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Stage 14, Canberra Time Trial, 13.0 kmsResults and Report |
The final day of the Commonwealth Bank Cycle Classic started with a comparatively short 13 kilometer time trial along the shores of Lake Burley Griffin, Canberra. It is a fast course, and the top riders were expected to average around 50 km/h. There was a stiff headwind going out and it was slightly overcast, however the conditions remained the same for the entire field. Many of the riders did not have time trial bars/bikes, preferring to take things fairly steadily before this afternoon's final criterium. One Australian rider who was quite serious was Michael Rogers (Casino Canberra), who is a local and is very familiar with this course. The U-23 World time trial champion has had a fairly quiet last couple of days, after losing a lot of time in the savage stage from Wollongong to Nowra. He, along with Festina's Jonathon Hall were probably Australia's best chances in this race, although it would be a close battle between them and the top two on general classification, Raimondas Rumsas (MROZ) and race leader Gorazd Stangelj (Slovenia). First rider off was the last rider on GC, Tom Brook (NSWIS) who has had a tough tour so far. However, he was motivated to ride a good time trial and set the best early time of 17.10.38 which held until Casino Canberra's Dennis Mungovern posted 16.43.01. Soon after however, Michael Rogers flew in with a time of 15.23.42 - an average of 50.68 km/h. Rogers had started halfway down the field and had to wait half an hour before the final riders were in. Festina's Jonathon Hall found the wind too tough on the day, ending with a time of 15.36.26 for fourth place. However, MROZ's top rider, Rumsas gave everything in his race, catching and passing Scott Sunderland along the way. His time of 15.09.96 was by far the fastest, with Stangelj just pipping Rogers for 2nd in 15.22.17. It was Rumsas' third stage win of the tour and he was once again a happy man. He felt it was a little short to have a big effect on the GC, but certainly gave it his best shot. Now, he is at least within striking distance (18 seconds) of Stangelj's yellow jersey coming into the final criterium, however he will have to win and Stangelj not place, or somehow sneak off the front for this to occur. Another 8-10 kilometers in the time trial may have made things very tight. In Rogers' case, he was also happy with his result, coming at the end of a long year in which he has performed extremely well and consistently, while learning a lot in the process. After this race, he will take a break (maybe the holiday in Queensland that the rest of the riders seem to be doing), before preparing himself for the National Championships and the Tour Down Under early next year. He was very happy with his Casino Canberra team, four of whom finished in the top 11, cementing their 4th place as Australia's top team in this tour. In the general classification, Hall's ride moved him up to third in front of Sunderland, while Bart Hickson (Caravello) was overtaken by Zbigniew Piatek (MROZ). Also, Casino Canberra's Heiko Szonn moved up from 10th to 8th after his strong 5th place ride. It has been a fairly lean race in terms of Australian wins, primarily because there is no-one that can match the profeesional sprinting prowess of the Dutch, Jeremy Hunt and Marcel Wust. However, several good performances have come about from the younger riders, Rogers and Cameron Jennings, as well as from "mr consistency", Bart Hickson. Hickson tends to ride quite well in this race every year, after taking things fairly steadily for the rest of the season. He admits though, that it is always hard to ride better than the year before when you were right up there. For Complete Results
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