4 - Trevor Marsicano USA (PB 13:21.06) / Lucas Makowsky CAN (PB 13:21.93)
Pair 5 - Sven Kramer NED (PB 12:41.69) / Håvard Bøkko NOR (PB 13:00.65)
Pair 6 - Ted-Jan Bloemen NED (PB 13:11.79) / Jonathan Kuck USA (PB 13:30.14)

For live results go to: http://www.knsb.nl/wk/english/live-results/ Or get all the info from the World All-Round at http://www.knsb.nl/wk/english/

It's once again on Eurosport today however, not live just showing highlights later this evening.

Photos of Shane can be viewed at : http://www.desgphoto.com/desgphoto/gallery/index.php?p=athlet&id=2687

First Day Of The World All-Round

2010-03-20T16:20:00.011+10:00

Written by T Dobbin
Yesterday was the first day of the ISU World All-Round competition in the famous Thialf ice rink in Heerenveen. The stadium was completely full with 12,000 spectators and seas of orange. The crowd was spectacular and the cheers could be heard throughout many of the surrounding roads in Heerenveen. The atmosphere in Thialf was by far some of the best that we have seen in our speed skating experience.

The first event of the day was the men's 500 meter sprint. Shane was paired in the fourth pair with German Marco Weber. Shane opened in a 11.04 second 100 meter but had the advantage of coming out of the first corner with someone to chase. Shane skated a time of 38.41 seconds which placed Shane in 22nd position after the first event.

There was huge problems with the ice again this weekend and the Zamboni's left tyre tracks in the ice and huge Zamboni streaks around the track. When the 5,000 meter event started the humidity in the ice rink was at 32%, when the final pairs were skating the humidity got up to 50% which is just about unheard of in ice skating. Apologies were made at the team leaders meeting, explaining to the coaches that during the 5,000 meter ice cleanings thousands of people would come in and out of the ice rink leaving the doors open and somehow had set off the fire alarm doors which automatically open and stay opened until the alarm is turned off. It was poring with rain outside yesterday and with the doors open for this long it had caused a problem inside with the air pressure and the conditions of the ice. The ice makers have assured all the coaches that the conditions today would be 100% better, and let's hope so for the skaters sake.

However, Shane skated a very strong race to finish his 5,000 meter season and his first in long track. It was second event of the day and Shane was paired with Olympic Champion Sven Kramer in the 10th pair. It was an honour to be the same pair as Sven Kramer especially in front of his home town croud with the roar coming out of Thialf. It was probably one of his best races of the season technically skating a very flat race throughout each lap and his fastest opening lap ever. Shane managed to finish with a top ten finish in this event finishing in 9th place and beat his time set in the Heerenveen World Cup in November of last year. See below Shane's lap times for the 5,000 meter.

Shane Dobbin
1. 200m 18.95 (18.9)
2. 600m 48.60 (29.6)
3. 1000m 1:19.40 (30.8)
4. 1400m 1:50.49 (31.0)
5. 1800m 2:21.29 (30.8)
6. 2200m 2:52.04 (30.7)
7. 2600m 3:23.25 (31.2)
8. 3000m 3:54.43 (31.1)
9. 3400m 4:25.40 (30.9)
10. 3800m 4:56.66 (31.2)
11. 4200m 5:28.06 (31.4)
12. 4600m 5:59.34 (31.2)
13. 5000m 6:30.64(31.3)

The top 15 from the 5,000 meter is as follows:
1 Sven Kramer NED 6:19.63
2 Håvard Bøkko NOR 6:21.08
3 Ted-Jan Bloemen NED 6:23.41
4 Jonathan Kuck USA 6:23.47
5 Ivan Skobrev RUS 6:23.88
6 Sverre Haugli NOR 6:26.03
7 Jan Blokhuijsen NED 6:27.68
8 Wouter Olde Heuvel NED 6:29.45
9 Shane Dobbin NZL 6:30.64
10 Trevor Marsicano USA 6:32.79
11 Lucas Makowsky CAN 6:35.06
12 Marco Weber GER 6:36.88
13 Hiroki Hirako JPN 6:36.94
14 Patrick Beckert GER 6:37.05
15 Johan Röjler SWE 6:41.14

For full results go to: http://www.knsb.nl/wk/english/results-draws-and-write-down-lists/

Or to watch today's events live on the internet go to: http://www.knsb.nl/wk/english/live-results/

Don't forget if you have Eurosport today's events will be shown tomorrow and tomorrow is once again shown live.

Today's only event for the men is the 1500 meter. Shane is in pair number four with Italian Luca Stefani starting on the inner lane. The first competition day for the ladies is today starting with the 500 meter and their 3,000 meter. After the men's 1500 meter we will know if 9th place in the 5,000 meter will qualify him for the 10,000 meter which is raced tomorrow afternoon.

For Photots go to: http://www.desgphoto.com/desgphoto/gallery/index.php?p=athlet&id=2687&langswitch_lang=en

WK All-Round in Heerenveen

2010-03-19T05:54:00.003+10:00

Written by T Dobbin
Tomorrow is the first day of the World All-Round competition held in Thialf stadium in Heerenveen. It's only the men that skate tomorrow with the first two events of four to get underway at 16.30 with the 500 meter followed by the 5,000 meters. After Shane set his new personal best time in the World Cup in Salt Lake City in December of 2009 for the 5,000 meter, this put Shane in the third and final grouping to determine the pairs for tomorrow.

With being int he final grouping, the draw was completed tonight and Shane will be skating tomorrow the 5,000 meter with Olympic Champion Sven Kramer from the Netherlands. They are paired together in pair number 10 out of 12 with Shane starting on the inner lane. See below the list of pairs for the 5,000 meter.

Pair Number 1 - Jeff Kitura CAN / Justin Warsylewicz CAN
Pair Number 2 - 24 Joel Eriksson SWE / Zbigniew Brodka POL
Pair Number 3 - Matteo Anesi ITA / Joshua Lose AUS
Pair Number 4 - Konrad Niedzwiedzki POL / Ted-Jan Bloemen NED
Pair Number 5 - Marco Weber GER / Lucas Makowsky CAN
Pair Number 6 - Mathieu Giroux CAN / Jonathan Kuck USA
Pair Number 7 - Hiroki Hirako JPN / Luca Stefani ITA
Pair Number 8 - Trevor Marsicano USA / Wouter Olde Heuvel NED
Pair Number 9 - Johan Röjler SWE / Håvard Bøkko NOR
Pair Number 10 - Shane Dobbin NZL / Sven Kramer NED
Pair Number 11 - Patrick Beckert GER / Ivan Skobrev RUS
Pair Number 12 - Jan Blokhuijsen NED / Sverre Haugli NOR

In the 500 meter Shane is paired with German Marco Weber in pair number four. All results will be live on http://www.knsb.nl/wk/english/live-results/ as well as all results, drawings and updates through the weekend. http://www.knsb.nl/wk/

For those countries that have eurosport, the World All-Round Championships will be on tomorrow live as well as on Sunday, http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/speed-skating/

It's Shane first World All-Round Championships and it's going to be good experience and a chance to finish the 2009-2010 ice season on a high. Keep posted for results.

Final Week Of Training For The 2009-2010 Ice Season

2010-03-16T17:04:00.005+10:00

Written by T Dobbin
With only one competition remaining for the 2009-2010 ice season this weekend in Thialf, Heerenveen it's Shane's final week of training for this winter. After this weekend is over it will be time to hang up the ice skates until later in the year when Shane returns to a new training venue and city for next winter. After this weekend Shane will take a short break from training and head back home at the end of March. After his break Shane will be back into training and be starting to prepare for next winter.

Friday afternoon is the first day of racing at the ISU World All-Round Championships. The first event of the day for Shane is the 500 meter sprint. Having only ever skated two previous 500 meter races it's not one of Shane's best distances as yet. Shane's best 500 meter time is 38.20 seconds set earlier this year in Calgary, Canada. The second distance of the day on Friday is the 5,000 meter in which Shane will be hoping the ice is much better than the conditions last weekend and hopes to beat his time set then. To win the World All-Round title, you have be the best skater throughout all distances over the weekend.

See below the race schedule for this weekend.

Friday 19th March 2010 - Start time 16.30
Men's 500 meter
Men's 5,000 meter

Saturday 20th March 2010 - Start time 14.00
Ladies 500 meter
Men's 1,500 meter
Ladies 3,000 meter

Sunday 21st March 2010 - Start time 13.00
Ladies 1,500 meter
Men's 10,000 meter
Ladies 5,000 meter

In both the men's 10,000 meter and ladies 5,000 meter, only the top twelve skaters in the All-Round overall take to the start in these final distances of the weekend. In total there will be 24 skaters racing the All-Round Championships consisting of 15 from the Europe, two from Asia and finally seven from the North America and Oceania region. Keep posted for results from Shane's first World All-Round Championships.

World Cup Finale, Heerenveen

2010-03-14T17:53:00.008+10:00

Written by T Dobbin
In Thialf the stadium was full of Dutch supporters, supporting all the athletes at the World Cup Finale yesterday. The stadium can hold up to 12,000 spectators and it was close to full yesterday with 10,000 people. It made for a fantastic atmosphere in Thialf and gave all the athletes a great feeling.

Shane raced the 5,000 meter yesterday which was the last event of the day. He stepped on the ice right after the ice preparation and was in the fifth pair with Norwegian Henrik Christiansen. When both skaters stepped on the line for the start the ice was sill full of water and the Zamboni had left type tracks and marks across the ice leaving it in probably some of the worst ice seen in Thialf. Shane tweeted after the race “It was the worst ice EVER! I thought I was swimming with all the water on the surface….. But what a great crowd and atmosphere”. With a false start to delay the start a few extra minutes, it didn’t seem like anything was to help the ice conditions for the second half of the 5,000 meters.

It’s hard to find the motivation after a long ice season and the Olympics. Everyone looked tired and ready to hang up their skates for the season. However, Shane managed to skate an average race, he said “it wasn’t great but it wasn’t so bad either, especially at this time of the year”. Shane ended up just missing out a top ten finish and finished in 11th place 0.7 seconds behind 10th and just outside the "bubble". See below Shane’s lap times.

Shane Dobbin NZL 6:33.85
1. 200m 19.43 (19.4)
2. 600m 49.85 (30.4)
3. 1000m 1:21.02 (31.1)
4. 1400m 1:51.85 (30.8)
5. 1800m 2:22.40 (30.5)
6. 2200m 2:53.04 (30.6)
7. 2600m 3:23.82 (30.7)
8. 3000m 3:54.71 (30.8)
9. 3400m 4:25.78 (31.0)
10. 3800m 4:57.25 (31.4)
11. 4200m 5:29.11 (31.8)
12. 4600m 6:01.47 (32.3)
13. 5000m 6:33.85 (32.3)

Full results:
1st Håvard Bøkko NOR - 6:20.52
2nd Sverre Haugli NOR - 6:21.49 (+ 00.97)
3rd Ivan Skobrev RUS - 6:23.24 (+02.72)
4th Jan Blokhuijsen NED - 6:26.24 (+05.72)
5th Wouter Olde Heuvel NED - 6:26.66 (+ 06.14)
6th Henrik Christiansen NOR - 45 6:28.45 (+ 07.93)
7th Øystein Grødum NOR - 6:29.35 (+08.83)
8th Bob de Jong NED - 6:29.45 (+08.93)
9th Enrico Fabris ITA - 6:32.33 (+11.81)
10th Carl Verheijen NED - 6:33.14 (+12.62)
11th Shane Dobbin NZL - 6:33.85 (+13.33)
12th Slawomir Chmura POL - 6:34.31 (+13.79)
13th Lucas Makowsky CAN - 6:35.93 (+15.41)
14th Marco Weber GER - 6:38.46 (+17.94)
15th Hiroki Hirako JPN - 6:38.72 (+18.20)
16th Patrick Beckert GER - 6:42.89 (+ 22.37)

The World Cup season is now over and Shane ended up finishing in 15th place in the World Cup Ranking for the 5,000 meter It’s a great achievement in Shane’s first year of long track racing, when at the start of the season he was only allowed to start in two World Cups due to his commitments with his marathon team. Shane’s results for the 2009-2010 season were in Berlin he finished 2nd in B division which would have been 9th in A division, Heerenveen finishing 13th, in Norway a crash in the 10,000m followed by the disqualification gave him no overall points in the World cup Ranking and missing his chance to skate the 10,000 meter in Vancouver. In Calgary Shane finished 10th followed by an 11th in Salt Lake City. At the Olympics Shane finished a disappointed 17th and finally another 11th place in the World Cup Finale to wrap up his first Long Track season. For photos from the 2009-2010 long track season of Shane Dobbin go to http://www.desgphoto.com/desgphoto/gallery/index.php?p=athlet&id=2687

Next weekend is the World All-Round Championships also in Thialf, Heerenveen. It’s a sold out crowd and it’s going to be great experience for Shane and a great event to watch. For full results from the World Cup and the World Cup Ranking go to: http://www.knsb.nl/wc/english/results/

ISU World Cup Finale

2010-03-13T17:30:00.003+10:00

Written by T Dobbin
Throughout this weekend is the ISU World Finale and the final event for most skaters this season. It has been pretty tough for just about everyone to come back to Europe after the Olympics and have more races on their calendar before they can hang their skates up for a while and enjoy the off season.

Today is the 5,000m finale in which Shane Dobbin will be taking the start line. He is currently ranked in 14th in the overall and in the World Cup Finale only the top 24 athletes in the ISU World ranking are allowed to start. Shane Dobbin is paired with Norwegian, Henrik Christiansen in pair number six.

For Live results go to: http://www.knsb.nl/wc/english/

Keep posted later today for the results.

Update after The Games

2010-03-02T20:04:00.005+10:00

Written by T Dobbin
The Olympics are over and it's time for things to get back to somewhat "normal" for Shane Dobbin after such a busy Winter of ice. Although the season isn't over yet with two weekends left on the race calendar. First is the weekend of the 13th and 14th of March with the World Cup Finale held in Heerenveen. And the second is the World All-Round Championships on the 19th, 20th and 21st of March also in Heerenveen.

It was a great experience for Shane to race and be in Vancouver. There were many great experiences he had including watching a hockey game (Russia v's Latvia) from a corporate box, as you can see the view was amazing!

Shane ended up finishing a respectable 17th in Vancouver in the 5,000m race, his one and only event and these games after unfortunately missing out on the qualification for the 10,000m in Hamar, Norway. Shane, always wanting to do better has set his focus over the next four years on making it to Sochi, Russia for the 22nd Olympic Games in 2014, as well as trying to give all he has over the next four years to finish his sporting career on the highest possible level.

After the final two events in Heereveen, Netherlands Shane is heading back to the Oceania region to train during the off-season before heading to a new training venue and city in the near future for the ice seasons to come.

Shane was very disappointed having to leave the inline team of Cado Motus this Summer but knew that if he didn't take a break and a change soon then he might not be mentally at his best on the sport he is now focused on. For Shanes full interview on the Cado Motus Pure Skating website go to: http://www.pureskatingnews.com/2010/03/shane-dobbins-olympic-review.html

Keep posted over the next few weeks with results and photos from the upcoming World Cup and World All-Round competitions.

2010-01-25T20:50:00.007+10:00

Written by T Dobbin
It was a successful weekend for Shane racing in the Regional All-Round qualification in Calgary.. With four races skated, Shane achieved three personal best times, two new national records and a place in the World All-Round Championships in Heerenveen in mid-March after winning the final distance of the weekend in the 10km.

Shane's times for the weekend were as follows:
500m - 38.20
1500m - 1.47,88
5km - 6.26,05
10km - 13.34,03

There is still room for improvement with three weeks left of training before Vancouver. Now it's back to Salt Lake City for this period and getting back into the final preparation. Don't forget to follow @ShaneDobbin on twitter! Thanks to Daniel Yeow for his great photography.

Follow Shane Dobbin on Twitter

2010-01-22T00:16:00.004+10:00

Written by T Dobbin
For those of you who have a twitter account, be sure to start following @shanedobbin with his updates prior to the Vancouver and throughout Vancouver.

Shane set a new personal flying lap record in his training yesterday morning in Salt Lake City. He skated a lap time of 24.99 which is by far his best lap ever. After training he then attempted to travel in the evening to Calgary for this weekend's Regional All-Round Qualification and half way into the flight, the Pilot had to turn around and head back to Salt Lake City due to heavy fog. If all goes well he will be arriving around midday today into Calgary.

Keep posted via Twitter and here on his blog for more updates.

Shane's New NZ National Record

2010-01-08T18:46:00.006+10:00

Written by T Dobbin
With only 31 days until Vancouver Shane Dobbin is currently in Salt lake City training.

Yesterday was the first training race that Shane is racing prior to Vancouver in Salt Lake City. where he raced a 3 kilometer breaking his own New Zealand National Record by 7 seconds. Shane skated a 3km time of 3.50,91 racing at what is normally his 5km pace, skating a flat race from start to finish and it's good preparation prior to Vancouver
.
On the 23rd and 24th of January Shane will be in Calgary racing the Regional Qualifier for North American and Oceania Regions to try to qualify for the 2010 World All-Round Championships which will be held in March in Heerenveen, Netherlands.

Shane is really enjoying his training in Salt Lake with Derek Parra USA National Coach and Chad Hedrick as well as other skates in the USA National Team. There is alot of hard work that has to be put in during this time and it's a great place to be.

Keep posted for more updates.

By Greg Ford, Sunday Star Times in New Zealand

2009-12-21T02:54:00.002+10:00

Dobbin a chance for Winter Olympics medal

Ashley Bright is a busy man. No time to waste. In two months' time he will send a rag-tag bunch of relative no-names to the Winter Olympics. He's "busy, busy, busy", so cuts to the chase when Shane Dobbin pops up in conversation.

"It is a story from the gods really," he explains.

"Talented athlete. Transferred across from inline skating to ice and within 18 months of international competition he is ranked 13th in the world. That says volumes about him as an athlete. It is an incredibly tough sport."

Heard of Dobbin? Not many have. He is, as the boss of the Winter Olympics team explained, a former inline world champion skater from Palmerston North.

To read the full article go to: http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/3179279/Dobbin-a-chance-for-Winter-Olympics-medal

ISU World Cup Salt lake City

2009-12-18T19:45:00.008+10:00

Written by T Dobbin
Salt Lake is one of the best cities in the World to speed skate. After hosting the 2002 Winter Olympic Games it has some of the best facilities in the World for training as well as an extremely good training group based in Salt Lake for a number of years.

Salt Lakes ice conditions were slightly better than in Calgary, especially for the distance races. The ice was fast and gliding alot, more than ice does at other rinks in the World. As SLC was the final qualification for Countries to Qualify for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games it was the last chance for those Countries to confirm their Country positions. Some of the skaters that had already qualified their Country positions decided to head back to their home lands and train for their National Qualification to confirm which skaters will be skating at the Olympics in their Country position.

Shane Dobbin only participated in the 5 kilometer event on Saturday. He wanted to make sure that he could secure a Country position for New Zealand in the 5 kilometer event at the Olympics. Shane was set to skate in pair number four which was the first pair after the ice cleaning.

His tactics were different than any other race he has skated before setting out to hold back at the start and try to bring his lap times down by the end. See below his lap times:

200m 19.10 (19.1)
600m 49.23 (30.1)
1000m 1:19.37 (30.1)
1400m 1:49.64 (30.2)
1800m 2:19.27 (29.6)
2200m 2:49.19 (29.9)
2600m 3:18.97 (29.7)
3000m 3:48.39 (29.4)
3400m 4:17.81 (29.4)
3800m 4:47.43 (29.6)
4200m 5:17.23 (29.8)
4600m 5:47.14 (29.9)
5000m 6:17.78 (30.6)

Even though Shane set a new New Zealand National Record and a personal best time in this event he was still not 100% satisfied. Usually on faster ice it's better to get your lap times at the start and try to maintain them until the end because you glide much better, on better ice. However, it was still good enough for 11th place in the mens A grade division and hopefully ensures a Country spot for New Zealand in the 5 kilometer at the 2010 Winter Olympics. For full results go to http://live.isuresults.eu/2009-2010/salt%20lake%20city/r505.htm

Shane is now back training in the Netherlands for the next two weeks. After Christmas he will head back to Salt Lake City to get some good training done there with a good training group. Shanes next competition is the Regional Qualifer which is going to be held in Calgary on the 23rd and 24th of January. The top seven skaters from this Regional Qualifer will be able to skate in the World All Round Championships in March in Heerenveen here in the Netherlands.

Keep posted for updates and a special thanks to Daniel Yeow for his great photos.

ISU World Cup Calgary

2009-12-18T19:25:00.008+10:00

Written by T Dobbin
Finally after returning home this week after two World Cups the first being in Calgary and the second in Salt Lake City. Calgary was an experience having never skated their before but also the weather. The days before the competition there was a winter snow storm. So for three days the temperatures were reaching as low as minus 30 degrees C.

Having trained on the ice all week prior to the 5 kilometer on Saturday, the ice conditions were extremly fast. The weather and ice conditions changed for the race on Saturday with a high pressure system moving in which as we learnt can change the ice conditions alot.

Shane skated in the second pairing in Calgary, and was paired with Japanese skater Hiroki Hirako. Shane skated a clean race and went out as hard as he could and just tired to hold on the the finish. See below his race lap times:

200m 19.33 (19.3)
600m 48.57 (29.2)
1000m 1:17.78 (29.2)
1400m 1:47.50 (29.7)
1800m 2:17.78 (30.2)
2200m 2:48.10 (30.3)
2600m 3:18.16 (30.0)
3000m 3:48.10 (29.9)
3400m 4:18.04 (29.9)
3800m 4:48.51 (30.4)
4200m 5:19.04 (30.5)
4600m 5:49.87 (30.8)
5000m 6:20.97 (31.1)

This time was good enough place for 10th position in the A grade mens division and a New New Zealand National Record which was set earlier in the season in Berlin. For full results go to http://live.isuresults.eu/2009-2010/calgary/r405.htm

Special Thanks to Daniel Yeow http://www.danielyeow.com for his great photos.

ISU World Cup in Hamar

2009-11-25T23:54:00.003+10:00

Written by T Dobbin

It was a devastating weekend in Hamar for Shane last weekend at the ISU World Cup. With Hamar being the one and only chance to qualify for the 10km at the Olympics he knew that it would be a very important weekend and the first part of his training was revolved around that weekend.

Saturday night was the draw for the 10km and Shane was third pair with Olympic Champion from Italy Enrico Fabris. It was a very good pair for Shane as Fabris skates a very steady laps and this would be a benefit in the 10km.

Shane started out skating very good lap times. He was looking in good condition and everything was going great throughout the race. He was three seconds under his schedule and was skating right with his opponent Fabris. With 9 laps to go Shane was on target for a time of 13.25 or faster which would be 5 seconds under the Olympic qualifying time. Shane felt really good during the 10km and plan was to try to conserve energy through the start and then with 6 or 7 laps to go bring the lap times down and finish with all he had.

With 8 laps to go, Shane was on the exit of the final corner on the inner lane and dug the front of his blade into the ice, crashing and sliding into the outer lane hitting the wall. Immediately his first reaction was to get up and finish because he needed the points in the overall so that if he can still finish instead the top 10 in the ISU Overall standing for the distance he would be able to still compete in the 10km at the Olympics. After crashing into the barrier Shane got up and skated some meters in the outer lane before realizing that he needed to get across into the inner lane.

Having blurred vision and pain from crashing Shane kept going for the final 8 laps and still crossed the finish line just 8 seconds from his previous personal best with a time of 13.47.

See Shane’s lap times below:

400m – 35.3
800m – 1.06.98 (32.2)
1200m – 1.38.82 (31.8)
1600m – 2.11.09 (32.2)
2000m – 2.42.87 (31.7)
2400m – 3.14.47 (31.6)
2800m – 3.46.29 (31.8)
3200m – 4.18.45 (32.1)
3600m – 4.50.52 (32.0)
4000m – 5.23.30 (32.7)
4400m – 5.55.15 (31.8)
4800m – 6.27.51 (32.3)
5200m – 6.59.35 (31.8)
5600m – 7.31.73 (32.3)
6000m – 8.03.68 (31.9)
6400m – 8.36.04 (32.3)
6800m – 9.18.69 (42.6)
7200m – 9.54.77 (36.0)
7600m – 10.27.73 (32.9)
8000m – 11.00.51 (32.7)
8400m – 11.33.54 (33.0)
8800m – 12.06.98 (33.4)
9200m – 12.40.30 (33.3)
9600m – 13.13.46 (33.1)
10000m – 13.47.1 (33.7)

After warming down the referee came over to Shane and explained that he would be disqualified. The reason he was disqualified is because when he got up after crashing, he skated in the outer lane and the rules state that when someone crashes, they must immediately go back to his/her lane. Because Shane skated on the outer he was disqualified.

Right now Shane is currently sitting in 19th overall. It will be a very difficult task to try to get back into the top 10 in the overall so from here Shane is going to go to Calgary and Salt Lake World Cups and try to secure his place at the 2010 Olympics in the 5km. With only a very select few skaters skating under the Olympic qualification time everyone is waiting to hear what will happen with the remaining places for the 10km. In the rules it states that each athlete MUST skate the under the maximum qualification time to skate at the Olympics and for the 10km it's either 13.30 or faster than a 6.30 in the 5km. If there is any chance he can skate the 10km at the Olympics we will take it but right now the situation doesn’t look good. Our fingers are crossed!

Saturday night Shane will be racing his with Marathon team in Amsterdam before flying on Sunday to Calgary. Keep posted for more updates through the upcoming World Cups.

ISU World Cup Hamar

2009-11-21T03:35:00.005+10:00

Written by T.Dobbin

This weekend is the third ISU World Cup of the winter held in Hamar, Norway. Shane travelled on Monday to Hamar where there have been a few bumps in the road but everything seems to be coming together two days out of competition.

After examining the race in Heerenveen Shane discovered that his jig, which is used to sharpen his blades, was bent. So for the past week or so, Shane had been sharpening his blades on the wrong angle. After figuring out one problem, on Tuesday morning another problem occurred when Shane was training and his bridge broke.

He received a blade from Netherlands on Wednesday evening and finally was able to train Thursday morning with new bridges, re-straighten blades and everything back on track.

See below the program for this weekend's ISU World Cup.

Friday, November 20
17:00 Team Leaders’ Meeting, Johann Olav Koss Auditorium, Hamar Olympic Hall
19:00 Opening Draw, Johann Olav Koss Auditorium, Hamar Olympic Hall

Saturday, November 21
*10.00 - 5000m Ladies Division B
1500m Men Division B

13.00 - 1500m Men Division A
5000m Ladies Division A

Sunday, November 22
*10.00 - 1500m Ladies Division B
10000m Men Division B

14.00 - 1500m Ladies Division A
10000m Men Division A

Shane will be racing only Sunday in the 10,000 meter. It is uncertain until Saturday night's draw if he will start Sunday Afternoon in either the A division where only 12 skaters start. Which is the top 12 in the overall, or if he will skate Sunday morning in the B Division. Shane is currently 13th in the ISU World Ranking for the distance events.

Keep posted this weekend for more updates and results. Don't forget to check out his interview from last weekend's ISU World Cup in Heerenveen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEr-JLqNwDE

Shane Dobbin on his road to Vancouver Interview by Cado Motus

2009-11-20T22:30:00.006+10:00

Written by T.Dobbin

Last weekend Shane had an interview from his inline sponsor Cado Motus. To view the video go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEr-JLqNwDE

For more information go to: http://www.pureskatingnews.com/

Or to view all Cado Motus youtube videos go to: www.youtube.com/cadomotus

ISU World Cup Heerenveen

2009-11-15T19:07:00.006+10:00

Written by T Dobbin

This weekend was the second ISU World Cup for the 2009-2010 Winter held in Heerenveen, Netherlands. Shane decided on Friday that he would not take part in the 1500 meter on Friday morning and would only take part in the 5000 meter on Saturday afternoon.

With Shane's previous sponsor going bankrupt, last week he was able to secure some new sponsors to help him throughout this winter. Shane found sponsors from the marketing company Sport Navigator http://www.sportnavigator.nl taking up five out of the eight logos on Shane's uniform with logos from Kia Motors, Clafis Engineering and G4S. We are hoping to finalize the remaining three logos positions very soon!

After finishing second in Berlin, Shane moved into A grade and 14th in the ISU World Cup 5km overall. Heerenveen would be his first ever start in the A grade competition which is live on television here in the Netherlands. Shane was set to start in the fourth pair with Marco Weber from Germany starting on the inner lane.

After a hard few weeks and continuing the hard training this week, Shane knew his legs weren't would not be completely prepared for the race on Saturday. However, Shane set his lap times that he felt he would be able to hold throughout the race and ended up with the finishing time that he predicted. See below the race lap times:

200m - 19.57 (19.5)
600m - 50.35 (30.7)
1000m - 1:20.73 (30.3)
1400m - 1:51.91 (31.1)
1800m - 2:23.22 (31.3)
2200m - 2:54.00 (30.7)
2600m - 3:24.52 (30.5)
3000m - 3:55.36 (30.8)
3400m - 4:26.54 (31.1)
3800m - 4:57.28 (30.7)
4200m - 5:28.23 (30.9)
4600m - 5:59.31 (31.0)
5000m - 6:30.90 (31.5)

Shane finished in 13th place in A grade which moves him up once place in the ISU World Cup overall for the 5km and is now currently in 13th place.

Next weekend is the one and only 10km World Cup race held in Hamar, Norway. Shane travels with his Coach Roy Dobbin Monday to Hamar where he will train and prepare for the 10km held on Sunday afternoon. Shane will once again start in the A grade in Hamar and hopes to have a successful weekend. With Hamar being the one and only 10km during these ISU World Cups before the Olympics, it's the only chance he has to qualify for the 10km at the 2010 Winter Olympics. The minimum qualifying time is 13.30 last year finishing 14th place at the World Single Distance Championships he hopes to have a good race and set a new personal best time hopefully under the minimum qualifying mark.

Keep posted for more updates this week and this weekend with results from Hamar.

For photos from Shanes 5km in Heerenveen please go to: http://www.desgphoto.com/desgphoto/gallery/index.php?p=event&id=171&day=2009-11-14&distance=6&division=9&gender=men

ISU World Cup Heerenveen

2009-11-11T20:59:00.004+10:00

Written by T Dobbin
This coming weekend is the second ISU World Cup which is held in Shane's home rink Thialf in Heerenveen. Heerenveen is always one of the most exciting World Cup's to be a part of because the crowds in the ice rink get behind each and every skater. At first Shane was going to be taking part in both the 1500 meter and the 5000 meter, however has decided to withdraw from the 1500 meter and for this weekend only participate in the 5000 meter held on Saturday afternoon.

Shane Dobbin will be starting in the A division this week. Friday evening the pairs will be drawn so we will know then the exact start time is for his event.
The schedule for this weekend is as follows:

PROGRAM
Thursday, November 12:
16.30 hrs. Team Leaders meeting
18.00 hrs. Opening draw,

Friday, November 13:
11.30 hrs. * 500 m. (1st) Men B-division
500 m. (1st) Ladies B-division
1500 m. Men B-division

16.00 hrs. 500 m. (1st) Ladies A-division
500 m. (1st) Men A-division
3000 m. Ladies A-division
1500 m. Men A-division
3000 m. Ladies B-division (quartet starts)

Saturday, November 14:
09.45 hrs. * 500 m. (2nd) Ladies B-division
500 m. (2nd) Men B-division
1500 m. Ladies B-division

13.45 hrs. 500 m. (2nd) Ladies A-division
500 m. (2nd) Men A-division
1500 m. Ladies A-division
5000 m. Men A-division
5000 m. Men B-division (quartet starts)

Sunday, November 15:
09.30 hrs * 1000 m. Ladies B-division
1000 m. Men B-division

13.00 hrs. 1000 m. Ladies A-division
1000 m. Men A-division
Team pursuit Ladies
Team pursuit Men

Keep posted for results and updates throughout the weekend. After this weekend is over its off to Hamar, Norway on Monday for the third World Cup of the season and the only 10,000 meter event for this season before the Olympics.

ISU World Cup Berlin

2009-11-10T16:13:00.010+10:00

Written by T Dobbin
After a last minute decision Shane decided that he would skate Berlin after being giving permission from his marathon team. Luckily he did because Shane skated the 5 kilometre on Saturday morning skating a personal best time and a very respectable time under his belt this early in the season.

Wednesday morning, Shane drove to Amsterdam airport to pick up his father/coach Roy Dobbin and from there we headed to Berlin. Thursday morning Shane had a good but hard training session on the ice to get the feeling following by an afternoon/evening trip to star bucks to keep him grounded.

Friday followed with a final training session and full race preparation for Saturday morning's race.

Shane started out with his best opener ever in a 5km, and from there the goal was to average 30.5 seconds per lap. After an amazing skate his final time appeared on the board and it was 8 seconds faster than his personal best time set in Salt Lake City in January this year. See below each lap time.

200m - 19.30 - 19.3
600m - 48.79 - 29.4
1000m - 1:19.18 - 30.3
1400m - 1:49.88 - 30.6
1800m - 2:21.28 - 31.4
2200m - 2:51.97 - 30.6
2600m - 3:22.51 - 30.5
3000m - 3:52.71 - 30.2
3400m - 4:23.03 - 30.3
3800m - 4:53.32 - 30.2
4200m - 5:23.77 - 30.4
4600m - 5:54.22 - 30.4
5000m - 6:24.88 - 30.6

This personal best time put Shane Dobbin in second place in the B division and it was the days 9th fastest time. For full results go to: http://live.isuresults.eu/2009-2010/berlin/

This following weekend Shane Dobbin moves into the A Division for the 5km in Heerenveen.

On Sunday morning Shane skated his season's best 1500 metre race with a time of 1.52.28

Keep posted for more updates throughout the winter.

ISU World Cup Berlin

2009-11-04T16:07:00.005+10:00

Written by T Dobbin

This weekend is the first ISU World Cup of the winter. Originally Shane Dobbin was unable to participate in the Berlin World Cup due to his commitments with the DSB Bank Marathon Team. With the problems of the DSB Bank, and all skaters sponsored by the bank no longer have a sponsorship, this left Shane open to a late change of plan this winter and focus 100% on the World Cup to try to qualify for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada.

Today Shane Dobbin will be arriving in Berlin to get two days training on the ice before the start of the competition. Competition starts on Friday with the 500 meter and 1000 meter men's events as well as the ladies 3000 meter. Saturday morning Shane will be starting in the B Division racing the 5000 meter event, then on Sunday morning the 1500 meter. It will be Shanes first ever start in a World Cup for the 5000 meter. See below the race Schedule for Berlin.

Friday, November 6, 2009
12:30 h Division B*
500 m Men (1)/3000 m Ladies/1000 m Men

17:00 h Division A
500 m Men (1)/3000 m Ladies/1000 m Men

Saturday, November 7, 2009
9:30 h Division B*
500 m Ladies (1)/5000 m Men/ 1000 m Ladies

14:00 h Division A
500 m Ladies (1)/5000 m Men/ 1000 m Ladies

Sunday, November 8, 2009
9:00 h Division B*
500 m Ladies (2)/500 m Men (2)/ 1500 m Ladies/1500 Men

14:00 h Division A
500 m Ladies (2)/500 m Men

For more information go to: http://www.knsb.nl/topsport/wp-content/media/1257109228Announcement.pdf

With many fast times coming out of Berlin in the preseason races it will be a good chance for Shane to get another race under his belt and hopefully set a good time, maybe even a personal best. Keep posted for results and updates during this weekend's ISU World Cup in Berlin.

Marathon Cup Update

2009-11-04T15:57:00.003+10:00

Written by T Dobbin

Two weeks have passed and two marathons. On Saturday the 24th of October was the third Marathon Cup race in Amsterdam. It was poring with rain but that didn't stop any of the action in the race.

Amsterdam Marathon Cup Results:

1 Karlo Timmerman Adformatie
2 1 Bob de Vries Haule Schaatsteam
3 24 Sjoerd Huisman Nefit HR Ketels
4 5 Ingmar Berga
5 91 Bart de Vries Windkr88
6 12 Pieter Jan van Eck Van Werven
7 3 Douwe de Vries Adformatie
8 22 Kurt Wubben TNT Express
9 6 Jan Maarten Heideman
10 11 Ralf Zwitser Adformatie

Ladies Results
1 Mariska Huisman Viks Parket
2 D41 Maria Sterk
3 D5 Daniëlle Bekkering Frisia Financieringen

After two years of marathon skating Shane Dobbin decided it was time to look further into his skate set up. After a week of playing with his skate set up Shane realised that for the past two years he was skating on a blade slightly to short and is now skating a lot more comfortable on the 17.5" blade.

Skating his first marathon in the longer blade helped give Shane Dobbin his best marathon result of the season finishing in 10th place. It gives Shane a little more confidence going into this weekend's first World Cup of the Winter held in Berlin. See results from Eindhoven's Marathon Cup last weekend.

Eindhoven Results
1 Bob de Vries BAM Schaatsteam
2 5 Ingmar Berga
3 22 Kurt Wubben TNT Express
4 27 Christijn Groeneveld Equipe Renault Eco2
5 6 Jan Maarten Heideman
6 24 Sjoerd Huisman Nefit HR Ketels
7 8 Rob Hadders Equipe Renault Eco2
8 91 Bart de Vries Team Windkr88
9 19 Karlo Timmerman Adformatie
10 67 Shane Dobbin

Ladies Results
1 Mariska Huisman Viks Parket
2 13 Carla Zielman Pro Horeca
3 5 Daniëlle Bekkering Frisia Financieringen

Marathon Cup 3 Amsterdam

2009-10-24T16:46:00.002+10:00

Written by T Dobbin

It has been a week and a half of uncertainty for Shane Dobbin and his team mates, Ingmar Berga, Arjan Smit, Jan Maarten Heideman and Jens Zwister. With the bankruptcy of their sponsor DSB Bank this left all marathon team members, long track team members and their individually sponsors skaters lost their sponsorship. The Marathon series is no long the DSB bank Cup but just the Marathon Cup after only two races for the 2009-2010 ice season.

Right now the marathon team are hoping to find a new sponsor to keep the team together, but it’s a time of uncertainty and patients for each of the team members. Tonight the X-DSB Bank marathon team will be racing with red colours but free of sponsor’s logos.

Tonight’s marathon race is being held in Amsterdam with the usual start time of 20:00. It’s the only open air ice rink in the Netherlands with the weather forecast to be cold, wet and very windy.

Keep posted for results coming soon.

DSB Bank Cup Heerenveen

2009-10-20T01:14:00.003+10:00

Written by T Dobbin

Last Saturday was the second marathon of the season for the DSB Bank Cup. It has been a long and stressful week for all the skaters from the DSB Bank marathon team, long track team as well as all the individual sponsored skaters of DSB Bank. However, the team got it together as best they could on Saturday night for the what turns out to be their final marathon in the DSB Bank colours.

After an attack from seven skaters directly after the first prime sprints, the race was over for the remaining skaters in the peleton who missed the break, yet still 74 laps remaining in the race at that point.

After many long attacks and a fast race, it was left to four skaters in the final five laps to see who would fight it out of the victory. Finally the race results from Saturday are as follows:

Mens Final Standings:
1 15 Arjan Stroetinga BAM Schaatsteam 2 30,1
2 3 Douwe de Vries Adformatie 2 28
3 1 Bob de Vries BAM Schaatsteam 2 26
4 22 Kurt Wubben TNT Express 2 25
5 27 Christijn Groeneveld Equipe Renault Eco2 1 19
6 13 Jorrit Bergsma Equipe Renault Eco2 1 18
7 2 Cedric Michaud Nefit HR Ketels 1 17
8 90 Durk Fabriek Marathonteam Windkr88 1 16
9 19 Karlo Timmerman Adformatie 10
10 5 Ingmar Berga DSB Bank 9

Ladies Final Standings:
1 D41 Maria DSB Bank 20,1
2 D87 Elma de Vries Marathonteam Jaap.nl 18
3 D21 Mireille Reitsma Landjuweel 16
4 D13 Carla Zielman Pro Horeca 15
5 D56 Lucy Hutten-Witteman Witteman Tuinen/Groenrijk 14
6 D12 Bianca Roosenboom Viks Parket 13
7 D84 Lillian van Haaster Marathonteam Leontien.nl 12
8 D5 Daniëlle Bekkering Frisia Financieringen 11
9 D76 Mariska Huisman Viks Parket 10
10 D14 Chris Witty DSB Bank 9

Dsb Bank Cup 2 Heerenveen

2009-10-18T01:33:00.002+10:00

Written by T Dobbin

Tonight is the second DSB Bank Cup which is held in Thialf rink in Heerenveen. The first division starts at 17:30 followed by the ladies at 19:00. The final event of the night is the men's A grade which starts at 20:00. It could be the last race for the DSB Bank team to race in red tonight and starting for the team is Ingmar Berga, Shane Dobbin, Arjan Smit and Jens Zwister. Keep posted for results coming from tonights marathon race.

DSB Bank Cup One in Alkmaar

2009-10-12T02:04:00.008+10:00

Written by T Dobbin

Last night was the first of the DSB Bank cup marathon races on ice which was held in the DSB home town of Alkmaar. Starting for the DSB bank team was Shane Dobbin, Ingmar Berga, Arjan Smit and Jan Maarten Heideman.

With the top division starting later this year at 20:00 they were the final event of the evening. The marathon races this year are longer being 125 laps instead of 100, with prime sprints during the race which are three sets of three and no eliminations.

Like every marathon each race is on from the start and many breakaway attempts. Ingmar Berga of DSB bank having a spectacular race was extremely active off the front trying to form a breakaway. Shane Dobbin of DSB Bank having a strong race for his team helped being back a few breakaways that were serious threats to his team mates.

It wasn't until after the final sprint primes that a breakaway group of three formed with Jorrit Bergsma (Renault), Bob de Vries (Bam) and Ingmar Berga (DSB Bank). These three skaters worked together with the help of Renault and Bam's team mates to bring these three skaters one lap up on the peleton. Once the breakaway had caught the peleton, the unfortunate incident with Ingmar Berga and another skater caused a crash and Ingmar went down.

It was the hard team mate of Shane Dobbin and Arjan Smit and the sportmanship of the peleton that went back to get Ingmar to bring him back to the two lead skaters.

In the final sprint of the peleton with five laps to go it was Renaults Rob Hadders that crossed the line first in the pack sprint for fourth place, fifth was Karlo Timmerman (Adformatie) and sixth Sjoerd Huisman (Nefit).

In the remaining four laps, the young Jorrit Bergsma made a solo attack which carried him to the line and took the first victory of the season for his team. With one lap to go Bob de Vries (Bam) made his sprint but coming down the final straight it was Ingmar Berga (Dsb bank) who got to the line for second place, and third went to Bam's Bob de Vries.

Mens Results

1 Jorrit Bergsma - Equipe 13 Renault Eco2 1 25,1
2 5 Ingmar Berga - DSB Bank 1 23
3 1 Bob de Vries - BAM Schaatsteam 1 21
4 8 Rob Hadders - Equipe Renault Eco2 15
5 19 Karlo Timmerman - Adformatie 14
6 24 Sjoerd Huisman Andijk - HR Ketels 13
7 12 Pieter Jan van Eck -Marathonteam Van Werven 12
8 6 Jan Maarten Heideman -DSB Bank 11
9 7 Cees Juffermans - TNT Express 10

Ladies Results

1 Elma de Vries - Marathonteam D87 Jaap.nl 20,1
2 D13 Carla Zielman - Pro Horeca 18
3 D21 Mireille Reitsma - Landjuweel 16
4 D5 Daniëlle Bekkering - Frisia Financieringen 15
5 D41 Maria Sterk - DSB Bank 14
6 D76 Mariska Huisman - Viks Parket 13
7 D84 Lillian van Haaster - Marathonteam Leontien.nl 12
8 D47 Anniek ter Haar - Marathonteam Ripca/Aavas Gr 11
9 D66 Margo van de Merwe - Marathonteam MKBasics.nl 10
10 D12 Bianca Roosenboom - Viks Parket 9

Next weekend is in Heerenveen for another 125 laps and the second stage of the DSB Bank Cup.

Erfurt International Open Day

2009-10-07T15:09:00.005+10:00

Written by T Dobbin

Last weekend was the first long track race on the calendar in Europe for Shane. After getting a race in Salt Lake City and still six weeks out from his first World Cup, it was a good time to be able to go to Erfurt and get another race in before the next five weekends will be taken up with the DSB Bank Cup Marathon races.

Arriving Friday afternoon in Erfurt Shane Dobbin had an interview with one of the biggest newspapers in Erfurt. After the interview it was onto the ice track for an easy training session to flush the legs after a long drive.

The races started Saturday afternoon with Shane racing the 1500 meter on the first day and the second day a 5 kilometer. Below are Shanes times for the weekend's races:

1500m - 1.54,25

5km - 6.40,21

The 1500 meter time allows Shane to start in the World Cups during this winter as well as his seasons best 5 km time. Shane was happy with both times set on the weekend. Of course both times can be improved alot but it's a good start to the winter with still so many weeks out from the World Cups, there is still alot of room for improvement.

From now and for the next few weeks it's off to the Marathon races on Saturday night with the first race being held in Alkmaar.

Keep posted for all the results and news that will be posted soon.

Erfurt Qualification

2009-10-02T04:32:00.003+10:00

Written by T Dobbin

This weekend is the second race of the season for Shane Dobbin who is racing the ISU Qualification event in Erfurt, Germany. On Saturday afternoon Shane will be starting in the 1500 meter to get another race under his belt before the marathon season starts next weekend with the first of the DSB Bank cup kicking off in Alkmaar. On Sunday morning Shane will then race the 5 kilometer to set another time before the World Cup races start in November. Keep posted for results and updates from this weekend.

Knsb TV

2009-09-29T20:47:00.000+10:00

http://www.knsb.nl/KNSB-nieuws/vervolg_ndb_ma.asp?id=6914

Back to the Ice

2009-09-29T18:33:00.003+10:00

Written by T Dobbin

After a successful Summer racing inlines for Cado Motus it was back on the ice in September. After spending three weeks in Salt Lake City and getting a long track race under his belt, as well as a week training camp with his marathon team DSB Bank, Shane is preparing as best he can for this upcoming winter.

In July Shane was given permission to be able to race marathons with his team DSB Bank, as well as race some of the World Cup this coming winter to try to qualify for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver for both the Five kilometer and the Ten kilometer events. It will be a busy winter for Shane but he is up for the Challenge.

This coming weekend, Shane will be racing in Erfurt in a long track event. On Saturday he will be racing the 1500 meters and Sunday the 5 kilometer event. It will be his second race of the season after competiting in the Dessert Classic in Salt Lake City mid September.

Keep posted throughout the Winter for updates and news on Shane's journey.

Race Calendar 2010-2011

2009-09-05T15:20:00.003+10:00

SEPTEMBER
25/09/2010 Desert Classic - Salt Lake City

OCTOBER
9/10/2010 Salt Lake City
16/10/2010 Salt Lake City

NOVEMBER
12-14/11/2010 ISU World Cup - Heerenveen
19-21/11/2010 ISU World Cup - Berlin
27-28/11/2010 ISU World Cup - Hamar

DECEMBER

JANUARY
15-16/1/2011 Regional Qualifier - Salt Lake City
28-30/1/2011 ISU World Cup - Moscow

FEBRUARY
11-13/2/2011 ISU World All Round Championships - Calgary
19-20/2/2011 ISU World Cup - Salt Lake City

MARCH
4-6/3/2011 ISU World Cup Finale - Heerenveen
10-13/3/2011 ISU World Single Distance Championships - Inzell

Season Review

2009-07-24T19:09:00.007+10:00

Written by T Dobbin

It has been some time since the last post. Things over the summer have been extremely busy and only just catching up on things now. Since the last French Inline Cup in Besancon where Shane Dobbin (CadoMotus) crossed the line solo after a 40 kilometer solo breakaway with the race victory, the following weekend the Cado Motus team raced in Austria in Worgl.

Worgl was a successful weekend with three Cado Motus skaters present, finishing first, second and third on the podium. Dj Nation of New Zealand finished first overall for the weekend, followed by his team mate Ferre Spruyt and Shane Dobbin finished in third over all, all three skaters representing Cado Motus. After the weekend in Worgl, Austria, the Cado Motus team had the most important race of the season for them, racing in the World Inline Cup and French Inline Cup race in Dijon, France. Dijon is always a very difficult race with many breakaways and rough roads. This year was another challenge which was with the weather. Just 15 minutes before the start, it started to rain but at first very light rain so each skater had to decide what wheels they would wear, if it was the MPC storm surge or hope it clears and go for MPC Road War. By the time the race started it was poring rain and with a final wheel change right before the team everyone decided to race with their rain combinations.

Most of the top skaters were in Dijon, France. Only a few Italians skaters missing, Shane Dobbin of Cado Motus took advantage of any situation possible to make as many attacks as he could. With such a strong field it was difficult for any real beaks to form. Only one serious break away forming during the race with all the top skaters from each team the peloton reacted in a hurry and after many laps chasing it was brought back together.

With four laps remaining, Shane Dobbin made a final attack which in the end was the final attack of the race and the one that took Shane all the way to the finish for the race Victory in Dijon. Second place went to his team mate Bart Swings, so another very strong race from the team of Cado Motus.

After having some weeks holiday in the USA, it was back to training for the Summer Ice season training Camp with his ice team DSB Bank in July. DSB Bank spent four days over the summer training together in Heerenveen, Netherlands helping prepare for this coming winter.

At the beginning of July, there were two races in Netherlands, just two days apart, WOW Hoogeveen and WOW Staphorst. Both races were won by the men's Cado Motus team which adds to their successful season as a team.

Shane Dobbin's final race of the season on inlines is this coming weekend at the World On Wheels in Otterlo. After this weekend, it will be that time of the year to focus once again on his ice skating and prepare for this coming season of racing marathons as well as preparing for some long track races to try to qualify for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Keep posted for more news!

French Inline Cup Besancon

2009-06-01T17:14:00.003+10:00

Written by T Dobbin

Yesterday the stage of Besancon held in France aFrench Inline Cup stage. After a long solo breakaway and approximately 40 kilometer out front, Shane Dobbin (Cado Motus) crossed the line with the race victory in Besancon and the first race victory of the inline season for him.

His Cado Motus team mates Ferre Spruyt and Bart Swings made a late attack and crossed the line in second and third to finish with a full team of Cado Motus on the podium. Dj Nation crossed the line in fifth position finishing second in the peleton sprint.

More results and information coming soon!

Regensburg GBC

2009-05-31T17:42:00.005+10:00

Written by T Dobbin
Last Sunday was the German Blade Challenge race held in Regensburg, South Germany. It was a sunny warm day and the full team of Cado Motus raced in Regensburg including Shane Dobbin. The race was very early in the morning starting at 8:15am. It was only a half marathon with the course just one lap of 21km.

The race was very fast because it was only 21km. Everyone wanted to try to escape off the front so there were many attacks including many attacks from the team of Cado Motus.

The final breakaway was the one that stayed away until the finish with Bart Swings of Cado Motus showing his good condition winning the breakaway sprint and another victory for Cado Motus.

The peleton sprint finish was dominated by Ferre Spruyt finishing in fourth place and team mate Shane Dobbin taking sixth.

Full results below

1st Bart Swings (Cado Motus)
2nd Severin Windmar (Luigino Swiss)
3rd Felix Rijhnen (Powerslide)

4th Ferre Spruyt (Cado Motus)
5th Alfredo Leon Moredo (Bont)

6th Shane Dobbin (Cado Motus)

The ladies team of Bont Wheels dominated the ladies race finishing first, second and third in the ladies half marathon.

Ladies results
1st Kelly Martinez (Bont Wheels)
2nd Alexandra Vivas (Bont Wheels)
3rd Tamara Llorens (Bont Wheels)

World on Wheels Steenwijk

2009-05-23T01:37:00.004+10:00

Written by T Dobbin

Last weekend was another stage of the Worlds on Wheels for 2009 in Steenwijk. Representing Cado Motus Mens team were Shane Dobbin and Dj Nation both from New Zealand. The weather was not certain regarding whether it would be wet or dry. Finally 30 minutes before the start it was sure it would be cloudy but dry race.

The course in Steenwijk was a great could for the World on Wheels stages. The lap was 2.4 kilometers and going into the final straight was a good sized uphill 300 meters long with the finish line at the top.

There were many breakaway attempts during the race with everyone taking advantage of the uphill. Both Cado Motus skaters Shane Dobbin & Dj Nation were in the lead breaks making sure nothing went without either present.

With approximately 10 laps remaining a breakaway group formed with eight skaters including World Champion Shane Dobbin (Cado Motus) , Gary Heckman (Nefit), Gerwin Smit, Arjan Smit (DSB Bank) and Roy Boeve. This breakaway group worked together to try to escape off the front but the team of Unive Stouwdam in the last few laps took the lead and brought the peleton back together with one lap to go for the race to finish in a pack sprint.

Unive Stouwdam lead the final lap with the pace set fast. Coming out of the final corner Shane Dobbin followed by Dj Nation (Cado Motus) took the outside line and made their sprint for the finish. Gary Heckman (Nefit) and Shane Dobbin (Cado Motus) sprinted for the line together with Gary Heckman lunging at the line for the victory over Shane Dobbin in Steenwijk. Finishing in third place was Roy Boeve, fourth Ingmar Berga (DSB Bank) and fifth Dj Nation.

To view the video from Steenwijk go to: http://www.pureskatingnews.com/ For more photos visit: http://www.fotohdeboer.nl/

This weekend the team of Cado Motus will skate in the German Blade Challenge in Regensburg. Keep posted for more news.

Heerde Skate Off

2009-05-13T20:14:00.004+10:00

Written by T Dobbin

It was a very successful weekend for Shane Dobbin and the team of Cado Motus. The weekend started with the sprint category and the 300 meter time trial. Heerde is a very difference track not like many others in the World. Its parabolic and quite slippery. Those skaters that didn't wear MPC wheels during the weekend had a difficult time getting around the track.

The heats for the 300 meter were in the morning and the finals were in the evening. The heats results were slightly different than the finals. See final results below:

Men 300m Time Trial
1st Ronal Mulder
2nd William Bowen (USA CadoMotus)
3rd Daniel Greig (Australia)

Ladies 300m Time Trial
1st Jersy Puello (Colombia)
2nd Bianca Roosenboom (Cado Motus)
3rd Erica Zanetti (Italy)

The distance race final was held in the evening after the time trials. The heats were cancelled in the morning so there were many skaters in the final. The men had a 20 kilometer elimination race where the team of Cado Motus decided to go to the front and dominated the field. All five team members skated at the front all together in the line without anyone being able to break the team. Shane Dobbin took the lead at the start waiting for everyone to position themselves, then it was the young talent Maarten Swings who lead 70 laps straight for his team. Maarten pulled aside with 25 laps remaining where Shane Dobbin lead his team to the final 5 laps. The final five skaters were Bart Swings, Ferre Spruyt, Sjoerd Huisman, Andres Munoz and Dj Nation. Crossing the line clear ahead of third place was Ferre Spruyt for Cado Motus and his team mate right with him in second Bart Swings. Third place went to Sjored Huisman and fourth the 500 meter World Champion Andres Munoz from Colombia.

Mens results
1st Ferre Spruyt (Cado Motus)
2nd Bart Swings (Cado Motus)
3rd Sjoerd Huisman (Nefit)
4th Andres Munoz (Powerslide)
5th Dj Nation (Cado Motus)
6th Shane Dobbin (Cado Motus)

The Second day started with the 500 meter heats/quarters/semis and then in the evening the finals. All finals were spectacular and the results were:

Men 500m Final
1st Bart Swings (Cado Motus)
2nd Ronald Mulder (Netherlands)
3rd William Bower (USA Cado Motus)
4th Daniel Greig (Australia)

Ladies 500m Final
1st Jersy Pulleo (Colombia)
2nd Cecilia Buena (Colombia)
3rd Erica Zanetti (Italy)
4th Elma De Vries (Cado Motus)

Mens points final
1st Bart Swings (Cado Motus)
2nd Ferre Spruyt (Cado Motus)
3rd Crispijn Ariens (Netherlands)

Ladies points final
1st Alexandra Vivas (Bont Wheels)
2nd Bianca Roosenboom (Cado Motus)
3rd Cecilia Buena (Powerslide)

The final event of the competition was the Heerde Skate off where the mens team of Cado Motus made the final skate off finishing the first round in second place. After skating a very spectular second round, they crossed the line in first place with the fastest time of the day just in front of the Powerslide team of Kalon Dobbin, Andreas Munoz and Daniel Greig.

World on Wheels Oldebroek

2009-05-06T19:52:00.004+10:00

Written by T Dobbin

Thursday was the second day of racing and the second race that the mens team of Cado Motus had raced together. It was a sunny day and the circuit in Oldebroek was a small course of approximately 800 meters with very rough roads.

The race started at 18:50 and again the race was fast right from the start. In Oldebroek there were many breakaways attempts and the pace didn't slow down at all during the race. The World on Wheels races have sprint primes for both the overall classement and the sprints for money. With the sprint primes throughout the race, it makes the race much harder because during these laps it's a great time for breakaways to form.

Bart Swings of Cado Motus was in the overall classment and continued to show his form racing for the sprint primes throughout the race. Cado Motus again raced from the front with the team working well together both making breaks and closing any down.

Shane Dobbin (Cado Motus) escaped off the front in a group of approximately 15 skaters. These 15 skaters tried very hard to escape off the front but with the pace so high they were unable to succeed.

With approximately 14 laps to go a breakaway formed with four skaters including Crispijn Ariens of skate podium, Frank Friers (Stouwdam Unive) and two other Dutch skaters. This breakaway forced the peleton to chase hard for many laps. Bart Swings of Cado Motus tried to cross over to the breakaway with Nefit's Gary Heckman and three other skaters but with Bart left at the front to lead, they were unable to close the gap to the four escapees. Finally it was Crispijn Ariens of SkatePodium who skated off the front solo for the final eight laps and crossed the line with the victory in Oldebroek in style.

The final sprint for the mens pack and the race for second place started with approximately three laps to go. The mens team of Cado Motus formed at the front with Maarten Swings taking the lead and setting a high pace in the final laps to prevent anyway from passing the team. Stouwdam/Unive formed close behind the Cado Motus team but in the end lost the place to DSB Bank's Ingmar Berga and the team of Nefit with Gary Heckman and Sjoerd Huisman. Everyone was fighting behind for the wheel of the Cado Motus but Dj Nation the protection of the team held his ground and no one was able to break the team.

Maarten Swings lead the team of Cado Motus and pulled aside with just one lap remaining. From there Ferre Spruyt took over the job to lead out his team mates Bart Swings, Shane Dobbin and Dj Nation. Nefit making a spectular final dash for the finale, it was Ferre Spruyt who took the team of Cado Motus to the final corner where Bart Swings lead down the final straight to cross the line in second place followed by his team mate Shane Dobbin in third. Still managing to sprint to the line for fourth was Ferre Spruyt and fifth Dj Nation. A great race and team work for the mens team of Cado Motus.

Mens results

1st Crispijn Ariens (Skate Podium)

2nd Bart Swings (Cado Motus)
3rd Shane Dobbin (Cado Motus)
4th Ferre Spruyt (Cado Motus)
5th Dj Nation (Cado Motus)

The ladies race was a fantastic race in Oldebroek. Early on in the race Elma De Vries of Cado Motus broke away with Nicole Begg of Bont Wheels. Both ladies racing a very hard race sprinting for the prime sprints and keeping the pace fast. Both Elma and Nicole ended up taking a lap over the peleton to secure the two top places on the podium.

It came down to a sprint between Elma and Nicole for the race victory but in the end Elma De Vries was too strong in Oldebroek and crossed the line for Cado Motus and the race win. Second place was Nicole Begg from Bont Wheels and in the final sprint of the peleton crossing the line in third place was Alexandrea Vivas of Bont Wheels.

Ladies Results

1st Elma de Vries (Cado Motus)
2nd Nicole Begg (Bont Wheels)
3rd Alexandra Vivas (Bont Wheels)

Only half way through the four days of racing, Friday was the start of the Heerde Skate Off the international track event held over two days with many World Champions competing.

http://www.pureskatingnews.com

World on Wheels Emmeloord

2009-05-06T00:16:00.008+10:00

Written by T Dobbin

It was the first day of many days of racing in the World on Wheels Emmeloord. No one was sure if the weather would hold up and be sunny or wet. It was the first time ever that the full mens Cado Motus team had skated together and the first time Dj Nation met his belgium team mates. Before the race the team sat down for coffee and a chat to get to know one another as well as talk about their team tactic.

The race started in the evening with sunny skies but cold temperatures. The course lap in Emmeloord was very small only 800 meters per lap with two very tight 90 degree corners at each end. It was the first race since last year's World Championships for Shane Dobbin and the first time he has been able to wear his World Champion Stripes in the marathons in Netherlands.

Emmeloord was extremely fast right from lap one. The Cado Motus team skated very strong together and got into things directly off the gun. Both Maarten Swings and Ferre Spruyt controlled the race at the front for the Cado Motus mens team. The past was set too fast for any real breakaways to get off the front. Only one breakaway looked promising which included Shane Dobbin from Cado Motus but the peleton soon reacted and the peleton was one again. There wasn't one breakaway out front were there wasn't a Cado Motus team member present in the break.

The mens race finished in a pack sprint with the Cado Motus team all getting together in the final few laps. With one lap to go Shane Dobbin made the first lead out for his team mates to set up the race for the in-form Bart Swings. Shane Dobbin lead his team with Ferre Spruyt sitting right behind followed by Bart Swings then Dj Nation. Shane Dobbin pulled aside leaving Ferre Spruyt to take the final half lap lead out putting Bart Swings in the front for the final 100 meters to cross the line with the victory in Emmeloord for the mens Cado Motus team.

Mens results

1st Bart Swings (Cado Motus Men)
2nd Sjoerd Huisman (Nefit)

3rd Gary Heckman (Nefit)

The ladies race was also extremely fast. There were many breakaway attempts from the Cado Motus girls as well as the ladies Bont Wheels team. With the pace so fast it was hard for a breakaway to stay away and in the final few laps the race would be decided by a sprint finish. Bont Wheels lead out the sprint with Nicole Begg in front, going out of the final corner it was Nicole Begg who maintained her lead and crossed the line in first, followed by her team mate Kelly Martinez.

Ladies results

1st Nicole Begg (Bont Wheels)
2nd Kelly Martinez (Bont Wheels)
3rd Bridgette Mendez (Valle Cali)
4th Bianca Roosenboom (Cado Motus Ladies)

The following day another stage of the World on Wheels in Oldebroek. Keep posted for more race updates.

http://www.pureskatingnews.com/

Back to Inlines for CadoMotus

2009-04-29T16:00:00.008+10:00

Written by T Dobbin
It's been a few weeks of rest and then Shane Dobbin got straight back into training again after the winter on ice. It's already the first inline race of the season for Shane which is held tonight in the World on Wheels in Emmeloord, Netherlands. Shane Dobbin is skating for the team of Cado Motus with his team mates Bart Swings, Maarten Swings, Dj Nation and Ferre Spruyt. It's their first race with all five members present. It's going to be the first race tonight of four days racing. Tomorrow evening the World on Wheels race is held in Oldebroek. With it being the Queens Birthday tomorrow, it's a holiday in the Netherlands both tomorrow and Friday.

On Friday the international track event held in Heerde. This year there are many international skaters coming from Italy, France, Colombia, New Zealand, Denmark and more. There is a sprint category as well as a distance category.

It's going to be a great four days of racing and be sure to check out the results out right here. For more information on the Dutch races go to: http://www.skatebond.nl/

http://www.cadomotus.com

Ice Season overview

2009-03-30T02:03:00.004+10:00

Written by T Dobbin

It's finally the end of the season and the World Championships are over and already two weeks have passed. Shane Dobbin flew back from the World Championships in Vancouver to the netherlands after skating the 10 kilometer. Shane Dobbin represented New Zealand in Vancouver but didn't have a great day on the ice when he raced. Shane tried to set out lap times to sit on but in the final five laps wasn't able to hold the times he had set and everything fell apart. Shane crossed the line 20 seconds slower than he set out to do and ended up finishing in 14th place. Of course being dissappointed with his skate and now had chance to look back on all that he has achieved since he started ice skating, there is really nothing to be dissappointed about. It was a great chance that Shane got being able to go to the World Championships and represent his Country having only been skating on the ice for just two winters and in total 10 months.

Now Shane is resting in the Netherlands and will be back training on his inlines very soon. in 2009 he is skating for the inline team of Cado Motus with his team mates Bart Swings, Ferre Spruyt and Maarten Swings from Belgium as well as Dj Nation from New Zealand. Keep posted during the summer for more updates on both his inline and ice training as well as his inline races.

Vancouver World Single Distance Championships

2009-03-14T13:01:00.004+10:00

Written by T Dobbin
The racing in the Richmond Olympic Oval has been spectacular so far throughout the first two days of the Championships. The North Americans have been dominated the men’s middle distances and once again Sven Kramer of the Netherlands won the 5 kilometer today.

We an upset in the ladies 1500 meter today with the Canadian Kristina Groves winning the event but getting disqualified for crossing the line in the corner. Therefore Anni Freisinger won the ladies 1500 meter.

Tomorrow Shane Dobbin from New Zealand will be racing the 10,000 meter race. The program for tomorrow is the ladies 1,000 meter finals followed by the mens 10,000 meters and the final event of the day is the ladies 5,000 meter. At 17:30 this evening the draws were completed for tomorrows races and Shane Dobbin will be taking the start at approximately 13:30 in the first of 8 pairs in the mens event. Shane Dobbin will be paired with Russian skater Ivan Skobrev who skated the 1500 meter and 5,000 meter events in Richmond, finishing 6th today in the 5,000 meter. Skobrev has skated some fast times this season so it's a good pairing for Shane to be with tomorrow having someone to chase throughout the race. Keep posted for the results from tomorrows races.

For all results and pairing please go to: www.isu.org

Vancouver World Single Distance Championships

2009-03-12T12:59:00.002+10:00

Written by T Dobbin
Today was the final day of official team training before the racing starts tomorrow at lunch. The day started with every athlete going to the doping test area to give a blood sample to be tested today and given the results tomorrow. The blood samples were done by the ISU in accordance with the rules and the World Anti Doping agency.

The training this morning was full of skaters. Everyone wanting to skate on the ice before they race tomorrow and over the next few days. From now on in, the ice training is early in the morning or late afternoon to work around the competition schedule. The first event of the schedule is the mens 1500 meter with a total of 24 skaters. The second event tomorrow is the ladies 3000 meter with again the total 24 skaters.

Shane Dobbin is still two days away from racing his event the 10,000 meter on Saturday. He will be training over the next few days getting used to the ice here on the Richmond Oval. It's not the fastest ice is the World but most people are expecting the times to be similar to Thialf ice rink in Heerenveen in which Shane has been training on all year.

Keep posted for news from tomorrows events.

Vancouver World Single Distance Championships

2009-03-11T05:08:00.005+10:00

Written by T Dobbin
Late last night Shane Dobbin from New Zealand arrived in Vancouver for the World Single Distance Championships. It was a good flight from London to Vancouver getting upgraded to business class and being able to lay down on the new flat beds. It was very comfortable and got good rest before arriving into Vancouver.

All the teams are here in Vancouver now. Most of the skaters went training this morining and Shane Dobbin will be stepping on the ice this afternoon for his first training and getting an easy skate under his belt after stepping off the plane. The weather is very cold at the moment. Waking up to -6 degrees with the wind-chill making it approximately -12 degrees. At least the sun is out and as the day goes on the warmth will set in with a maximum temperature of 3 degrees today.

Keep posted for more updates during the week from the World Single Distance Championships in Vancouver.

Mid Week News Update

2009-03-04T17:52:00.004+10:00

Written by T Dobbin

Just over a week before the start of the World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships held in Richmond, Canada. Shane Dobbin from New Zealand is currently finalising his preparation in the Netherlands for the 10 kilometer race on Saturday the 14th of March at the World Championships. Shane has been training with his coach & father Roy Dobbin for the past month in the Netherlands. Both Shane and Roy have been doing specific training for Shane to race in the 10 kilometer after racing marathons all season. Roy flies back to New Zealand on Friday, while Shane will head to Canada on Monday with five days there to prepare himself for the race next Saturday. Shane Dobbin will be representing New Zealand in Canada and is really looking forward to the experience at his first ever World Championships on ice. For all information about the World Championships go to www.speedskatingrichmond2009.com

National Marathon Championships

2009-03-03T00:06:00.002+10:00

Saturday night was the final marathon of the season. The National Championship marathon was held in Thialf for all ages starting with races at 8:00am and finishing with the Men's top division at 16:00. See below the results from Saturdays NK Marathon.

Ladies Marathon Results
1st Danielle Bekkering (Frisia)
2nd Carla Zielman (Hoolwerf)
3rd Mariska Huisman (Viks)

Mens Marathon Results
1st Yoeri Lissenberg (Foekens)
2nd Henk Angenent (TNT Express)
3rd Douwe Bierma (Schuurman)
4th Arjan Stroetinga (BAM)
5th Sjoerd Huisman (Nefit)

Mid week News: Shane Dobbin accepted to skate at the World Single Distance Championships in 2009

2009-02-26T23:03:00.004+10:00

Written by T Dobbin

It's coming to the end of the ice season for 2008-2009. The final marathon will be held in Thialf this weekend with Dutch National Championship Marathon race. It's one of the biggest events of the season and the most prestige race to win of the marathon races in the Netherlands.

Shane Dobbin's marathon season came to an end in Groningen last week when he crashed and dislocated his shoulder. Thankfully he recovered fast and is already back training on the ice. Last week Shane Dobbin received confirmation from New Zealand that he got accepted to skate at the ISU World Single Distance Championships in Vancouver from the 12th to the 15th of March to race in the 10,000 meters. Of course Shane Dobbin & New Zealand jumped at the chance and sent the acceptance straight away.

So in the next two weeks Shane will be training for the World Championships 10km flying to Vancouver on the 9th of March to have a few days preparation on the ice. The schedule of events are as follows:

Thursday 12th March
Men's 1,500m
Ladies 3,000m

Friday 13th March
Mens 1,000m
Ladies 1,500m
Mens 5,000m

Saturday 14th March
Ladies 1,000m
Mens 10,000m
Ladies 5,000m

Sunday 15th March
Ladies 500m x 2
Mens 500m x 2
Ladies Team Pursuit
Mens Team Pursuit

For the official website go to http://www.speedskatingrichmond2009.com

Keep posted for more news and the race results from this weekend's National Marathon Championships.

KNSB 5 days Results

2009-02-23T20:10:00.009+10:00

Written by T Dobbin

Finally the five days is finished and the results are in. The third day of the KNSB 5 days was held in Alkmaar which is DSB Bank's home city.

The ladies race was still 60 laps and ended in a sprint finish with DSB Bank's Elma de Vries crossing the line with the race victory and still in the Orange jersey. See below the ladies race results:

Alkmaar Ladies Marathon
1st Elma de Vries (DSB Bank)
2nd Carla Zielmann (Hoolwerf)
3rd Chris Witty (Landjuweel)

The mens race finished in a sprint finish after many breakaway attemps from many of the teams and skaters. See below the mens race results:

Alkmaar Mens Marathon
1st Arjan Stroetinga (BAM)
2nd Karlo Timmerman (Renault)
3rd Bob de Vries (BAM)
4th Ingmar Berga (DSB Bank)
5th Cedric Michaud (Nefit)

The fourth day of the KNSB Cup the 12th KNSB race was held in Haarlem. Elma de Vries from DSB Bank broke away with 10 laps to go and ended up maintaining her lead to take another victory in the KNSB Cup in Haarlem. The sprint finish for the ladies went to Chris Witty to cross the line in second and the young Cado Motus skater Bianca Roosenboom finished in third place with her first podium in the marathons this season.

Haarlem Ladies Marathon
1st Elma de Vries (DSB Bank)
2nd Chris Witty (Landjuweel)
3rd Bianca Roosenboom (Cado Motus)

The mens race in Haarlem finished with excitement. 22 skaters ended up lapping the peleton and in the final 10 laps everyone was trying to escape off the front. The successful skater was from Nefit with Cedric Michaud in the final two laps breaking away and crossing the line with his first victory in the KNSB Cup this season.

Haarlem Mens Marathon
1st Cedric Michaud
2nd Rob Hadders (BAM)
3rd Yoeri Lissenberg (Foekens)
4th Roy Boeve (Safan)
5th Crispijn Ariens (PE People)

The final KNSB Cup the 13th race was held in Hoorn. The ladies skated a very hard race with many of the ladies stopping because the race was very hard with many breaks. The race ended in a sprint finish with the results below:

1st Chris Witty (Landjuweel)
2nd Elma de Vries (DSB Bank)
3rd Mariska Huisman (Viks)

Elma de Vries of DSB Bank ended up winning the overall classment in the ladies keeping her orange jersery for the second year in a row. The sprinters classment went to Chris Witty (Landjuweel) and the best young skater went to Margo van der Merwe (Team de Sprinters)

The mens finale was 150 laps. Within the first 50 laps there was already a breakaway with three skaters off the front trying to lap the peleton. Finally with 97 laps to go the three skaters were one lap up when one of these three skaters crashed and broke his skate leaving only two skaters one lap up on the peleton. The teams of BCT & PE People did a good job and controlling the peleton bringing back any breaks that were trying to escape off the front. Finally the peleton got the bell with 6 laps to go and ended in a sprint with Arjan Stroetinga (BAM) crossing the line for third place.

The two skaters to finish the final 5 laps was Crispijn Ariens (PE People) and Jochem Uithoven (BCT). These two skaters skated very slowly for the final 4.5 laps finishing the race with a standing 200 meter sprint finish. Just crossing the line in first place for the race victory was Jochem Uithoven from BCT with their teams first victory of the season. Second place went to Crispijn Ariens from PE people. See below the results from Hoorn.

Hoorn Mens Marathon
1st Jochem Uithoven (BCT)
2nd Crispijn Ariens (PE People)
3rd Arjan Stroetinga (BAM)
4th Sjoerd Huisman (Nefit)
5th Bart de Vries (Schuurman)

Winning the overall classment for the mens was Bams Arjan Stroetinga. The best young skater went to Renaults Karlo Timmerman and the sprinters overall classment went to Sjoerd Huisman from Nefit.

With the one marathon remaining and one of the biggest of the season the National Championships which will be held in Thialf, Heerenveen on Saturday.

KNSB Cup 10 Breda

2009-02-20T18:48:00.005+10:00

Written by T Dobbin

Last night was the 10th KNSB Cup in Breda. Breda was a very difficult ice track with at each corner every lap the peleton breaking the ice and big ice chunks came flying out. Because of the ice being so bad, each lap in certain places of the corner people were crashing after their clap would hit the holes. It made it a very difficult race for everyone.

The ladies race finished in a sprint finish with the Amercian Chris Witty (Landjuweel) taking her second victory in two days. Full results from the ladies below:

Ladies Marathon
1st Chris Witty (Landjuweel)
2nd Elma de Vries (DSB Bank)
3rd Mariska Huisman (Viks)

The mens race was one of the toughest races seen this winter. The team of BAM skated a very strong race with Bob de Vries (BAM) lapping the peleton two times and then again lapping the breakaway group one time. The breakaway group finished in a sprint with DSB Bank's Arjan Smit lunging at the line just missing out on podium to finish in fourth for the DSB Bank team. See below the mens marathon results.

Mens Marathon
1st Bob de Vries (BAM)
2nd Arjan Stroetinga (BAM)
3rd Sjoerd Huisman (Nefit)
4th Arjan Smit (DSB Bank)

Shane Dobbin had to sit out of the KNSB 10 in Breda because of his shoulder but after just one day already a huge improvement with his recovery and will be back on his skates in no time. Tonight the race is in the home city from the team of DSB Bank. The head quarters of DSB Bank are in Alkmaar and it will be an important race of their team. Keep posted for results.

KNSB Cup 9 Groningen

2009-02-19T09:15:00.010+10:00

Written by T Dobbin
Wednesday was the first of the five days cup held in Groningen. The ladies race started at 18:30 followed by the men at 19:30. It is the first race of a long five days with races held all over the Netherlands.

The ladies race started off to a hard start with Maria Sterk from DSB Bank crashing early on in the race. She skated most of the race off the back trying to catch back up to the peleton while everyone was off the front trying to make it a hard race. The ladies ended in a sprint finish with the American Chris Witty just crossing the line in first place with the race victory. See below for the ladies results.

Ladies Marathon Results
1st Chris Witty (Landjuweel)
2nd Elma de Vries (DSB Bank)
3rd Maria Sterk (DSB Bank)
4th Bianca Roosenboom (CadoMotus)

The mens race started off fast, and by the half way point the deciding breakaway had already formed and taken a lap over the peleton. In the leading breakaway were all the top sprinters from each team including Karlo Timmerman (Renault), Arjan Stroetinga (BAM), Sjoerd Huisman (Nefit) and Ingmar Berga (DSB Bank).

In the final sprint for the peleton Shane Dobbin (DSB Bank) went around the outside to pass with one lap to go for the pack sprint and ended up crashing into the wall and dislocating his shoulder. Unfortunately this accident ended Shane's starts in the KNSB Cup and his marathon season for 2008-2009 having to take at least a few days rest before getting back into training.

With Ingmar Berga (DSB Bank) crossing the line right behind Sjoerd Huisman (Nefit) in second place, the jury decided that because he skated across the line lunging with the front of his foot in the air he was relegated to fourth place. The final results for the first race of the men are as follows:

Mens Marathon Results

1st Sjoerd Huisman (Nefit)
2nd Arjan Stroetinga (BAM)
3rd Karlo Timmerman (Renault)
4th Ingmar Berga (DSB Bank)

Tomorrow is another day with the marathon racing heading to the South of Netherlands in Breda. Shane Dobbin will be taking a full rest tomorrow and heading to the physio for treatment to get back on his skates as soon as possible.

KNSB 5 Days Announcement

2009-02-18T21:40:00.005+10:00

Tonight is the first race of the KNSB 5 days. It's the final races of the season in the KNSB cup with just one marathon race after the 5 days which is the National Marathon Championships. Shane Dobbin of DSB Bank will be starting in four of the five races over the next five days.

Elma de Vries of DSB Bank is currently in the Gold Jersey with 176.5 over her team mate Maria Sterk with 153.2 points. Elma de Vries will racing the next five days to make sure she secures her place in the Gold. In the mens top division Arjan Stroetinga from BAM is in the Gold with 181.4 points, followed by Karlo Timmerman (Renault) with 147.1 points and in third place Bob de Vries (BAM) with 142.1 points.

KNSB 5 Days Calendar
18th February - Groningen
19th February - Breda
20th February - Alkmaar
21st February - Haarlem
22nd February - Hoorn

Keep posted over the next 5 days for full results from the KNSB 5 days.

Shane Dobbin Reserve for the World Champs 10 km

2009-02-17T22:48:00.007+10:00

Written by T Dobbin
After the last World Cup of the season in Heerenveen last weekend, the ISU have released the current qualification status for the World Championships. Shane Dobbin from New Zealand skated a strong 10 kilometer on Sunday morning did a good enough time to put his name down on the reserve list for the World Championships to be held in Vancouver mid March. Click on the list below to see the 10 kilometer qualification status.

For the full list go to: http://www.isu.org

Heerenveen World Cup 14th & 15th February

2009-02-17T18:12:00.015+10:00

Photos from the ISU World Cup in Heerenveen, February 14th & 15th thanks to Daniel Yeow.

Video from the races on the weekend will be uploaded soon!

Heerenveen World Cup day 2

2009-02-16T22:32:00.004+10:00

Written by T Dobbin

Sunday was the second and final day of the Heerenveen World Cup. Shane Dobbin of New Zealand skated his second ever 10 kilometer race Sunday in the B Division setting a new personal best time and New Zealand National Record. See below for results

Mens B Division 10km
1st Mark Ooijevaar (NED) 13.19,26
2nd Sverre Haugli (NOR) 13.20,11
3rd Marco Weber (GER) 13.29,72
7th Shane Dobbin (NZL) 13.39.42

Mens A Division 10km
1st Sven Kramer (NED) 13.03,51
2nd Havard Bokko (NOR) 13.07,93
3rd Bob de Jong (NED) 13.09,16

Ladies B Division 1500m
1st Maria Lamb (USA) 2.02,13
2nd Karlolina Erbanova (CZE) 2.03,59
3rd Nicole Garrido (CAN) 2.04,04

Ladies A Division 1500m
1st Anni Friesinger (GER) 1.57,48
2nd Christine Nesbitt (CAN) 1.57,58
3rd Kristina Groves (CAN) 1.58,40

For full results go to: http://www.speedskatingresults.com/index.php?p=2&e=2477
Photo thanks to Daniel Yeow from Australia.

Heerenveen Distance World Cup

2009-02-15T04:50:00.003+10:00

Written by T Dobbin

Today was the first day of the Distance World Cup in Heerenveen. Shane Dobbin skating for New Zealand skated his first race in a World Cup with the 1500 meter in the B grade. it was a full stadium in Heerenveen with a very good atmosphere.

Shane Dobbin started a very fast 1500 meter race with a personal best opening time and a good first lap. Unfortunately not being able to hold on for the final 600 meters ended up with a time of 1:54.30. The ladies raced a 5 kilometer today with Elma de Vries from the Netherlands skating in the B Group setting a personal best time of 7 minutes and 2 seconds qualifying her for the World Championships in Canada in March. Results of today are below:

Ladies 5 kilometer B Grade
1st Elma de Vries (Netherlands 7:02.48
2nd Nancy Swider - Pelz Junior (USA) 7:15.06
3rd Maki Tabata (Japan) 7:18.07

Ladies 5 kilometer A Grade

1st Martina Sablikova (Cze) 6:59.08
2nd Stephaine Beckert (Germany) 7:01.33
3rd Kristina Groves (Canada) 7:05.08

Men 1500 meter B Grade

1st Daniel Friberg (Sweden) 1:48.27
2nd Jay Morrison (Canada) 1:48.56
3rd Pascal Briand (France) 1:49.82
17th Shane Dobbin (New Zealand) 1:54.30

Men 1500 meter A Grade

1st Shani Davis (USA) 1:45.40
2nd Enrico Fabris (Itatly) 1:45.88
3rd Trevor Marsicano (USA) 1:46.09

Tomorrow is the final day in Heerenveen with the ladies 1500 meter and the mens 10,000 meter. Shane Dobbin from New Zealand is paired with the Frenchman Tristan Loy in the first pair which will be raced in quadrants. Keep posted for more results.

Grand Prix 2 in Sweden

2009-02-08T18:58:00.002+10:00

Written by T Dobbin

Yesterday was the second Grand Prix in Sweden for the KNSB Cup. It was a very difficult race because during the start and much of the race it was snowing and no one was able to see where the course was. No one could see where the cracks were and there were many skaters crashing and trying to catch back up to the Peleton. See below for the results.

Ladies 80km Results
1st Erna Kijk In de Vegte (Landjuweel)
2nd Hilde van Slochteren (VPZ)
3rd Marjolijn Hulzebosch (Van der Wiel)
4th Jolanda Spruit (Cakyline)
5th Danielle Bekkering (Frisia)

Mens 150km Results
1st Jourke Hoogeveen (Schuurman)
2nd Ruud Aerts (Foekens)
3rd Tristan Loy (Adformatie)
4th Jan Maarten Heideman (DSB Bank)
5th Arjan Smit (DSB Bank)

Monday is the third Grand Prix where many skaters will be flying back to the Netherlands after this race to prepare for the final KNSB cup marathon races.

Grand Prix 1 in Sweden

2009-02-06T17:22:00.004+10:00

Written by T Dobbin

Yesterday was the first day of the 5 Grand Prix races in Falun, Sweden. The ladies skated a 60 kilometer race and the men an 80 kilometer race. Results are below:

Women 60km Results

1st Carla Zielman (Hoolwerf)
2nd Mariska Huisman (Viks)
3rd Maria Sterk (DSB Bank)

Men 80km Results
1st Martijn Kromkamp (Kooyenga)
2nd Gary Hekman (Nefit)
3rd Rob Hadders (BAM)
4th Ruud Borst (Team Care Group)
5th Rene Ruitenberg (Safan)
6th Jeroen de Vries (DSB Bank)

Everyone now has one day rest before the next race tomorrow with the ladies an 80 kilometer and the men 150 kilometer. The program of the Grand Prix's in Sweden are below:

5th February Grand Prix 1 (Ladies 60k/Men 80k)
7th February Grand Prix 2 (Ladies 80k/Men 150k)
9th February Grand Prix 3 (Ladies 100k/Men 100k)

After the 3rd Grand Prix the ladies Natural Ice races are finished and some of the men come back to the Netherlands to prepare them for the finish of the KNSB Cup marathon races and the Dutch National Championships.

From DSB Bank Shane Dobbin, Ingmar Berga and Arjan Smit are included in coming back to the Netherlands after the third Grand Prix. Shane Dobbin will be skating in the Heerenveen World Cup on the 14th & 15th of February and Ingmar Berga will be racing in the Open race at the Heerenveen World Cup on the 15th of February. The remaining two races in Sweden are below.

12th February Grand Prix 4 (Men 100k)
14th February Grand Prix 5 (Men 200k)

Keep posted for more results and updates.

Weissensee Open National Championships

2009-02-01T06:51:00.005+10:00

Written by T Dobbin
Today was the Dutch Open Natural Championships held in the Weissensee, Austria. It was another gruelling race with the ladies skating 60 kilometer and the men 100 kilometer.

The results are below:

Ladies 60km

1st Maria Sterk (DSB Bank) 1:53.01
2nd Erna Kijk In de Vegte (Landjuweel) 1:54.09

3rd Cindy can den Berg (Frisia) 1:54.20
4th Sandra t'Hart (Landjuweel) 1:55.00

5th Jolanda Langeland (Steenbergen) 1:55.04

Mens 100km

1st Tristan Loy (Adformatie) 2:47.58
2nd Ruud Aeerts (Foekens) 2:48.14
3rd Ingmar Berga (DSB Bank) 2:48.14
4th Peter jan van Eck (Safan) 2:38.17
5th Arjen Becker (Kooyenga) 2:48.17

For more results go to http://www.weissensee.nl/

Shane Dobbin signs the 2009-2010 season with DSB

2009-01-31T02:28:00.005+10:00

Written by T Dobbin

Alot of negociation and discussions have been going on this past week including the future ice seasons for Shane Dobbin in the Weissensee, Austria. It's that time of year where all teams are together in Austria and discussing who they want on their teams for the future ice seasons.

The confirmation from DSB Bank took place for Shane Dobbin on Tuesday evening when Shane decided that he was going to focus the 2009-2010 winter season on marathon skating again and put take a step back with the long track races. Shane Dobbin confirmed that he will be skating with DSB Bank in the marathon races with his team mates of Ingmar Berga, Jan Maarten Heideman, Arjan Smit and Jens Zwister.

Keep posted for more of who is going where for the 2009-2010 winter marathon season!

Weissensee Criterium & DSB with the Double Victory

2009-01-30T04:03:00.004+10:00

Written by T Dobbin
Another race held in the Weissensee today with the criterium race. The ladies race started at 11:00am with a 40 minutes plus three lap race and the mens race started at noon with a 50 minute plu three lap race. The team of DSB Bank had the double victory today with red colours of two places of the podium in both the men's and the ladies races.

Jaa Maarten Heideman crossed the line with the race victory today in a mass sprint with his team mate Ingmar Berga finishing in second. Shane Dobbin of DSB Bank skated a strong race out the front with a very good breakaway attempt.

Mens race results

1st Jan Maarten Heideman (DSB Bank) 52.12,0
2nd Ingmar Berga (DSB Bank)
3rd Rene Ruitenberg (Safan)

4th Crispijn Ariens (PE People)
5th Henk Angenent (TNT Express)

6th Jouke Hoogeveen (Schuurman Schoenen)

7th Bob de Vries (BAM)
8th Johan Bakker (Groenehartsport)
9th Ruud Borst (Team Care Group)

10th Shane Dobbin (DSB Bank)

Ladies race Results

1st Maria Sterk (DSB Bank) 41.54,4
2nd Elma de Vries (DSB Bank)

3rd Yvonne Spigt (Foekens)

For more results go to http://www.weissensee.nl

Tomorrow is a rest day before the main event and the big race of the week with the Open Dutch National Championships held on Saturday with the distance of 100 kilometers.

Alternatieve Elfstedentocht

2009-01-29T02:50:00.004+10:00

Written by T Dobbin

Today was the second race of Natural Ice held in the Weisensee, Austria. Today's race was the alternative race of the famous 11 cities event held here in the Netherlands. Unfortunately it wasn't cold enough in the Netherlands for this race... the biggest of all speed skating races in the Netherlands, so it was held in Austria.

It was a 200 kilometer event for both the men and the women. It's a tough race and only the toughest finish! The mens race winner was Safans Casper Heilling finishing solo to take the victory of this grueling race in a time of 5 hours 37 minutes and 50 seconds. Second place went to Douwe de Vries from Adformatie in a time of 5 hours 38 minutes and 5 seconds and in third place to win the sprint of the peleton was DSB Bank's Jan Maarten Heideman in a time of 5 hours 42 minutes and 15 seconds.

The ladies winner went to Daniella Bekkering of Frisia in a time of 6 hours 42 minutes and 29 seconds.

For more information and results from the Weisensee go to http://www.weissensee.nl/

Tomorrow there is another race on the event schedule with an 70 kilometer race.

Race Update

2009-01-27T20:52:00.002+10:00

Written by T Dobbin
Currently most of the teams and skaters who race the marathon season are currently in Austria at the Weissensee. The next race in the Weissensee is tomorrow with a 200 kilometer race for both the men and women. The major race of the week is Saturday's open Dutch National Championships where on Saturday morning the ladies will race a 60 kilometer and the men a 100 kilometer.

At the moment and like every year all the contract negociations are going on in Austria. After this alot of teams will know who is changing teams and who is staying where. It's difinately a tough year for a lot skaters. Some big teams are stopping and hopefully new sponsors will get on board with the marathon racing.

Keep posted for the results during this weeks racing on Natural Ice in the Weisensee.

Finale of the Essent Cup

2009-01-25T20:46:00.006+10:00

Last night was the finale of the Essent Cup Marathon series. The finale was held in Utrecht and both the ladies and men's races were full of excitment.

The ladies race would decide who would end up in the Gold Jersey at the end of the race with Mariska Huisman (Viks) in the Gold by one point over Maria Sterk (DSB Bank) who has held the Gold Jersey for just about the whole Essent Cup series. During the sprint points Elma de Vries (DSB Bank) was leading out for her team mate Maria Sterk. Sitting right behind Maria was Mariska Huisman (Viks) who would pass Maria just at the line to win the sprint points and gain more points in the overall classment. By the finish of the race Mariska Huisman had secured her overall victory by six points and ended up with the Gold Jersey for the Essent Cup with 213 point. Second place went to Maria Sterk (DSB Bank) with 207 points third palce was Carla Zielman (Hoolwerf) with 168 points who crossed the line in first place with the finale race victory in the sprint finish. Second place in the race went to Chris Witty (Landjuweel) and third Elma de Vries (DSB Bank).

Ladies Race Results
1st Carla Zielman (Hoolwerf)
2nd Chris Witty (Landjuweel)
3rd Elma De Vries (DSB Bank)
4th Danielle Bekkering (Frisia)
5th Andrea Sikkema (Van der Wiel)

With Bob de Vries securing his Gold Jersey as he was sick and unable to get out of bed he decided that he would not take the start in Utrecht. Bob de Vries won the Gold Jersey with 198 points from Cedric Michaud (Nefit) with 182 points and third Arjan Stroetinga (BAM) with 144 points.

The mens finale race was very hard and fast with many attacks and everyone trying to escape off the front. Bart de Vries (Schuurman) making the first attack of the evening within the first lap of the race. Cedric Michaud (Nefit) made his race for the sprint points to secure his place in the overall classment with everyone else waiting in the peleton for the next move. DSB Bank's Ingmar Berga and Arjan Smit were very active at the front of the race in many breaks and putting through for the leads.

The deciding breakaway went with approximately just over 50 laps to go. All four DSB Bank skaters were in this breakaway securing their place in the breakaway once they lapped the peleton. There were 28 skaters now in the lead group with approximately 30 laps to go.

Once the breakaway group lapped the peleton Alexis Contin (Adformatie) and two other skaters broke away together with only Alexis on the leading lap. Shane Dobbin (DSB Bank) and Henk Hengenent (TNT Express) escaped off the front trying to catch Alexis Contin with the other two skaters having to stop with 20 laps as they did not secure their place inside the top 20 at the elimination point. Shane Dobbin (DSB Bank) and Henk Hengenent (TNT Express) caught Alexis Contin and these three skaters trying very hard to escape off the front. They ended up at approximately half a lap in front of the leading peleton but once the two teams of Renault and BAM went to the front this breakaway was closed down with five laps remaining.

Once the peleton had caught the escapees it was Jan Maarten Heideman (DSB Bank) making the next move escaping off the front solo. Jan Maarten Heideman (DSB Bank) was strong enough to hold off the peleton and crossed the line solo with his second Essent Cup Victory for the season. second place went to Karlo Timmerman (Renault) in the sprint finish over Arjan Stroetinga BAM).

Mens Race Results
1st Jan Maarten Heideman (DSB Bank)
2nd Karlo Timmerman (Renault)
3rd Arjan Stroetinga (BAM)
4th Ingmar Berga (DSB Bank)
5th Sjoerd Huisman (Nefit)
8th Arjan Smith (DSB Bank)
16th Shane Dobbin (DSB Bank)

The final race of the evening was the first grade marathon with New Zealander Dj Nation. Dj Nation skated a very hard hard making many attacks and trying to close down any breaks that happened. Dj Nation was in the lead group in the final 20 but in the final sprint taking the lead with three laps to go after confusing the laps and ended up crossing the line in nineth place for his last marathon of the 2008-2009 ice season. Now Dj prepares for the Junior World Championships which are held in Poland at the end of February.

Essent Cup 11 in Amsterdam

2009-01-18T18:06:00.006+10:00

Written by T Dobbin
Saturday night was the 11th and second to last Essent Cup for the 2008-2009 winter season. The finale will be held next week in Utrecht with most teams leaving the following day for Austria and Sweden's Natural ice races.

The forecast in Amsterdam was for rain but lucky it ended up being very windy but no rain! The first event of the evening was the men's A grade marathon. After everyone having skated alot of Natural Ice races the last three weeks everyone was tired and found coming back to track racing very hard not having the same condition as they have for Natural ice.

The mens race started at 19:30. The first few laps were slower than usual and everyone seemed to want to settle into the race more tonight. The first real attack started with a breakaway group of approximately six skaters including DSB Banks Ingmar Berga and Shane Dobbin. The peleton ended up closing this breakaway but not after a very hard long chase.

The race changed after the sprint points with 40 laps remaining after a breakaway group attacked over the top of the sprinters going for the points and a group of eight skaters including Douwe de Vries (Adformatie), Karlo Timmerman (Renault) and Bob de Vries (BAM). These eight skaters worked hard together and ended up lapping the peleton and securing their spot in the final 20.

Another breakaway group of nine skaters attempted to pull back the breakaway of eight who were already a lap up, and for the elimination all nine skaters secured there place in the top 20 which included DSB Banks Jan Maarten Heideman and Arjan Smit. This breakaway worked hard for many laps but within the final 20 laps stopped the chase.

There were only three places remaining for the final 20 laps and it was Shane Dobbin & Ingmar Berga of DSB Bank at the front making the sprint for their place within the top 20. Shane Dobbin (DSB) took the lead with one and a half laps to go Ingmar Berga (DSB) sitting right behind and coming down the final straight only Cedric Michaud (Nefit) passed making these three skaters the final three to qualify for the top 20 and the final 20 laps.

The next move was made by Alexis Contin and Martijn Bovenmars who attacked together getting approximately 1/4 of a lap in front. When they crossed the finish line with 14 laps to go the jury told them both to stop thinking they did not qualify for the final 20 laps and so they ended up stopping and getting out of the race. Ingmar Berga (DSB Bank) who was chasing solo ended up crossing the line in 9th place after his finish with 10 laps to go as well as everyones finish who weren't in the eight that escaped during the race. The jury ended up placing Martijn Bovenmars (Vlasman) and Alexis Contin (Adformatie) in 10th and 11th place because of the mistake they had made asking them to stop. The sprint finish for the rest of skaters was 12th Sjoerd Huisman (Nefit), 13th Cedric Michaud (Nefit), 14th Jan Maarten Heideman (DSB Bank),15th Arjan Smit (DSB Bank) and Shane Dobbin (DSB Bank) in 20th.

For the final 10 laps and the sprint for the victory between eight skaters was a one for all. Bob de Vries (BAM) chasing almost every attack, Douwe de Vries of Adformatie made his solo move with approximately six laps to go and trying to chase was Bob de Vries (BAM) but without the help of Renaults Karlo Timmerman, Bob was unable to close the gap and Douwe de Vries of Adformatie crossed the line for his first victory of the season and the first of his teams. Second place went to Yoeri Lissenberg of Foekens and third place was Karlo Timmerman from Renault.

Mens A Grade results
1st Douwe de Vries (Adformatie)
2nd Yoeri Lissenberg (Foekens)
3rd Karlo Timmerman (Renault)
4th Crispijn Ariens (PE People)
5th Sandow Stuut (Vlasman)

The ladies race soon followed the mens in Amsterdam. The sprint points were a race between Viks Mariska Huisman and Maria Sterk of DSB Bank. With these two skaters racing it out for the gold jersey it left the door open for everyone else to make their move for the victory. In the final 20 laps it was a breakaway of five skaters that broke away including Frisia's Danielle Bekkering and crossing the line in first place and to held off the rest of the peleton chasing strong in the final sprint. Second place went to Chris Witty of Landjuweel and third place Carla Zielman of Hoolwerf. After this race there was a change in the gold jersey and Mariska now holds the gold by one point going into the final race of the Essent Cup.

Ladies results
1st Danielle Bekkering (Frisia)
2nd Chris Witty (Landjuweel)
3rd Carla Zielman (Hoolwerf)
4th Anniek ter Haar (Aavaas Groep)
5th Mariska Huisman (Viks)

The final event of the evening was the mens first division with Dj Nation. Dj Nation from New Zealand made a very strong race attacking and held good position throughout the race. Two skaters made their move earlier on in the race with approximately 40 laps to go and these two skaters with the help of their team mates ended up lapping the peleton to secure the places for first and second.

Dj Nation of New Zealand easily finished within the top 20 skaters to secure his spot in the final 20 laps and the race for third. With six laps to go Dj Nation was in a breakaway with three other skaters all working together to try to escape. With one lap to go Dj made his move and sprinted past his competitors to cross the line on the podium for third place. Finishing in first place was Tom Helte Slagter (Clavis) and in second place Thijs Smit (Goesting) who both finished the last five laps solo.

First Grade Results
1st Tom Jelte Slagter (Clavis)
2nd Thijs Smit (Goesting)
3rd Dj Nation (New Zealand)
4th Ted Ooijvaar (Choose 2)
5th Bart can der Valk (Goenehardsport)

For full results go to http://www.knsb.nl/content/marathon/wedkal_detail.asp?ID=312

Mid Week News Update

2009-01-15T17:29:00.003+10:00

It's already Thursday and this week is already closed to being over. There has been two races this week, the first was on Monday a Natural Ice race held in Ankeveen which was going to be a two day event but because the temperatures were not cold enough there was only the first day of racing. The first day started for the men with a 4.1km time trial followed by thel ladies 60km and finally the men's 100km race. See full results below:

Mens 4.1km Prolog
1st Bob de Vries (BAM) 6.28
2nd Ingmar Berga (DSB Bank) 6.29
3rd Willem Hut (BAM) 6.31
4th Cedric Michaud (Nefit) 6.32
5th Tristan Loy (Adformatie) 6.32

Ladies 60km
1st Sandra t'Hart (Landjuweel)
2nd Elma de Vries (DSB Bank)
3rd Danielle Bekkering (Frisia)

Mens 100km
1st Bob de Vries (BAM)
2nd Cedric Michaud (Nefit)
3rd Ingmar Berga (DSB Bank)
4th Rene Rutienberg (Safan)
5th Ruud Aarts

Yesterday was yet another Biddinghuizen Prestige race which was the last race of the series. DSB Banks Jan Maarten Heideman crossed over to the leading breakaway with the help from his team mates when Ingmar Berga made a strong lead at the front.

The results from yesterday races is as follows:

Mens Results
1st Jan Maarten Heideman (DSB Bank)
2nd Martijn Kromkamp (Kooyenga)
3rd Rene Rutienberg (Safan)
4th Douwe De Vries (Adformatie)
5th Sander Kingma (Team Care Group)

Prestige Final Overall Classment
1st Sandor Stuut (Vlasman)
2nd Sjoerd Huisman (Nefit)
3rd Roy Boeve (Safan)

Ladies Results
1st Andrea Sikkema (Van der Wiel)
2nd Erna Kijk In de Vegte (Landjuweel)
3rd Cindy van den Berg (Frisia)

Prestige Final Overall Classment
1st Mariska Huisman (Viks)
2nd Danielle Bekkering (Frisia)
3rd Chris Witty (Landjuweel)

This weekend is the second to last Essent Cup race in Amsterdam. There are just two races left before everyone heads to Austria and Sweden for the Natural Ice races. More information coming soon.

Full Results from day 2 in Salt Lake

2009-01-12T07:31:00.007+10:00

The results for the 10 kilometer in Salt Lake City are in and all races have now been completed. Shane Dobbin from New Zealand set the mark in the 10 kilometer with a finish time of 13:43. With Travor Mariscano and Chad Hedrick both from USA in the same pair and the final pair Shane Dobbin was in the in the leading position with only a few laps remaining but both Chad and Trevor had the advantage and were racing each other. The final standings for the 10km are as follows:

1st Chad Hedrick 13:38.18

2nd Trevor Mariscano 13:38.21

3rd Shane Dobbin 13:43. 69

Full results are below from all races on day 2

Ladies 1500m
1st Kristina Groves (CAN) 1:56.30
2nd Brittany Schussler (CAN) 1:57.47
3rd Nancy Swider-Peltz Jr (USA) 2:01.27

Mens 1500m
1st Chad Hedrick (USA) 1:44.27
2nd Trevor Marsicano (USA) 1:45.29
3rd Jay Morrison (CAN) 1:46.61
13th Shane Dobbin (NZL) 1:51.55
14th Dj Nation (NZL) 1:54.70

Ladies 5000m
1st Kristina Groves (CAN) 7:07.61
2nd Nancy Swider-Peltz Jr 7:21.59
3rd Brittany Schussler (CAN) 7:25.18

Men 10000m
1st Chad Hedrick (USA) 13:38.18
2nd Trevor Mariscano (USA) 13:38.21
3rd Shane Dobbin (NZL)13:43. 69

Ladies Overall
1st Kristina Groves (CAN) 162,783
2nd Brittany Schussler (CAN) 166,283
3rd Nancy Swider-Peltz Jr 168,553

Mens Overall
1st Chad Hedrick (USA) 151,077
2nd Trevor Marsicano (USA) 151,171
3rd Steven Elm (CAN) 153,394
4th Lucan Makowsky (CAN) 153,803
5th Jay Morrison (CAN) 153,884
6th Brian Hansen (USA) 154,302
7th Mathieu Giroux (CAN) 154,864
8th Shane Dobbin (NZL) 156,157

It was a great weekend for both Shane Dobbin & Dj Nation of New Zealand. From the results you can see both have been working more on their endurance than the shorter events but over time they will put it all together. It was great experience for them both to go to Salt Lake and see what it's like. It was shame that for this weekend the ice in Salt Lake was not it's usual and very fast having produced some of the fastest times in the World in previous competitions and at the Olympics, but never the less it was still a great weekend.

Now both arrive back in the Netherlands tomorrow where Dj will concentrate training for his Junior World Championships in Poland late February and Shane will get back to his marathon racing with the DSB Bank team.

News from Salt Lake

2009-01-11T06:55:00.008+10:00

Today was the first day of the North American and Oceania All-Round Championships in Salt Lake City. It was the first day of the Championships with the first event being the 500 meters ladies followed by the men. Tthe second and final event for the first day was the 3000 meter ladies and 5000 meter men. Aparently the ice was not in perfect condition but still faster than most of the ice in Europe.

Shane Dobbin skated in the 5,000 meter and ended up finishing in third place just behind Olympic Champion Chad Hedrick and Trevor Marsicano. Luckily for Shane Dobbin he had the Olympic Champion Dereck Parra holding the lap times for him on the ice so it was a very big honour ot have him on the ice with him. Trevor Marsicano won the 5000 meter event in Salt Lake City with a time of 6:29 followed by Chad Hedrick with a time of 6:30 and Shane Dobbin from New Zealand his second ever 5000 meter event finished third just three seconds from the victory with a time of 6:32. Dj Nation also from New Zealand the young Junior skater with 2008-2009 being his first ever winter and ever time on the ice finishe din 9th place with a time of 6:45.

results from today are as follows:

Ladies 500m

1st Kristina Groves (CAN) 39.58
2nd Brittany Schussler (CAN) 39.79
3rd Kelly Gunther (USA) 39.79

Men 500m
1st Brian Hansen (USA) 36.19
2nd Trevor Marsicano (USA) 36.23
3rd Chad Hedrick (USA) 36.38

13th Shane Dobbin (NZL) 38.55
14th Dj Nation (NZL) 40.03

Ladies 3000m
1st Kristina Groves (CAN) 4:10.08
2nd Jancy Swider-Peltz (USA) 4:15.37
3rd Brittany Schussler (CAN) 4:16.50

Men 5000m

1st Trevor Masricano (USA) 6:29

2nd Chad Hedrick (USA) 6:30

3rd Shane Dobbin (NZL) 6:32

9th Dj Nation (NZL) 6:45

Dj Nations 5km Lap times

Opening 19.69
1st Lap 50.32 (30.63)
2nd Lap 1:21.41 (31.09)
3rd Lap 1:53.24 (31.83)
4th Lap 2:24.93 (31.69)
5th Lap 2:56.98 (32.05)
6th Lap 3:28.98 (32.00)
7th Lap 4:01.22 (32.24)
8th Lap 4:33.44 (32.22)
9th Lap 5:06.06 (32.62)
10th Lap 5:39.25 (33.19)
11th Lap 6:12.66 (33.41)
Finish 6:45.69 (33.03)

Shane Dobbin's 5km Lap Times

Opening 20.04
1st Lap 50.52 (30.81)
2nd Lap 1:21.13 (30.61)
3rd Lap 1:51.98 (30.85)
4th Lap 2:23.12 (31.14)
5th Lap 2:52.87 (30.75)
6th Lap 3:24.22 (30.97)
7th Lap 3:55.06 (30.84)
8th Lap 4:25.66 (30.60)
9th Lap 4:56.34 (30.68)
10th Lap 5:27.59 (31.25)
11th Lap 5:59.46 (31.87)

Finish 6:32.43 (32.97)

Chad Hedrick 5km Lap Times

Opening 19.36
1st Lap 50.10 (30.74)
2nd Lap 1:21.04 (30.94)
3rd Lap 1:51.34 (30.30)
4th Lap 2:21.64 (30.30)
5th Lap 2:52.78 (30.14)
6th Lap 3:22.03 (30.25)
7th Lap 3:52.37 (30.34)
8th Lap 4:23.05 (30.68)
9th Lap 4:54.16 (31.11)
10th Lap 5:25.75 (31.59)
11th Lap 5:57.92 (32.17)
Finish 6:30.32 (32.40)

Trevor Marsicano's 5km Lap Times

Opening 20.07

1st Lap 51.53 (31.46)
2nd Lap 1:23.08 (31.55)
3rd Lap 1:54.14 (31.06)
4th Lap 2:24.77 (30.63)

5th Lap 2:55.03 (30.26)
6th Lap 3:25.46 (30.43)
7th Lap 3:56.08 (30.63)

8th lap 4:26.93 (30.85)
9th Lap 4:57.66 (30.73)
10th Lap 5:27. 97 (30.31)
11th Lap 5:58.39 (30.42)
Finish 6:29.25 (30.96)

More information at http://www.usspeedskating.org/

Keep posted for tomorrows results.

Marathon News

2009-01-11T06:35:00.004+10:00

It's been a full few days for the marathon skaters here in Netherlands. On Thursday was the biggest race of the season for the Netherlands skaters who race in the marathon series because it was the first time in over 10 years that there has been the Natural Ice National Championship event. It was held on a frozen lake close to Lelystad on a five kilometer circuit with the ladies race being 60 kilometers and the mens 100 kilometers. Both the ladies and the men's races were held live in TV here in the Netherlands which was great viewing for all.

The ladies race ended up in a sprint finish where Carla Zielman crossed the line in first with the National Championship title second place was Daniella Bekkering of Frisia and third Andrea Sikkema Van der Wiel. During the men's race there was a very serious breakaway at the half way mark of the race. In this breakaway there was many good strong skaters but the teams of BAM and Nefit brought the race back together after a very long hard chase which cause the mens race to end in a sprint finish.

During the mens sprint it was a long hard sprint where the team of Safan started the sprint very early. Crossing the line just ahead for the National Championship title was Sjoerd Huisman from the team of Nefit. Second place went to Arjan Streotinga of Bam, third was Roy Boeve from Safan and in fourth place Ingmar Berga from DSB Bank.

With only one day rest today was the Essent Cup 11 held in Eindhoven. The results from tonights races are as follows:

Ladies Marathon
1st Carla Zielman (Hoolwerf)
2nd Daniella Bekkering (Frisia)
3rd Andrea Sikkema (Van der Wiel)
4th Margo can de Merwe (team de sprinters)
5th Anniek ter Haar (Aavas)

Mens Marathon

1st Jorrit Bergsma (PE People)
2nd Yoeri Lissenberg (Foekens)
3rd Roy Boeve (Safan)
4th Kurt Wubben (TNT Express)
5th Bart de Vries (Schuurman)

To view the mens race on the internet go to: http://www.knsb.nl/content/marathon/livevideo.asp

For more results go to: http://www.knsb.nl/

Natural Ice race marathon have been confirmed for both Monday and Tuesday next week. For more information go to: http://www.knsb.nl/natuurijs/wedkal_detail.asp?ID=679

Super Prestige Series in Biddinghuizen

2009-01-07T17:38:00.007+10:00

Written by T Dobbin

It's a week full of ice skating here in the Netherlands starting with the Biddinghuizen super prestige race, the Natural Ice National Championships, the Essent Cup 11 in Eindhoven and the European All-Round Championships in Heerenveen. Mean while DSB Bank's Shane Dobbin is in the USA in Salt Lake City preparing for this weekend's long track races.

Yesterday was the super prestige series held in Biddinghuizen. It was the day before the National Championships here in the Netherlands for Natural Ice so there were not alot of skaters wanted to race the day before the biggest event for marathon skating since 1997 in the Netherlands. The results of yesterday's race is as follows:

Mens Results
1st Sjoerd Huisman (Nefit)
2nd Sandor Stuut (Vlasman)
3rd Roy Boeve (Safan)
4th Hermen van der Wal (Kooyenga)
5th Rene Ruitenberg (Safan)

Ladies Results
1st Mariska Huisman (Viks)
2nd Chris Witty (Wandjuweel)
3rd Danielle Bekkering (Frisia)

Thursday is the National Championships of Natural Ice which is being held on a 5 kilometer frozen lake close to Lelystad.

Keep posted for final results from today's races.

News Update

2009-01-06T06:18:00.004+10:00

This morning both Shane Dobbin & Dj Nation got on the plane to fly to Salt Lake City for this weekend's North American & Oceania All-Round Championships. Both Shane & Dj have only skated the five kilometer in previous races having raced twice this winter. The 500 meter & the 1500 meter will be new distances for the boys so after Salt Lake they will both have times on the board in these distances. Dj Nation set a personal best time of 6:53 and Shane Dobbin set a personal best time of 6:37 in Thialf, Heerenveen in Novemeber. The competition starts on Saturday with the 500 meter and the 5000 meter. Followed by Sunday's races of the 1500 meter and the 10,000 meter.

Other big news in Netherlands today is the confirmation of the Natural Ice National Championships for the Netherlands which is going to be held on Thursday at 13:00. The National Championships is for Dutch Skaters only racing for the rights to wear their Natural Colours. It is live on television in the Netherlands and will be held on a frozen lake close to Lelystad. The Nationals will be the day after the next Prestige Race in Biddinghuizen which is held on Wednesday but the organisation has changed the distance from 75km to 50km. Some skaters will be sitting out of the Prestige Race to save themselves for the Nationals. It will be a great lift to the sport of Speed Skating here in Netherlands.

It will be a great week of ice skating so stay tuned!

Shane Dobbin takes his first Victory in the Essent Cup A grade Marathon in Assen

2009-01-04T18:50:00.015+10:00

Written by T Dobbin

Last night in Assen was a very successful night for the men's team of DSB Bank. Shane Dobbin & all the skaters from DSB Bank skated a great team effort and all contributed to the victory of Shane Dobbin in the Essent Cup number 10 in Assen.

The race started with many breakaway attempts and it was a hard race with an average lap time of 31.3 sec laps. Bob de Vries (BAM) & Cedric Michaud (Nefit) were sprinting for the first set of sprint points in the race for the Gold Jersey. At approximately 55 laps to go the half way point of the race Shane Dobbin (DSB Bank) attacked with Durk Fabriek (Schuurman), Ralf Zwister (Adformatie) and a skater from BCT. These four skaters ended up half a lap in front of the peleton when Ralp Zwister (Adformatie) crashed and ended up going back to the peleton and the skater from BCT dropped off the breakaway leaving only two in the lead group (Shane Dobbin DSB Bank and Durk Fabriek Schuurman).

These two skaters kept trying to keep the pace hoping the peleton would stop the chase. After a few more laps of working together the team of Schuurman Schoenen dropped back to the breakaway escapees to help their team mate Durk Fabriek and of course included in the break Shane Dobbin (DSB Bank) to try to take a lap over the peleton. With approximately 30 laps remaining and after a long hard chase the two escapees lapped the peleton and waited for the sprint for the final 20 laps to make their next move.

After the final sprint / elimination for the last 20 laps there was just two skaters from DSB Bank in the final Shane Dobbin who was one lap in front and Ingmar Berga. Ingmar Berga did a great job in making sure no one escapeed off the front to catch Shane Dobbin & Durk Fabriek. Arjan Stroetinga (BAM) & Roy Boeve (Safan) tried very hard and made many attempts to escape off the front. In the end the peleton received the bell for the last lap with five laps to go and it was Cedric Michaud (Nefit), Bob de Vries (Bam) & Ingmar Berga (DSB Bank) who were sprinting for third place. Crossing the line in third place was Cedric Michaud (Nefit), in fourth was Bob de Vries (BAM) and fifth Ingmar Berga (DSB Bank).

When the sprint for third place took place Shane Dobbin (DSB Bank) took advantage of this opportunity and made his move to breakaway from his rival Durk Fabriek (Schuurman) Shane Dobbin broke away in the last five laps to maintain a strong gap and cross the line for his first victory for DSB Bank and in the Essent Cup. Second place went to Durk Fabriek from Schuurman. It was a very successful team effort from the DSB Bank team including Jens Zwister, Arjan Smit, Ingmar Berga & Shane Dobbin.

Mens Marathon Results
1st Shane Dobbin (DSB Bank)
2nd Durk Fabriek (Schuurman)
3rd Cedric Michaud (Nefit)
4th Bob de Vries (Bam)
5th Ingmar Berga (Dsb Bank)
6th Sandor Stuut (Vlasman)
7th Douwe de Vries (Adformatie)
8th Kurt Wubben (TNT Express)
9th Roy Boeve (Safan)
10th Jan van Oosterom (Goesting.nl)

The ladies race was first in Assen and Chris Witty (Landjuweel) broke away in the final 20 laps solo and lapped the peleton to cross the line for another victory for her in this ice season in Assen.

Ladies Marathon Results

1st Chris Witty (Landjuweel)
2nd Liesbeth Hijlkema (Cakyline)
3rd Jolanda Langeland (Steenbergen)
4th Sandra t'Hart (Landjuweel)
5th Maria Sterk (DSB Bank)

The final event of the night was the first divison marathon. The young Dj Nation from New Zealand raced in the marathon tonight trying very hard and working hard throughout the race to make attacks and follow them. Dj made the top 20 at the sprint/elimination and in the final 20 laps was very active. Unfortunately he couldn't follow the strongman Willem Hut (BAM) and Willem broken away solo to cross the line for another victory in the first division.

First division Marathon Results
1st Willem Hut (BAM)
2nd Peter Nauta (Schaatsteam)
3rd Frank Posthumus (Schaatsploeg)

For full results go to: http://www.knsb.nl/content/marathon/wedkal_detail.asp?ID=310

For more photos go to: http://www.fotohdeboer.nl/

To watch the race on internet click on the link: http://www.sbs6.nl/web/show/id=258665/langid=43

Prestige Cup 3 Biddinghuizen Results

2009-01-02T18:33:00.006+10:00

Written by T Dobbin
Yesterday was the third Biddinghuizen Prestige Race which is one of the biggest having highlights shown on tv on one of the biggest sport channels here in the Netherlands.

In the ladies finish it ended up coming to a final sprint where Mariska Huisman (Viks) crossed the line with yet another victory for 2009 in Biddinghuizen.

Ladies Results
1st Mariska Huisman (Viks)
2nd Margo van de Merwe (Team de Sprinters)
3rd Danielle Bekkering (Frisia)
4th Anniek ter Haar (Aavas Groep)
5th Mischa Top (Landjuweel)
6th Jolanda Langeland (Steenbergen)

The mens race also came to a sprint finish after many breakaway attempts throughout the race. The team of Nefit made the sprint for Sjoerd Huisman and DSB Bank's Ingmar Berga lead out the sprint for his team mate Arjan Smit.

Crossing the line in first with his first victory in Biddinghuizen from the team of Nefit was Sjoerd Huisman. Second place went to DSB Bank's Arjan Smit who was the winner last week in Biddinghuizen and third Cedric Michaud also from Nefit.

Mens Results
1st Sjoerd Huisman (Nefit)
2nd Arjan Smit (DSB Bank)
3rd Cedric Michaud (Nefit)
4th Sandor Stuut (Vlasman)
5th Roy Boeve (Safan)
6th Martijn van Es (TNT)
7th Yoeri Lissenberg (Foekens)
8th Arjan Mombarg (Nefit)
9th Geert Plender (Safan)
10th Sander Kingma (Team Care Group)

For Full results go to: http://www.knsb.nl/content/marathon/wedkal_detail.asp?ID=328
For more photos go to: http://www.fotohdeboer.nl/

Saturday another Essent Cup race which is held again in Assen. Shane Dobbin (DSB Bank) will be racing on Saturday in Assen before his flight on Monday to Salt Lake City for next weekend's North American & Oceania All Round Championships. The ladies race is the first event of tomorrow night's races starting at the usual time of 18:30 followed by the mens A grade race at 19:30. Keep posted for more news and results!

Natural Ice Marathon Noordlaren Results

2009-01-01T00:04:00.007+10:00

Written by T Dobbin

Today was the second Natural Ice marathon held in Noordlaren, Netherlands. It was freezing temperatures in Noordlaren. When the men were racing the temperatures were approximately -4 degrees. The ladies race ended up in a sprint finish with all the peleton. One of the favourites Mariska Huisman crashing with just over one lap to go left Frisia to lead out for the team leader Daniella Bekkering. Coming into the final straight it was two Frisia skaters and DSB Bank's Maria Sterk came up the inside and crossed the finish line with the race victory with Daniella Bekkering in second and her team mate Janneke Ensing in third both from Frisia.

The mens race started shortly after the ladies race finished. After aproximately 20 laps the leading breakaway grouped formed with four skaters including Karlo Timmerman (Renault) & Douwe de Vries (Adformatie). Shane Dobbin from DSB Bank tried to cross over solo to the half a lap gap to the breakaway group but once he was within a corner the grouped put on the pace and Shane ended up giving up the chase and going back to the peleton.

Once the breakaway got one lap up from the peleton the team of Adformatie controlled the race and made sure there were no more attacks. At the end of the race Bart de Vries tried to gain a lap over the peleton and the remainder of his team went back to him to try to help him get the lap up to be on the same lap as the four escapees but when he was 3/4 of a lap out front, Shane Dobbin of DSB Bank went to the front of the peleton to start to make the sprint for his team mates and Bart de Vries ended up finishing in 5th place where he crossed the line unable to take a lap over the peleton. In the sprint of the peleton Arjan Stroeting finished in 6th place and Ingmar Berga (DSB Bank) finished in 7th.

In the final sprint finish of the escapees Douwe de Vries (Adformatie) made his move with one lap to go with Karlo Timmerman (Renault) right behind. Coming down the back straight Karlo Timmerman put himself in first position and ended up crossing the line for the race win. Second place went to Douwe de Vries (Adformatie) and third place Kurt Wubben (TNT Express).

Tomorrow in Biddinghuizen is the third Prestige race. It's a very important race for most teams and 30 minutes is show on one of the biggest channels in the Netherlands. Keep posted for results from tomorrows race that will be coming soon!

Natural Ice Marathon Noordlaren Confirmed

2008-12-30T20:00:00.004+10:00

Written by T Dobbin

Tomorrow is yet another Natural Ice Race in the North of Netherlands in Noordlaren. The race was confirmed late yesterday afternoon where in the Northern City open ice rink had enough ice frozen to confirm that the race would go ahead tomorrow on New Years Eve. Each team had the choice if the track had enough ice to confirm the race whether it would be Tuesday or Wednesday and all but one team decided Wednesday would be better to hold the race. This meaning that just about all skaters have a race on Wednesday and then again Thursday in the Prestige series in Biddinghuizen.

Tomorrow's race will be held during the day with the first race of the day the ladies race being 75 laps of a 350 meter circuit. The men's race will follow with the rules of all top 19 A grade teams to start but with a maximum of four skaters per team. The men's race is 1 hour long plus 10 laps. For more information go to http://www.knsb.nl/natuurijs/wedkal_detail.asp?ID=611 Tomorrow's weather forecast is with sunny skies and the daily maximum temperature at zero degress so another cold day on the horizon.

Schedule for tomorrows races are as follows

Ladies A grade 10:30am (75 laps)
Mens A grade 11:30 (1 hour + 10 laps)

Keep posted for photos and results online soon!

Haaksbergen Natural Ice

2008-12-29T20:37:00.009+10:00

Written by T Dobbin

Last night was the first Natural Ice race for the 2008-2009 ice season. The first ice rink to announce the first race was Haaksbergen which is in the East of Netherlands close to the German boarder. The ladies race started first at 19:00. Elma de Vries skating with the DSB Bank team race both on Saturday and Sunday in Heerenveen at the All-Round National Championships finishing in second overall to qualify for the European All-Round Championships finished her 5km and got straight in the car and raced to Haaksbergen to race in the Natural ice race.

Elma de Vries (DSB Bank) broke away in a group including her team mate Maria Sterk (DSB Bank), Mariska Huisman (Viks) and in total 14 girls were in the first breakaway group. These 14 ladies lapped the peleton and it would come down to a sprint finish where DSB Bank's Elma de Vries took the victory over Mariska Huisman (Viks) and third went to Chris Witty (Landjuweel).

Ladies results
1st Elma de Vries (DSB Bank)
2nd Mariska Huisman (Viks)
3rd Chris Witty (Landjuweel)
4th Carla Zielmann (hoolwerf)
5th Maria Sterk (DSB Bank)

The mens race started shortly after where the race was very fast and very hard for the first 35 laps. The pace was on the whole time with breakaway attempts and the face ice. One straight was tail wind and the other head wind. At the mid race point there was a breakaway of approximately 17 skaters. Some skaters were originally in the breakaway and went back to the peleton and some skaters including Ingmar Berga (DSB Bank) crossed over to the breakaway.

Finally these 17 skaters lapped the peleton and the peleton got the bell with 11 laps to go for their sprint finish. Shane Dobbin (DSB Bank) was sitting in second place from laps 18-11 setting himself up for the sprint for the peleton. In the end Shane made a great sprint for the line and passing many people down the final straight ending up in 23rd place.

The breakaway group still had 10 laps remaining where Bam's Rob Hadders was at the front making sure there were no breakaway. After chasing down the final attempt of a breakaway with approximately 3 laps to go Rob Hadders (BAM) pulled aside once the group was together Safan's Roy Boeve made him move with Sander Kingma (Team Care Group) and Bob de Vries (BAM) crossing over. These three skaters were in front just enough to stay away for the final lap and Bob de Vries (BAM) crossed the line in first for the race victory.

Men's results
1st Bob de Vries (BAM)
2nd Sander Kingma (Team Care Group)
3rd Roy Boeve (Safan)
4th Karlo Timmerman (Renault)
5th Joost Juffermans (TNT)
6th Cedric Michaud (Nefit)
7th Arjan Stroetinga (BAM)
8th Ingmar Berga (DSB Bank)
9th Bart de Vries (Schuurman)
10th Yoeri Lissenberg (Foekens)

Announced last night, on Wednesday evening there will be another Natural Ice race in the north of Netherlands. The race will be confirmed in the new 24 hours with the possibility of being a New Years Eve race with another race on Thursday in Biddinghuizen.

For full results go to : http://www.knsb.nl/natuurijs/wedkal.asp

For more photos go to : http://www.fotohdeboer.nl/

Essent Cup 9 Assen

2008-12-28T18:35:00.010+10:00

Last night was yet another Essent Cup race in the rink of Assen. It was a great night for the DSB Bank's ladies team with Maria Sterk crossing the line in first place with her first victory in the Essent Cup for 2009 and gaining more points over Viks Mariska Huisman in the battle for the Gold Jersey.

The ladies race started like most weeks at 18:30. It was a cold evening in Assen with temperatures getting as low as -4 degrees. DSB Bank's Maria Sterk decided to race the race sitting on the skater closest to her in the overall ranking which is Mariska Huisman (Viks). There were a few breakaway attempts in Assen from the long track skater and silver medalist at the Salt Lake Olympics Gretha Smit (Hofmeier).

The final of the ladies ended up in a sprint finish. Mariska Huisman (Viks) getting caught on the inside of the peleton and not moving to the outside with one lap to go ended up having to try to catch back up to Maria (DSB Bank) in the final lap to try to take the victory. Maria Sterk (DSB Bank) making her sprint with one lap to go took the outside line and going into the last corner was in first place carrying on to the finish lline in first to take the race victory in Assen. Mariska Huisman was in second place going into the final corner but with Maria having one to two meters was unable to close the gap completely by the finish line but the race ended up in a lunge at the line. Third place went to Andrea Sikkema (Van der Wiel) and fourth went to the strong Gretha Smit (Hofmeier).

Ladies Results
1st Maria Sterk (DSB Bank)
2nd Mariska Huisman (Viks)
3rd Andrea Sikkema (Van der Wiel)

4th Gretha Smit (Hofmeier)
5th Erna Kijk In de Vegt (Landjuweel)

The mens race didn't end in a way that everyone expected. The mens race started off with Cedric Michaud (Nefit), Bob de Vries (BAM) and Jan Maarten Heideman (DSB Bank) going for the first three sprint points of the race. Jan Maarten Heideman (DSB Bank) decided he wanted to make the race hard and tried to attack after the sprints with Bob de Vries (BAM) and Cedric Michaud (Nefit) sitting behind him not leading. After many laps of continuing on Jan Maarten decided it was time to go back to the peleton and there once he again he decided to attack off the front.

After many attempts Jan Maarten (DSB Bank) gave up the breakaway attempts. This left the door open for his team mate Ingmar Berga (DSB Bank) to attack off the front with approximately five other skaters including Crispijn Ariens (Pe People), Christijn Groeneveld (Renault) and Douwe de Vries (Adformatie). In this breakaway everyone was pulling through for leads except Christijn Groeneveld (Renault) who was intructed by his coach to not lead. After many laps of trying to escape this breakaway ended up coming back to the peleton for the re-group before the final 20 lap sprint elimination.

In the final sprint for the elimination DSB Bank went to the front with Jens Zwister taking the lead followed by Jan Maarten Heideman and then Ingmar Berga. On the outside of the peleton BAM made their move with approximately six laps before the sprint and Jens Zwister stepped wide after finishing his laps in the front. Moving up on the outside was Shane Dobbin (DSB Bank) who was sitting in good position inside the top 10 crashing down the back straight with only four laps before the sprint elimination. Jan Maarten Heideman and Ingmar Berga (DSB Bank) were left at the front and Jan Maarten Heideman got caught in bad position and making it through to the final 20 for DSB was Ingmar Berga.

In the final 20 laps there were a few breakaway attempts but BAMs Willem Hut lead the peleton at the front and closed down any attempts soon after they started. Ingmar Berga sitting on Sjoerd Huisman (Nefit) in the final 10 laps ended up getting completely taken out of the race getting thrown in the air and down again. With BAM's Bob de Vries leading out the sprint going down the back straight Sjoerd Huisman (Nefit) went around the outside while going into the final corner Bob de Vries (BAM) stepping wide and Sjoerd skating between the gap and into first place. Crossing the line in first place was Sjoerd Huisman (Nefit) but with the Jury thinking it was Sjoerd that took out Ingmar Berga (DSB Bank) ended up getting disqualified for a fault. So after his disqualification the victory went to Arjan Stroetinga (BAM) who crossed the line in second.

Mens Results
1st Arjan Stroetinga (BAM)
2nd Karlo Timmerman (Renault)
3rd Cedric Michaud (Nefit)
4th Christijn Groeneveld (Renault)
5th Bob de Vries (BAM)

Results of the final event of the evening are below

First Division Marathon results

1st Bart van der Valk (Geoenehart)
2nd Rob Russer (BCT Schaatsteam)
3rd Engbert de Vegt (GIBO-BEKA)

For full results go to http://www.knsb.nl/content/marathon/wedkal_detail.asp?ID=309

For more photos go to http://www.fotohdeboer.nl

Just confirmed yesterday there is a natural ice race that is for all the A grade skaters held in Haaksbergen in the West of Netherlands on tonight. The natural ice race is on a 400 meter road circuit that has been flooded with water and frozen solid and because of the cold temperatures. The ice has to be a minimum of 8cm before an ice race can be held on it and like last year Haaksbergen is the first of year. The race is 125 laps which is over 40 kilometers. Starting for DSB Bank will be Shane Dobbin, Ingmar Berga, Jens Zwister and Arjan Smit. All six skaters can start but DSB Bank's other team members have been suffering with the winter flu. The ladies race starts at 19:00 and followed by the men's race at 20:00.

Keep posted for results online soon!

Essent Cup 9 Assen Announcement

2008-12-26T20:05:00.003+10:00

Tomorrow night is once again another Essent up race which will be held in Assen. The races in Assen are always very tough with many breakaways. Shane Dobbin (DSB Bank) will be starting in the A grade division with his team mates Ingmar Berga, Jan Maarten Heideman and Jeron de Vries. After DSB Bank's race victory with Arjan Smit in Biddinghuizen they will be on a high from the race with good team spirit and hoping for another strong race this weekend.

Don't forget that you can watch the race live via the sbs6 website or the knsb website.

http://www.sbs6.nl/web/show/id=258646/langid=43
http://www.knsb.nl/content/marathon/livevideo.asp

The ladies race is the first event of the evening starting at 18:30 followed by the A grade men at 19:30 and finally the final event of the event is the first division mens marathon starting at 20:45. Dj Nation from New Zealand will be taking the start in the first division marathon.

Keep posted for the results coming online soon!

Prestige Cup 2 Biddinghuizen Results

2008-12-26T01:11:00.003+10:00

Written by T Dobbin

It was a successful day for the DSB Bank team in Biddinghuizen with Arjan Smit taking the Prestige Cup's second race victory. With a breakaway of 13 skaters Arjan Smit (DSB Bank) won the sprint finish out of these 13 skaters and crossed the line with his first victory for the season and the teams third. It was a great victory for Arjan and the team!

Results Men
1st Arjan Smit (DSB Bank)
2nd Geert Plender (Safan)
3rd Sandor Stuut (Vlasman)
4th Jan van Loon (Renault)
5th Jan van Oosterom (Goesting)

Ladies Results
1st Danielle Bekkering (Frisia)
2nd Mariska Huisman (Viks)
3rd Maria Sterk (DSB Bank)

For full results go to http://www.knsb.nl/content/marathon/wedkal_detail.asp?ID=327
For more photos go to: http://www.fotohdeboer.nl

Racing News Update

2008-12-23T16:43:00.008+10:00

Written by T Dobbin
Just this past weekend, Shane Dobbin received an email from the Ice Speed Skating Federation from New Zealand with an invitation to go to Salt Lake City in the USA early January to race in the North American & Oceania All Round Championship event and against some of the best skaters in the World. Racing for USA will be Olympic Champions Shani Davis & Chad Hedrick & competiting for Canada will be Denny Morrision, plus many more top speed skaters from this region. The first day of the competition is the 10th of January with the 500 meter and 5 kilometer events. Followed by the second day (11th of January) with the 1500 meter and 10,000 kilometer events. All events will be skated in the Utah Olympic Oval in Salt Lake City where the 2002 Winter Olympics Speed Skating events were held. http://www.saltlakecityutah.org/utaholympicoval.htm

Shane Dobbin got the confirmation last night from his marathon team DSB Bank with allowence he is able to get leave for that weekend's Essent Cup race in Eindhoven and race in Salt Lake City in this event. It will be his first big overseas speed skating event representing New Zealand and of course with the support from his sponsor DSB Bank http://www.schaatsploeg.nl/ . Shane will fly to Salt Lake City early January to have a few days on the ice before the races start. It will be his first time racing most of the distances but it's a great chance for him to gain experience, knowledge and to skate on some of the best ice in the World.

Also racing in Salt Lake City for New Zealand is the young Dj Nation who also got accepted to attend this race meet. It will be great experience for Dj Nation who will hopefully make it to the Junior World Championships next year in February 2009 where it will be his first and last year of Junior Worlds before moving into Senior.

Keep posted for more information regarding this competition!

Essent Cup 8 Utrecht

2008-12-21T19:03:00.003+10:00

Written by T Dobbin
Last night was the 8th Essent Cup event in Utrecht, Netherlands. The first event of the evening was the ladies 60 lap race. Early on in the race Elma de Vries from DSB Bank went for a sprint point and then just after the finish line crashed into the barrier. She has to get up and chase for many laps because the sprint points were still continuing which is a very tough time to crash in a race. After a few laps of chasing Elma's team mate Kitty Meeth (DSB Bank) dropped back to help Elma catch back up to the peleton.

In the final 20 laps there were many breakaway attempts from the team of Landjuweel. It was Karin Bakker (Viks) who went to the front and brought back alot of these break away attempts for her team mate Mariska Huisman (Viks) in the sprint finish. The ladies ended up finishing a pack sprint with Chris Witty (Landjuweel) went to the front with just over one lap to go with Andrea Sikkema (Vander Wiel) in second and Mariska Huisman (Viks) in third. Chris putting on the pack not allowing anyone to pass in the final lap Chris Witty crossed the finish line in first place and the three ladies crossed the line the same place as they started the sprint.

Ladies Marathon Results
1st Chris witty (Landjuweel)
2nd Andrea Sikkema (Van der Wiel)
3rd Mariska Huisman (Viks)
4th Danielle Bekkering (Frisia)
5th Maria Sterk (DSB Bank)

The A grade men started shortly after the ladies and the ice cleaning. Tonight in the A grade men there were many holes in the ice and the ice was not good getting cut up more and more each lap. Utrecht was a very tough race and the pace was very fast. After the first sprint points Alexis Contin (Adformatie) continued over the top of the sprint leaders and broke away off the front of the peleton. Crossing over to him were approximately 3 other skaters causing the peleton to react and put the pace on to chase Alexis down.

The major breakaways of the evening were Safan's Roy Boeve escaped off the front with three other skaters and ended up approximately half a lap in front over the peleton. Roy trying to escape alone from his competitors but after this the peleton reacted and ended up catching these escapees. Another strong breakaway group included DSB Banks Arjan Smit with approximately seven other skaters but this was caught soon after and the sprint was on for the final 20 laps.

DSB Bank went to the front with approximately 30 laps to go and 10 laps before the sprint elimination. Jen Zwister (DSB Bank), Jan Maarten Heideman (DSB Bank) and Shane Dobbin (DSB Bank) were in good position at the front. With approximately 8 laps before the sprint DSB Bank lost the lead positions but both Shane Dobbin & Jan Maarten were still in good position well inside the top 20. Jan Maarten (DSB Bank) got caught at one stage with approximately five laps before the sprint just outside the top 20 and got caught up in a big crash. This took Jan Maarten out of the sprint and the race. Shane Dobbin (DSB Bank) still in good position sitting right behind Alexis Contin (Adformatie) in the top 5 -10 skaters on the outside line with just one lap before the sprint had two hands on his hips going around the outside and within one corner went from the top five to approximately 30th. From there, just one skater from DSB Bank crossed the line in the top 20 for the final 20 laps which was Arjan Smit.

In the final 20 laps, there were no breakaways. The race was controlled at the front by the BAM team. Just one breakaway attempt in the final 20 laps but was closed down after only one lap for a sprint finish. In the sprint finish BAM were in the front with the Renault team, taking up the first 5 positions with Nefit's Sjoerd Huisman sitting right behind. Coming down the back straight it was Sjoerd Huisman who went around the outside of both team trains and put himself in first position to cross the line in first place and take his third victory this season. It was close between second and third which went to Karlo Timmerman (Renault) and Arjan Stroetinga (BAM) in second and third.

Mens Marathon Results
1st Sjoerd Huisman (Nefit)
2nd Karlo Timmerman (Renault)
3rd Arjan Stroetinga (BAM)
4th Cees Jeffermans (TNT Express)
5th Bob de Vries (BAM)

The final event of the night was with New Zealands Dj Nation. With five skaters taking a lap over the peleton it left the sprint for the top 20 even more difficult with only 15 qualifying. Dj Nation got caught on the inside of the elimination sprint and could not move quick enough to the outside just missing the top 20.

First Division Marathon Results
1st Martijn van Es (TNT Express)
2nd Nick Uithoven
3rd Thijs Smit (Goesting)
4th Cart van der Valk (Groenehardsport)
5th Stefan Teeuwen (Goesting)

For full results go to http://www.knsb.nl/content/marathon/wedkal_detail.asp?id=308
For more photos go to http://www.fotohdeboer.nl

Essent Cup 8 Utrecht Annoucement

2008-12-20T05:34:00.004+10:00

Saturday is the 8th Essent Cup race held for the second time in Utrecht. Tomorrow night Shane Dobbin from DSB Bank will be taking the start in the A grade division marathon starting at 19:30. Shane will be racing the A grade marathon with his team mates Jan Maarten Heideman who has had a few weeks off marathon racing, Arjan Smit and Jens Zwister. Ingmar Berga received his second yellow card of the season last weekend in Amsterdam so has to sit out of this weekend's race but will be back and ready to race next weekend for the 9th Essent Cup race in Assen.

Dj Nation from New Zealand will be starting at 20:45 in the first division marathon which starts directly after the ice cleaning of the men's A grade race. Don't forget that this weekend's marathon can be viewed online live. See below for link

http://www.sbs6.nl/web/show/id=258646/langid=43

http://www.knsb.nl/content/marathon/livevideo.asp

Saturday nights event program is as follows:

18:30 Ladies Marathon

19:30 A Grade Mens Marathon
20:45 First Division Mens Marathon

Keep posted for photos and results to be online soon!

Prestige Cup 1 Biddinghuizen Results

2008-12-18T16:57:00.006+10:00

Yesterday was the first Prestige Cup held in Biddinghuizen on the FlevOnice. After racing sixty kilometers the men's race came down to a sprint finish. The sprint was so close in the top ten places with splits in the times of only .01 seconds.

Mens 60 kilometer Results
1st Roy Boeve (Safan) Time - 1:23.08
2nd Sjoerd Huisman (Nefit)
3rd Sandor Stutt (Vlasman)
4th Jochmen Uithoven (BCT)
5th Hermen van der Wal (Kooyenga)
6th Jan Maarten Heidemen (DSB Bank)
7th Lars Hoogenboom (TNT Express)
8th Peter van de Pol (Kooyenga)
9th Roy Polmans (Foekens)
10th Bob de Vries (BAM)

Ladies 40 kilometer Results
1st Chris Witty (Landjuweel) Time- 1:04.51
2nd Elma de Vries (DSB Bank)
3rd Mariska Huisman (Viks)
4th Carla Zielmann (Hoolwerf Heiwerken)
5th Danielle Bekkering (Frisia)

For more Photos go to: http://www.fotohdeboer.nl
For more results go to: http://www.knsb.nl/content/marathon/wedkal_detail.asp?id=326

Mid Week News Update

2008-12-17T17:13:00.005+10:00

Written by T Dobbin

Late last night Shane Dobbin's 5 kilometer long track event from the Challengers Cup last Sunday was uploaded to the internet. It has been uploaded onto the internet each lap at a time and to view the start of this race go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meV2JPLgRW0

Not only is there the video of Shane's 5 kilometer but also uploaded is New Zealander Wayne Begg's Sunday night 500 meter http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3q9j_VMpgd8 and coming online soon will be New Zealand's Dj Nation 5 kilometer. All races that are recently uploaded are from the Kiwi's racing the Challengers Cup last Sunday in Hoorn, Netherlands. To view all footage go to that is online from Shane Dobbin go to: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=shane+dobbin&search_type=&aq=f or view the home page side toolbar.

Biddinghuizen Prestige Cup 1 Announcement

Tonight is the first race of the new Prestige series natural ice races held in Bigginhuizen on the new five kilometer ice baan at the FlevOnice. This the first natural ice race for 2008-2009 ice season and will now be held every Wednesday at FlevOnice http://www.flevonice.nl/flevonice with the race distances being 60 kilometers. This is a good way for those that will be focusing on the National Natural Ice Championship Race to get into good shape to race in Austria & throughout the Winter Countries in early February.

The race starts today at 12:00 (EST). Like the races in the KNSB & Essent Cup events only four members from each team can start the Biddinghuizen races. Shane Dobbin from DSB Bank won't be starting today in this race, starting for DSB Bank are Jan Maarten Heideman, Jens Zwitster, Jeron de Vries and Ingmar Berga.

Shane Dobbin will be racing this weekend in the A division Essent Cup marathon held in Utrecht, Netherlands. Keep posted for more news & results coming soon!

ISU Challengers Cup Results

2008-12-15T17:29:00.002+10:00

Written by T Dobbin
Last night was the final evening of the ISU Challengers Cup held in Hoorn, Netherlands. The ice conditions were alot better on Sunday than Saturday but not good enough to set good times in comparision with the times set in Thialf and other faster ice rinks around the World.

Shane Dobbin from New Zealand skated in the final pairing and final event of the evening in the 5000 meter along with youngster Dj Nation also from New Zealand. In the second pair Joshua Lose skating for Australia skated a very respectable time of 7:05.59 just outside the World Cup qualifying time by .59 seconds. This was his first ever 5 kilometer race having trained there for months and first learning how to skate on the Hoorn ice rink. In the third pair was the young Dj Nation of New Zealand. Dj skated the race very fast from the start which was a disadvantage on the slower ice tiring in the last few laps and finishing in a time of 7:09.00 just a few seconds out from the qualifying time.

The final pair was Shane Dobbin of New Zealand paired with Reidar Borgersen from Norway. Shane also starting out a little too fast for the ice conditions, was leading with two laps to go and just fell slightly short from the victory finishing a time of 6:57.10.

In the earlier events of the evening Sophie Muir from Australia skated a personal best in the 500 meter ladies race with a time of 43.51 seconds as well as Wayne Begg from New Zealand a personal best time of 39.34.

Full results from Sunday below:
Ladies 500m Round 2
1st Esmeralda Nieuwendorp (Netherlands) 41.12
2nd Denise Roth (Germany) 41.16
3rd Frederika Bunwalda (Netherlands) 41.26
6th Sophie Muir (Australia) 43.51

Men 500m Round 2
1st Ronald Mulder (Netherlands) 36.54
2nd Dag Erik Kleven (Norway) 36.70
3rd Sietse Heslinga (Netherlands) 36.89
9th Wayne Begg (New Zealand) 39.34

Ladies 1000m Round 2
1st Marija Joling (Netherlands) 1:21.94
2nd Frederika Buwalda (Netherlands) 1:22.33
3rd Denise Roth (Germany) 1:23.93
6th Sophie Muir (Australia) 1:28.21

Men 1000m Round 2
1st Michel Mulder (Netherlands) 1:12.98
2nd Sitse Heslinga (Netherlands) 1:13.46
3rd Dag Erik Kleven (Norway) 1:13.47
8th Wayne Begg (New Zealand) 1:17.25

Ladies 1500 meter
1st Janneke Ensing (Netherlands) 2:06.67
2nd Marije Joling (Netherlands) 2:07.57
3rd Isabelle Ost (Germany) 2:07.61

Men 5000 meter
1st Alexej Baumgartner (Germany) 6:53.87
2nd Tormod Bjornetu Haugen (Norway) 6:54.87
3rd Shane Dobbin (New Zealand) 6:57.10
6th Joshua Lose (Australia) 7:05.59
7th Dj Nation (New Zealand) 7:09.00

Video coming soon!

ISU Challengers Cup News

2008-12-14T18:08:00.005+10:00

Today is the final day of the Challengers Cup Event in Hoorn, Netherlands. It's an official ISU event held three times during the winter for skaters to set times to qualify them for the World Cups.

Tonight both Shane Dobbin & Dj Nation from New Zealand will be racing the 5000 meter event. With only 5 pairings Dj Nation is against a skater from the Netherlands in the third pair and Shane Dobbin is against a Norwegen in the final pair. On the ice for both Shane Dobbin & Dj Nation will be DSB Bank marathon coach Peter de Vries who is still a famous skater in the Netherlands only retiring last year from the marathons and stepped straight into coaching. The 5000 meter is the final event for the evening and it will depend on the weather condition as to what times will be set this evening. Hoorn is a ice rink which is 80% closed but the inside of the corners are open air so if it's windy outside it can change the times set. Last year the winner of this event was a Dutch skater who won in a time of 6:47 which is still currently the track record. So no super fast times are planned for this evening just a good enough times to qualify for the World Cups next year.

Video will be taking through this evenings races and will be uploaded online so be sure to keep and eye out for the videos that will be coming soon this week!

Yesterday Wayne Begg from New Zealand skated the first round of the 500 meter and 1000 meter races as well as Australians Sophie Muir and Josh Loose raced the 1500 meter. Both Wayne Begg and Sophie Muir will be racing the second round of the 500 meter and 1000 meter events while Josh Loose will be starting in the 5000 meter race.

The results from yesterday are as follows:

Men's 500 meter Winner

1st Ronald Mulder (Netherlands) - 36.5

Men's 1000 meter Winner
1st Michel Mulder (Netherlands) - 1:13

Other Results
Wayne Begg 500 meter - 39.7
Wayne Begg 1000 meter - 1:19
Sophie Muir 500 meter - 44.2
Josh Loose 1500 meter - 1:59

Results from tonight will be posted soon!

Essent Cup 7 Amsterdam

2008-12-14T17:42:00.006+10:00

Written by T Dobbin
Last night was the 7th Essent Cup race held in the open air ice rink in the Netherlands, Amsterdam. It was a cold night which lead to some good ice for racing in Amsterdam.

The men's race was the first event of the evening in Amsterdam. Two of the sprint finishers did not start in Amsterdam Karlo Timmerman (Eco2 Renault) & Arjan Stroetinga (BAM) as well as strongman Willen Hut (BAM) becuase they were in a training camp in Tenerife it left a hole in their teams for this weekend's race.

Throughout the race Bob de Vries (BAM), Douwe de Vries (Adformatie) and Cedric Michaud (Nefit) sprinter for the sprint points every 20 laps to race for the Gold Jersey. There were many attacks in Amsterdam with the serious attack right before the final 20 laps for the sprint finish.

The men's race finished with a breakaway in the last 8 eight laps with approximately 6 skaters including Sjoerd Huisman (Nefit). With Bob de Vries (BAM) chasing down the breakaway Sjoerd Huisman (Nefit) made his sprint for the finish with one and half laps to go and it was Sjoerd that crossed the line in first taking his second victory for the season. Bob de Vries (BAM) just behind by the finish line catching the rest of the brakaway group with Geert Plender finishing in third place who was in the breakaway with Sjoerd Huisman. Unfortunately Ingmar Berga (DSB Bank) crossed the finish line in the 8th place but because it was his second yellow card for the season, when you receive your second you are disqualified.

Men's Marathon Results
1st Sjoerd Huisman (Nefit)
2nd Bob de Vries (BAM)
3rd Geert Plender (Safan)
4th Roy Boeve (Safan)
5th Bart de Vries (Schuurman Schoenen)
6th Douwe de Vries (Adformatie)
7th Cedrick Michaud (Nefit)
8th Roel van Hest (Kooyenga groep)
9th Cees Juffermans (TNT Express)
10th Jan van Loon (Eco2 Renault)

The ladies race finished in a sprint finish with Elma de Vries (DSB Bank) crossing the finish line in first place but because she received a yellow card which was her second she was disqualified from the event as well as her team mate who is currently in the Gold Jersey Maria Strek (DSB Bank) because of her own offences and received her second yellow card. This left the results as follows:

Ladies Marathon Results
1st Mariska Huisman (VIks)
2nd Margo can de Merwe (Team de Sprinters)
3rd Yvonne Spigt (Foekens)
4th Andrea Sikkema (Van der Wiel)
5th Helen can Goozen (Frisia)

For full results go to: http://www.knsb.nl/content/marathon/wedkal_detail.asp?ID=307

For more photos go to: http://www.fotohdeboer.nl/

ISU Challengers Cup in Hoorn

2008-12-14T04:32:00.002+10:00

Today is the first day of the ISU Challengers Cup event held in Hoorn, Netherlands. Tonight is the first night of racing in Hoorn with the first round of 500 meters for the ladies and men, as well as the first found of the 1000 meters. The final event for this evenings racing is the 1500 meter men's race and the 3000 meter ladies.

Tomorrow night both Shane Dobbin & Dj Nation will be taking the start in the 5000 meter for New Zealand. The other events on tomorrow are the second round of 500 meter & 1000 meter and the ladies 1500 meter. The start times for both Saturday and Sunday are at 18:00.

Tonight in the Essent Cup race held in Amsterdam. Starting for DSB tonight is Arjan Smith, Ingmar Berga, Jeron de Vries & Jens Zwister. To watch the marathon live to go http://www.sbs6.nl/web/show/id=259341/langid=43/media=23449/page=1

Keep posted for results coming soon.

Mid Week News Update

2008-12-11T19:38:00.006+10:00

Written By T Dobbin
News has been released that the 2009 World Inline Speed
Skating Championships will be held in Haining City, China from the 16th to the 27th of September. The reason for this decision is because the week after the World Championships there is an IOC meeting held in China to dicuss the chances of getting Inline Speed Skating into the Olympics and those committee members will be Haining City to watch.

With these dates being set it will be put a question mark next to who will be attending the biggest inline event of the year at the Berlin World Inline Cup held on the 19th of September. Not only will be question this big inline event usually this is the first week of the ice opening in Thialf, Netherlands and most of the marathon teams are in a training camp to prepare for the beginning of October's start of the marathon racing season.

Below is the information sent regarding next year's World Championships:

To all National Federations affiliated to FIRS

copy: Continental Confederations- CIC Members- Members of FIRS Central Committee

ref. 2009 World Roller Speed Skating Championships

Dear Mister the President,

I am glad to communicate you that the 2009 World Roller Speed Skating Championships, junior and senior categories- men and women- on track and on the road are scheduled in:

HAINING CITY ( People's Republic of China)
September 16-27

Haining City locates in Zhejiang Province; 2 hours driving from Shanghai Pudong International Airport and 1 hour driving from Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport.

Special thanks to the Chinese Roller Skating Association, to the Authorities of Haining and to the Organising Committee for having accepted to organise this event in a so short available time.

I am sure that the Chinese Friends will organise once again unforgettable Worlds for all the athletes who will be lucky in participating at.

With this info, all affiliated Federations may include the participation expenses at this event in their 2009 budget.

I invite all Federations to take part at these World Championships, sure that we shall overcome the 2008 record ( Gijon/Spain) of 57 participating countries.

As you know, the IOC will take a final decision in October 2009 about a possible inclusion of our sport in the 2016 Olympic Program.

We shall invite some IOC Members at our Worlds to show the high athletic level of our sport.

All Federations are kindly requested to participate by supporting the Roller Speed Skating Movement in attaining the Olympic goal.

Awaiting to meet all of you in Rome at the FIRS Elective Congress on February 7, I am seizing this opportunity for sending you my best sports regards,

Dr. Roberto Marotta
CIC President
FIRS Secretary General

New Zealand Ice News

2008-12-08T22:11:00.007+10:00

Written by T Dobbin

This past weekend in Enschede which is in the West of the Netherlands Wayne Begg from New Zealand skated in a long track weekend event. Wayne Begg who currently lives & trains in Enschede skated on Saturday the 100 meter event as well as the 300 meter event and on Sunday skated the 1000 meter.

Wayne skated a great race on Sunday with an outstanding time of 1:15.99 for the 1000 meter race. Congratulations to Wayne who is now within a second from the qualilfying time for the World Cup events. For full results go to: http://www.speedskatingresults.com

This coming weekend is the ISU sancationed event held in Hoorn which is the Challengers Cup. All three New Zealand representatives will be racing in Hoorn this weekend including Shane Dobbin & Dj Nation in the 5000 meter and Wayne Begg in the 500 meter, 1000 meter & 1500 meter events. For more information go to
http://www.knsb.nl/content/langebaan/wedkal_detail.asp?id=511