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Stage 8, Terrigal Criterium, 30 kmsResults and Report |
The Terrigal criterium is one of the highlights of the classic, always attracting a large, enthusiastic crowd to watch a very fast race. The course is ideal for this, containing only four corners and a slight rise with excellent roads. The riders put on a great show of racing for the spectators, attacking at every opportunity to try and win some of the many cash primes on offer. From the start, again it was Festina's Marcel Wust who led the field out for the first few laps, looking to stay out of trouble until the race settled down. It paid off, as the first of the $200 primes went to teammate Jonathon Hall in a mad dash for cash to the line. Cameron Jennings (Casino Canberra) then went on the attack for a few laps, as did Scott Sunderland (QANTAS) who was attempting to set up a prime for his teammate, Franky van Haesebroucke. Van Haesebroucke had other ideas, however. The Dupont - UK team was very aggressive throughout the race, as was Wust, but the field was essentially together coming into the closing laps. In a bid to take over the leader's jersey, Caravello's Bart Hickson attacked with two to go, sending the Slovenians into a spin who were protecting Stangelj's number one spot. They caught him and it came down to a matter of who had the best position in the last lap to lead out around the last corner with 200 m to go. The rider who put everything together was none other than Franky van Haesebroucke, who easily outsprinted Dupont's Huw Pritchard and Torsten Wilhelms (Bosch Germany) for the win. It was his first in this year's Classic after several close calls, and he was understandably very pleased with the result. The Dupont team also enjoyed a good race, although 23-year old Pritchard sounded disappointed with his second place. "We were very aggressive during the race, but sadly the better man won on the day," said the British rider. There was no change in any of the other classifications, with Max van Heeswijk still retaining his Giant Sprint King jersey that he secured in this morning's stage. For today's deposed yellow jersey, Jeremy Hunt (Sportscover), there was some consolation as he took the last prime of the race, worth $500. For Complete Results
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