Women's Tour de Snowy Australia, February 28-March 4, 1999

Stage 5, Jindabyne - Charlotte Pass - Thredbo, 112.1 kms: 1. Tracey Gaudry (Aus) ACT Academy of Sport 3.42.32 (30.22 km/h) 2. Elizabeth Tadich (Aus) Jayco-VIS Team 1.05 3. Kathy Watt (Aus) World Team 1.06 4. Anna Wilson (Aus) Jayco-VIS Team 2.31 5. Susy Pryde (NZ) New Zealand 2.31 6. Mari Holden (USA) Lithuania 2.31 7. Elizabeth Emery (USA) World Team 2.31 8. Leigh Hobson (Can) World Team 2.31 9. Gunn Rita Dahle (Nor) Norway 2.31 10. Barbara Heeb (Swi) Nürnberger-Emmi Team 2.31 11. Sara Carrigan (Aus) Queensland Academy of Sport 2.31 12. Yvonne McGregor (GB) Great Britain 2.31 13. Anriette Schoeman (RSA) South Africa 2.31 14. Jacinta Coleman (NZ) New Zealand 2.31 15. Sarah Symington (GB) Great Britain 2.31 16. Kim Sherley (Aus) Queensland Academy of Sport 2.31 17. Karen Kurreck (USA) World Team 2.31 18. Mary Grigson (Aus) ACT Academy of Sport 2.31 19. Sara Saarelainen (Fin) World Team 2.31 20. Juanita Feldhahn (Aus) Queensland Academy of Sport 2.31 21. Michelle Ward (GB) Great Britain 2.31 22. Erica Green (RSA) South Africa 2.31 23. Lenka Ilavska (Svk) Slovakia/Czech Republic 2.31 24. Emma James (Aus) Juice Plus 2.55 25. Rosalind Reekie-May (NZ) New Zealand 7.37 26. Ceris Gilfillan (GB) Great Britain 9.11 27. Jorunn Kvalo (Nor) Norway 9.11 28. Jacquelin Brabanetz (Ger) Nürnberger-Emmi Team 9.11 29. Melanie Szubrycht (GB) Great Britain 13.40 30. Marguerite Ritchie (NZ) New Zealand 13.40 31. Geraldine Denham (Aus) Jayco-VIS Team 13.40 32. Elfie Kunz (Swi) Nürnberger-Emmi Team 18.48 33. Kerstin Scheitle (Ger) Nürnberger-Emmi Team 18.48 34. Ruth Ellway (GB) Great Britain 20.04 35. Arenda Grimberg (Ned) Netherlands 20.04 36. Erika Vilunaite (Lit) Lithuania 20.04 37. Alison Wright (Aus) ACT Academy of Sport 20.04 38. Miyoko Karami (Jap) Japan-Gios 20.04 39. Zita Urbonaite (Lit) Lithuania 20.04 40. Julie Hooper (Aus) Interstate Team 20.04 41. Phillipa Hendren (Aus) Interstate Team 20.04 42. Mirjam Melchers (Ned) Netherlands 20.04 43. Silvia Zoller (Swi) Nürnberger-Emmi Team 20.04 44. Penny Smithers (Aus) Herald Sun 20.04 45. Chantal Beltman (Ned) Netherlands 20.04 46. Jodie Brewer (Aus) ACT Academy of Sport 20.04 47. Naiomi Williams (Aus) Jayco-VIS Team 20.04 48. Megan Hughes (GB) Great Britain 27.26 49. Chantelle Robertson (Aus) Juice Plus 34.00 50. Angela Hillenga (Ned) Netherlands 34.00 51. Natalie Bates (Aus) ACT Academy of Sport 37.11 52. Avril Swan (Aus) Juice Plus 37.58 53. Anne Samplonius (Can) World Team 42.50 54. Alena Barillova (Svk) Slovakia/Czech Republic 42.50 55. Karen Sumpton (Aus) Queensland Academy of Sport 43.52 56. Victoria Kirkby (Aus) Interstate Team 44.38 57. Hanneke Geysen (Aus) Herald Sun 44.38 58. Kim Howard (Aus) Herald Sun 44.38 59. Angela Hunter (GB) Great Britain 44.38 60. Gillian Govan (GB) Great Britain 53.11 61. Nadia Frischknecht (Aus) Juice Plus 53.11 62. Lisa Robinson (Aus) Individual Entry 53.11 63. Jennifer Manefield (Aus) Interstate Team 53.11 64. Sanae Nagano (Jap) Japan-Gios 53.11 65. Rita Narbutyte (Lit) Lithuania 53.11 66. Alexandra Rutz (Swi) GS Mazza-Tege 53.11 67. Lillian Bannwart (Swi) GS Mazza-Tege 53.11 68. Liza Serfontein (RSA) South Africa 1.02.43 Did not finish: Sally Smalley (Aus) Jayco-VIS Team Elisabeth Chevanne-Brunel (Fra) World Team Sonja Van Kuik (Ned) Netherlands Vanessa Cheatley (NZ) New Zealand Loretta Mabin (Aus) Herald Sun Did not start: Carine Peter (Fra) World Team Solrun Flataas (Nor) Norway Points premie: 1. Tracey Gaudry (Aus) ACT Academy of Sport 5 2. Elizabeth Tadich (Aus) Jayco-VIS Team 3 3. Kathy Watt (Aus) World Team 2 4. Anna Wilson (Aus) Jayco-VIS Team 1 Mountains premie 1, km 22.5: 1. Emma James (Aus) Juice Plus 6 2. Tracey Gaudry (Aus) ACT Academy of Sport 4 3. Leigh Hobson (Can) World Team 3 4. Anriette Schoeman (RSA) South Africa 2 5. Barbara Heeb (Swi) Nürnberger-Emmi Team 1 Mountains premie 2, km 26: 1. Tracey Gaudry (Aus) ACT Academy of Sport 10 2. Karen Kurreck (USA) World Team 8 3. Lenka Ilavska (Svk) Slovakia/Czech Republic 6 4. Emma James (Aus) Juice Plus 4 5. Barbara Heeb (Swi) Nürnberger-Emmi Team 2 Mountains premie 3, km 31.7: 1. Tracey Gaudry (Aus) ACT Academy of Sport 6 2. Michelle Ward (GB) Great Britain 4 3. Lenka Ilavska (Svk) Slovakia/Czech Republic 3 4. Karen Kurreck (USA) World Team 2 5. Mari Holden (USA) Lithuania 1 Mountains premie 4, km 41.1: 1. Tracey Gaudry (Aus) ACT Academy of Sport 10 2. Michelle Ward (GB) Great Britain 8 3. Elizabeth Tadich (Aus) Jayco-VIS Team 6 4. Kathy Watt (Aus) World Team 4 5. Mari Holden (USA) Lithuania 2 Mountains premie 5, km 57: 1. Tracey Gaudry (Aus) ACT Academy of Sport 6 2. Elizabeth Tadich (Aus) Jayco-VIS Team 4 3. Kathy Watt (Aus) World Team 3 4. Michelle Ward (GB) Great Britain 2 5. Karen Kurreck (USA) World Team 1 Mountains premie 6, km 60.6: 1. Tracey Gaudry (Aus) ACT Academy of Sport 6 2. Elizabeth Tadich (Aus) Jayco-VIS Team 4 3. Kathy Watt (Aus) World Team 3 4. Michelle Ward (GB) Great Britain 2 5. Leigh Hobson (Can) World Team 1 Mountains premie 7, km 93.3: 1. Tracey Gaudry (Aus) ACT Academy of Sport 6 2. Kathy Watt (Aus) World Team 4 3. Elizabeth Tadich (Aus) Jayco-VIS Team 3 4. Michelle Ward (GB) Great Britain 2 5. Leigh Hobson (Can) World Team 1 GC after Stage 5 1. Tracey Gaudry (Aus) ACT Academy of Sport 11.35.49 2. Karen Kurreck (USA) World Team 2.06 3. Lenka Ilavska (Svk) Slovakia/Czech Republic 2.17 4. Susy Pryde (NZ) New Zealand 2.43 5. Mari Holden (USA) Lithuania 3.08 6. Leigh Hobson (Can) World Team 3.23 7. Barbara Heeb (Swi) Nürnberger-Emmi Team 3.25 8. Sara Saarelainen (Fin) World Team 3.28 9. Yvonne McGregor (GB) Great Britain 3.30 10. Anna Wilson (Aus) Jayco-VIS Team 3.43 11. Gunn Rita Dahle (Nor) Norway 3.54 12. Kathy Watt (Aus) World Team 5.05 13. Elizabeth Emery (USA) World Team 5.55 14. Mary Grigson (Aus) ACT Academy of Sport 6.57 15. Sarah Symington (GB) Great Britain 8.00 16. Erica Green (RSA) South Africa 8.27 17. Jacinta Coleman (NZ) New Zealand 9.15 18. Midori Kotani (Jap) Japan-Gios 10.59 19. Michelle Ward (GB) Great Britain 11.41 20. Anriette Schoeman (RSA) South Africa 12.27 21. Elizabeth Tadich (Aus) Jayco-VIS Team 12.55 22. Sara Carrigan (Aus) Queensland Academy of Sport 16.09 23. Emma James (Aus) Juice Plus 19.23 24. Juanita Feldhahn (Aus) Juice Plus 22.37 25. Jorunn Kvalo (Nor) Norway 23.01 26. Mirjam Melchers (Ned) Netherlands 24.03 27. Ruth Ellway (GB) Great Britain 30.36 28. Jacquelin Brabanetz (Ger) Nürnberger-Emmi Team 31.25 29. Chantal Beltman (Ned) Netherlands 31.46 30. Julie Hooper (Aus) Interstate Team 36.38 31. Ceris Gilfillan (GB) Great Britain 37.42 32. Marguerite Ritchie (NZ) New Zealand 37.54 33. Sarah Symington (GB) Great Britain 42.18 34. Geraldine Denham (Aus) Jayco-VIS Team 44.13 35. Megan Hughes (GB) Great Britain 44.44 36. Alison Wright (Aus) ACT Academy of Sport 45.33 37. Arenda Grimberg (Ned) Netherlands 45.41 38. Kerstin Scheitle (Ger) Nürnberger-Emmi Team 48.07 39. Elfie Kunz (Swi) Nürnberger-Emmi Team 48.57 40. Erika Vilunaite (Lit) Lithuania 49.25 41. Silvia Zoller (Swi) Nürnberger-Emmi Team 49.37 42. Zita Urbonaite (Lit) Lithuania 54.35 43. Rosalind Reekie-May (NZ) New Zealand 59.53 44. Jodie Brewer (Aus) ACT Academy of Sport 1.05.26 45. Miyoko Karami (Jap) Japan-Gios 1.06.15 46. Hanneke Geysen (Aus) Herald Sun 1.08.27 47. Phillipa Hendren (Aus) Interstate Team 1.10.10 48. Angela Hillenga (Ned) Netherlands 1.12.30 49. Naiomi Williams (Aus) Jayco-VIS Team 1.13.21 50. Anne Samplonius (Can) World Team 1.17.08 51. Alena Barillova (Svk) Slovakia/Czech Republic 1.23.38 52. Nadia Frischknecht (Aus) Juice Plus 1.24.01 53. Angela Hunter (GB) Great Britain 1.33.36 54. Chantelle Robertson (Aus) Juice Plus 1.43.18 55. Victoria Kirkby (Aus) Interstate Team 1.45.17 56. Avril Swan (Aus) Juice Plus 1.50.00 57. Hanneke Geysen (Aus) Herald Sun 1.53.32 58. Rita Narbutyte (Lit) Lithuania 1.55.17 59. Liza Serfontein (RSA) South Africa 1.57.54 60. Lisa Robinson (Aus) Individual Entry 1.58.39 61. Nadia Frischknecht (Aus) Juice Plus 2.05.29 62. Natalie Bates (Aus) ACT Academy of Sport 2.07.36 63. Alexandra Rutz (Swi) GS Mazza-Tege 2.13.11 64. Kim Howard (Aus) Herald Sun 2.15.09 65. Lillian Bannwart (Swi) GS Mazza-Tege 2.16.00 66. Gillian Govan (GB) Great Britain 2.34.22 67. Sanae Nagano (Jap) Japan-Gios 2.35.13 68. Jennifer Manefield (Aus) Interstate Team 2.37.16 Points Championship: 1. Elizabeth Tadich (Aus) Jayco-VIS Team 13 2. Susy Pryde (NZ) New Zealand 7 3. Mirjam Melchers (Ned) Netherlands 5 4. Tracey Gaudry (Aus) ACT Academy of Sport 5 5. Karen Kurreck (USA) World Team 5 6. Anna Wilson (Aus) Jayco-VIS Team 4 7. Mari Holden (USA) Lithuania 4 8. Melanie Szubrycht (GB) Great Britain 3 9. Sarah Symington (GB) Great Britain 3 10. Kathy Watt (Aus) World Team 2 11. Lenka Ilavska (Svk) Slovakia/Czech Republic 2 12. Silvia Zoller (Swi) Nürnberger-Emmi Team 1 13. Barbara Heeb (Swi) Nürnberger-Emmi Team 1 Mountains Championship: 1. Tracey Gaudry (Aus) ACT Academy of Sport 57 2. Lenka Ilavska (Svk) Slovakia/Czech Republic 26 3. Karen Kurreck (USA) World Team 25 4. Elizabeth Tadich (Aus) Jayco-VIS Team 21 5. Michelle Ward (GB) Great Britain 18 6. Kathy Watt (Aus) World Team 14 7. Emma James (Aus) Juice Plus 10 8. Leigh Hobson (Can) World Team 9 9. Mari Holden (USA) Lithuania 7 10. Barbara Heeb (Swi) Nürnberger-Emmi Team 6 11. Susy Pryde (NZ) New Zealand 6 12. Anriette Schoeman (RSA) South Africa 4 13. Anna Wilson (Aus) Jayco-VIS Team 3 14. Sarah Symington (GB) Great Britain 3 15. Gunn Rita Dahle (Nor) Norway 2 16. Yvonne McGregor (GB) Great Britain 1 Stage 5 Report Tracey Gaudry took a commanding lead in the 1999 Tour de Snowy after a courageous 85 kms solo ride in the fifth stage of the race. Starting the day just over a minute behind race leader Karen Kurreck of the USA, Gaudry broke clear of the field just prior to the second of seven mountain climbs on the tough 112 kms from Jindabyne to Thredbo via Charlotte Pass. The highest and mountaineous terrain in Australia, after 41.1 kms Gaudry and opened a lead of 1.30 on pursuing English cyclist Michele Ward with Kathy Watt and Liz Tadich, the stage winner the previous day, in hot pursuit just 20 seconds behind the English cyclist. The main field comprising the majority of top placed riders were just 1 minute further behind Watt and Tadich as they rode over the top of Charlotte Pass and seemed certain to catch the breakaway riders over the final 70 kms. Despite a down hill section for long stretches of the second 40 kms, Gaudry continued to consolidate and even with Watt, Tadich and Ward joining to make a pack of three, they failed to catch the very talented ACT Academy Star. Gaudry, an Olympic and Commonwealth Games representative crossed the line 1 minute and six seconds ahead of Tadich and Watt with Anna Wilson leading home a field of 20 to make in the top four placings for Australia. The gap to main field from Gaudry was 2 minutes 31 seconds and with time bonuses for stage wins and Mountain climbs Gaudry has taken a lead of 2 minutes and six seconds over Kurreck. Lenka Ilavska, the talented Slovak cyclist, is third just 11 seconds behind Kurreck, while Suzy Pryde of New Zealand still holds fourth place at 2 minutes 43 seconds with Mari Holden in fifth at 3 minutes 8 seconds. Gaudry has also taken a big lead in the Mountains Championship with 57 points, 31 points clear of Ilavska; with just one climb to go in the stage from Jindabyne to Cooma and a criterium, she is certain to take out this title as well. Interest will centre, however, on the minor placings with Kurreck on 25 points, just one less than Ilavska, and Tadich on 21 points. Tadich is also in a very good position to take the points jersey leading on 13 points, with Susy Pryde on 7 and Mirjam Melchers of the Netherlands on 5 along with Gaudry and Kurreck. The final stages tomorrow will be a 60 kilometre stage to Cooma followed by a 30 kilometre twilight criterium. Stage 5 Report from Karen Kurreck Today was 112km and not a single one of them were flat!! We started climbing only about 5km into the stage and went up and down all the way over Charlotte Pass which is at about 5000ft elevation. There were 7 QOMs: 2 cat 1s with 10,8,6,4,2 sec time bonuses and 5 cat 2s with 6,4,3,2,1 sec time bonuses. The finishes are worth 20, 15,10 and 5 sec for the top 4 places. With Lenka only 9 sec. behind me and Suzy only 26sec back, these were a big concern for me. Plus there were another 10 riders who were less than 1:30 down on me. With only Leigh to help, I knew I was in for a hard day. We started this race with 103 riders and after today we are down to 68. People are drawing comparisons to last year's Tour Feminin! It is a hard race to have this early in the season. The first climb was not even categorized, but it went on forever. The pace was pretty mellow for the first half and 2 riders down on gc took off - I'm not sure who they were. I was very interested in riders getting away as long as they were far down because they would take away time bonuses. About half way up the climb, Barbara Heeb attacked. I stuck to her wheel but she kept going for quite awhile and the pack shattered. I think there were only about 12 of us left but it was all the 12 that mattered. Nobody countered and the field came back together again. This pattern was repeated quite a few times today. On the first QOM at 20km, the original 2 riders were still dangling in front of us. With about 500m to go, Leigh attacked hard to pick up a few sec. on the QOM. She had a big group of riders on her wheel and Lenka was way back, so I didn't have to sprint for that one. Leigh took 2nd from our group and I could see a blue jersey slightly ahead of her, but I assumed it was the original rider who had been off. This proved to be a fatal mistake. I didn't know at the time, but the original rider had been caught in the sprint and replaced with Australian Tracy Gaudry from the ACT team who took the QOM and kept going. I don't think a lot of people realized Tracey was off either because everyone sat up after the climb. Soon thereafter, a British rider took off. Then Kathy Watt took off with little reaction from the pack. Finally Liz Tadich (Jayco) took off. All the Aussies are "wired" so I'm sure they knew what was going on. There is no motorcycle with a leader board or time gaps here and if you don't have a team manager to tell you what is going on, you can get caught off guard. Liz, Kathy and the British rider all came together eventually but the British rider got dropped and came back to us. By the time I realized Tracey was off, she had 3 minutes and there were probably 70-80 km to go. I was in a bad position. I still had all the other riders as well as the QOMs to contend with. We were a group of 20 or so. Leigh took some awesome pulls but it seemed everytime I went to the front, Anna Wilson would attack. With the altitude, it was hard to recover from the QOMs and attacks so my legs weren't feeling too fresh. The British team chased a bit and there were some attacks to keep the pace up every now and then, but we were losing time on Tracey. Her gap grew over 4 min. Liz and Kathy were still away, but we could see them ahead of us on the climbs and their gap never got too big. Liz sat on Kathy the whole way since if Kathy got too much time, she would have passed Anna WIlson's 10th place on gc. With UCI points on the line here, everyone in the top 15 or so is very protective of their places. Tracey deserves a lot of credit. She took a risk, rode 90km alone in the wind and hills and ended up winning by something like 2 1/2 min. That's racing your bike. She picked up at least another minute in time bonuses so she takes the overall lead and everyone else moved down one spot. As for the QOMs, the actual seconds or places didn't really matter to me, only the difference between me and Lenka. Since I have the lead, my plan was to only go for the sprints she went for. The 2nd climb was a cat 1 and I won it with Lenka in 2nd. Now I'm 11 sec ahead. The 3rd one was a cat 2 and Barbara Heeb led out with me on her wheel (kind of like trying to draft a Q-Tip). Lenka popped out behind me and I came around Barbara but not Lenka. Now the gap is back to 9 sec. The 4th QOM is Charlott pass and Lenka is too far back to win so neither of us sprint. Number 5 I take with Lenka in 2nd. Now the gap is back to 11 sec. Now there are only 2 left plus 1 tomorrow so all I have to do is finish on Lenka's wheel. Is this what points races are like? The last 2 QOMs, Lenka wasn't up there in the sprint so neither was I. For the finish, there were 3 up the road so there was only 1 time bonus spot left. Going into the sprint, I could see Anna in a good position so I counted on her beating Suzy which she did. When all was said and done, I made a net gain of 2 sec. on Lenka and 11 sec. on Suzy. Anne Samplonius had a rough day. She was in the 2nd main group going over Charlotte Pass and she flatted on the descent. There is no neutral support in this race and our team van was following Kathy Watt. Anne sat on the side of the road for 7-8 min until finally another team van passed by and gave her a wheel. Unfortunately it only had a 21 cog and she had 60+ km of wind and hills to ride alone.