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Anaconda MTB Enduro - NE
Australia, May 19-23, 2008
Main Page Results Overall standings Previous Race Next Race
Race 4 - May 21: Anaconda Stage 4
Longest stage challenges all
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Stage 4 featured an epic 95km marathon from Ross River Station back into the Heavitree Gap Outback Lodge in Alice Springs. Blood, sweat and tears were all on the agenda for the stage that took winners nearly four hours and the back markers twice that. Arriving at the finish line muddy, dusty, thirsty and exhausted, many competitors collapsed to the ground and quickly retreated to the pool for refreshment.
After an accident yesterday, Matthew Fleming demonstrated how tough he is by leading almost the entire race and finishing first in three hours, 42 minutes and 42 seconds. In stage three, he hit a large rock in section of technical singlerack and flew off his bike, landing on his head gashing his forehead. Fortunately his bike was unscathed. Turning up to the start this morning with a black eye, stitches and pumped full of ibuprofen, fuelled by the disappointment of yesterday, he dropped James Williamson an hour into the race and powered to the finish line having ridden nearly three hours on his own. Williamson hung on to second place in three hours, 44 minutes and five seconds ahead of Ben Mather 30, seconds behind.
In the women's race, Naomi Hansen showed why she was wearing the yellow leader's jersey winning in four hours, 32 minutes and 33 seconds, closely followed by Imogen Smith a minute later. Throughout the race they took turns in the lead with Smith showing her road riding strength in the 20km sealed section only to have Hansen snatch it back in the singletrack for the last hour.
Hansen claimed the key "is a strong mind" because you have to concentrate so hard in the tricky conditions and to just keep pushing. Smith, obviously disappointed by the loss, looked fatigued and despondent straight after the race. She could see Hansen in front of her but couldn't produce the extra power to catch her. In third, 18 minutes behind the lead girls was Jenni King (of Box Hill, Victoria), a consistent racer who has finished third in every stage so far.
This morning's stage started at 7:45 am from Ross River Station, a picturesque resort an hour drive from Alice Springs. Competitors were picked up at 5:30 from Alice Springs and transported to the start in school buses where the each located their bikes. Last night the bikes were loaded into a road train and delivered to Ross Station where the million plus dollars worth of equipment was guarded by the organisers.
After the sun had risen over the MacDonnell Ranges on this chilly morning the siren sounded and the 210 riders pedaled through sand and over bumpy terrain back to Alice Springs. A relatively flat but still tricky course because of the corrugated roads, loose rocks and sandy patches they finished dusty but still managed a smile and a great sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.
Adrian Jackson and Naomi Hansen go into stage five as the overall men's and women's leaders. Stage five will start at the Alice Springs Golf Course and run 23km in a loop finishing at the same location. It's a time trial with the slowest going off first and the fastest last. Tomorrow night is a stage six night race, also on the Golf Course.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by www.anacondamtbenduro.com
- Naomi Hansen is the first woman in stage four, the marathon epic from Ross River Station to Alice Springs in four hours, 32 minutes and 33 seconds.
Results
1 Matthew Fleming 3.42.00 2 James Williamson 1.00 3 Ben Mather 2.00 4 Perren Delacour 5 Adrian Jackson 3.00 6 Nick Both 7 Tim Bennett 4.00 8 Shaun Lewis 13.00 9 Aiden Lefmann 10 Dennis Van Mill 20.00 11 Jeff Toohey 24.00 12 Matthew Faehrmann 13 Paul Darvodelsky 29.00 14 David Clark 31.00 15 Ben Hogarth 16 Adrian Whitworth 33.00 17 Tavis Johannsen 34.00 18 Richard Wood 35.00 19 Chris Thompson 37.00 20 Sean Hurley 21 Kevin Moore 38.00 22 Bryan Newton 23 Cain Pasque 40.00 24 Clarke Petrick 25 Ashley Hayat 41.00 26 Ed Holinger 42.00 27 Hans Dielacher 28 Gregory Ball 46.00 29 Stephen Pickles 49.00 30 Steve Chinner 31 Tony Pickles 32 Bill Murphy 33 Naomi Hansen 50.00 34 Imogen Smith 51.00 35 Brad Glennan 52.00 36 Rodney Hart 37 Cameron Bartram 53.00 38 Jamie Burton 39 Enrico Eberhart 54.00 40 Ty Domin 41 Al Wallace 55.00 42 Tony Freijah 56.00 43 Joel Watson 44 Damian McGrath 58.00 45 Craig mtb 59.00 46 Laurie Berryman 47 Charlie Bottero 48 Roger Cull 1.00.00 49 Stewart Cowey 50 Carl Wilkin 1.01.00 51 Andy Davison 52 Scotty Preston 1.03.00 53 Steve Munyard 54 Craig Inkster 1.05.00 55 Graant Benett 1.06.00 56 Ray Giddins 1.07.00 57 Adam Nicholson 1.08.00 58 Jenni King 1.09.00 59 Tim Sindle 60 Mark Simpson 1.10.00 61 Simon Reu 62 Michael Meryment 1.11.00 63 Steve Gibbs 64 Paul Fowler 65 Owen Ronalds 66 Huw Kingston 1.12.00 67 Andrew Choma 1.14.00 68 Craig Armour 1.15.00 69 Deanna Blegg 1.17.00 70 Craig Trevallion 71 Finlay Luff 72 Lew Marshall 1.18.00 73 Alan Carpenter 74 Dave McGregor 1.20.00 75 Paul Verheijden 76 Kevin Wells 77 Rebecca Ormsby 78 Meg Carrigan 1.22.00 79 Paul Moir 80 Melinda Jackson 1.23.00 81 Simon Bolton 1.24.00 82 Jonathan Cowan 1.25.00 83 Marck Norret 84 Evan James 85 Dave Sutton 1.27.00 86 Lawrence Kranen 87 Malcolm Bradley 1.29.00 88 Phil Mathewson 89 Kane Chandler 90 Libby Adamson 91 Malcolm Neville 1.30.00 92 Rients Lootsma 1.31.00 93 Danah Wood 94 Anna Beck 1.32.00 95 Mark Pickles 96 Philip Blum 1.33.00 97 Anthony Darr 98 Lindsey Langford 1.35.00 99 Alex Stone 100 Thorlene Egerton 1.38.00 101 Celia Thompson 1.39.00 102 Del Lloyd 103 Dan Harris 104 Merridy Pearce 1.40.00 105 Gavin Bliesner 106 Rebecca Thomson 1.41.00 107 Kane Alward 108 Alf Bluch 109 Prue Oswin 1.42.00 110 Chris Carson 1.44.00 111 Geoffrey Clarke 112 Mark Baker 1.45.00 113 Jan Leverton 1.47.00 114 Peter Gibbens 1.48.00 115 Greg Pointing 116 John Nutter 117 Peter Cusworth 1.50.00 118 Paul Hamilton 119 Jo Stewart 120 Carolyn Jackson 121 Joe Penaluna 122 Ashley Paterson 123 Chris Mauger 1.51.00 124 Michael Heyburn 1.52.00 125 Anthony Dunn 1.54.00 126 Robert Morris 1.55.00 127 David Duke 128 Wendy Stevenson 129 Nancy Caceres 2.02.00 130 Paul Smith 131 Andrew Koop 2.06.00 132 Doug Standish 2.08.00 133 Bryan Connell 2.09.00 134 Nigel Willoughby 2.10.00 135 Allen Davis 2.11.00 136 Ron Whitehead 2.18.00 137 Alison Whitehead 138 Jonathan Sutcliffe 2.20.00 139 Andrew Pettitt 2.21.00 140 Jeremy Allen 2.22.00 141 Mark McKay 2.23.00 142 Mark Meyers 2.24.00 143 Andrew Hearne 2.27.00 144 Kim Hearne 145 Jane Ollerenshaw 2.30.00 146 P'An-Tau Jiricek-Scott 147 Andrew Brown 2.32.00 148 David Slater 149 Rob Marlow 150 Matt Madin 2.35.00 151 David Owen 152 Rob Skinner 2.37.00 153 Leon Nardella 154 Trevor Buchanan 155 Michael Griffiths 156 Christopher Watt 157 Ian (Buck) Johnson 2.40.00 158 Bruce McEllister 2.43.00 159 James Fordyce 2.46.00 160 Liam Doherty 2.47.00 161 Scott Wilder 2.51.00 162 Donna Sibley 163 Justin Dabner 2.52.00 164 Norman Clark 2.55.00 165 Cynthia Trevallion 166 Georgann McEwan 2.58.00 167 Andy Kelsey 168 Duncan McEwan 169 Malcolm Barrett 3.01.00 170 Mathew Pirani 171 David Sutton 3.04.00 172 Anna Sutton 173 Kent Blight 3.05.00 174 Lex Holcombe 175 Luke Colla 3.12.00 176 Susan Williams 3.19.00 177 Daniel Thompson 178 Neil Kinder 179 David Lacey 3.20.00 180 Ross Lawson 3.36.00 181 Greg Brackenreg 3.41.00 182 Rachel Storey 3.43.00 183 Stephen Brady 3.53.00 184 Heather Freeman 3.58.00 185 Stuart Wills 4.03.00 186 Bruce Northway 4.04.00 187 Rosalie Northway 188 Donna Case 4.06.00 189 Paul Zientek 4.17.00 190 Louise Ferguson 4.57.00 191 Coral Taylor 5.18.00 192 Ngaire Caruso General classification after stage 4 1 Matthew Fleming 11.18.00 2 Adrian Jackson 1.00 3 Perren Delacour 2.00 4 Tim Bennett 6.00 5 Ben Mather 6 Nick Both 7.00 7 James Williamson 10.00 8 Aiden Lefmann 28.00 9 Dennis Van Mill 51.00 10 Shaun Lewis 55.00 11 Jeff Toohey 1.13.00 12 Matthew Faehrmann 1.16.00 13 Ben Hogarth 1.24.00 14 Paul Darvodelsky 1.29.00 15 David Clark 1.31.00 16 Richard Wood 1.35.00 17 Adrian Whitworth 1.43.00 18 Chris Thompson 1.48.00 19 Bryan Newton 1.50.00 20 Kevin Moore 1.56.00 21 Tavis Johannsen 22 Ashley Hayat 2.05.00 23 Hans Dielacher 24 Sean Hurley 2.06.00 25 Mathew Pirani 2.08.00 26 Cain Pasque 2.10.00 27 Ed Holinger 2.11.00 28 Gregory Ball 2.15.00 29 Clarke Petrick 2.19.00 30 Stephen Pickles 2.24.00 31 Brad Glennan 2.27.00 32 Bill Murphy 33 Jamie Burton 2.30.00 34 Cameron Bartram 2.32.00 35 Ty Domin 36 Tony Pickles 2.39.00 37 Steve Chinner 2.42.00 38 Rodney Hart 39 Naomi Hansen 2.43.00 40 Imogen Smith 2.47.00 41 Al Wallace 42 Damian McGrath 2.48.00 43 Enrico Eberhart 2.50.00 44 Charlie Bottero 2.52.00 45 Roger Cull 2.54.00 46 Tony Freijah 2.56.00 47 Joel Watson 48 Laurie Berryman 2.58.00 49 Andy Davison 2.59.00 50 Craig mtb 3.00.00 51 Stewart Cowey 52 Steve Munyard 3.02.00 53 Craig Inkster 3.11.00 54 Scotty Preston 3.14.00 55 Mark Simpson 3.15.00 56 Carl Wilkin 3.17.00 57 Adam Nicholson 3.18.00 58 Jenni King 3.26.00 59 Craig Armour 3.29.00 60 Paul Fowler 3.32.00 61 Steve Gibbs 62 Graant Benett 63 Tim Sindle 3.36.00 64 Michael Meryment 3.37.00 65 Alan Carpenter 66 Ray Giddins 67 Owen Ronalds 68 Huw Kingston 3.41.00 69 Evan James 3.44.00 70 Simon Reu 3.47.00 71 Finlay Luff 3.48.00 72 Paul Moir 3.51.00 73 Andrew Choma 3.54.00 74 Deanna Blegg 3.56.00 75 Lew Marshall 76 Craig Trevallion 4.01.00 77 Dave McGregor 4.04.00 78 Rebecca Ormsby 4.06.00 79 Paul Verheijden 80 Kevin Wells 4.12.00 81 Melinda Jackson 4.14.00 82 Anthony Darr 4.20.00 83 Meg Carrigan 4.24.00 84 Malcolm Bradley 4.26.00 85 Malcolm Neville 4.27.00 86 Philip Blum 4.31.00 87 Simon Bolton 4.33.00 88 Alex Stone 4.34.00 89 Lawrence Kranen 90 Rients Lootsma 91 Marck Norret 4.39.00 92 Danah Wood 4.42.00 93 Kane Chandler 4.44.00 94 Gavin Bliesner 95 Jonathan Cowan 4.45.00 96 Dave Sutton 4.48.00 97 Phil Mathewson 4.50.00 98 Lindsey Langford 4.53.00 99 Mark Pickles 4.54.00 100 Kane Alward 4.56.00 101 Nigel Willoughby 5.00.00 102 Libby Adamson 103 Dan Harris 5.01.00 104 Chris Carson 105 Merridy Pearce 5.03.00 106 Alf Bluch 5.07.00 107 Mark Baker 5.09.00 108 John Nutter 5.12.00 109 Anna Beck 5.13.00 110 Rebecca Thomson 5.15.00 111 Geoffrey Clarke 5.25.00 112 Thorlene Egerton 5.30.00 113 Del Lloyd 5.34.00 114 Peter Gibbens 115 Carolyn Jackson 5.39.00 116 Joe Penaluna 5.41.00 117 Chris Mauger 118 Jo Stewart 5.45.00 119 Nancy Caceres 5.47.00 120 Paul Hamilton 5.48.00 121 Anthony Dunn 5.50.00 122 Greg Pointing 5.51.00 123 Jan Leverton 5.52.00 124 David Duke 5.54.00 125 Robert Morris 6.06.00 126 Paul Smith 6.15.00 127 Gavin Williams 6.17.00 128 Peter Svara 6.20.00 129 Peter Cusworth 130 Bryan Connell 6.24.00 131 Wendy Stevenson 132 Scott Wilder 6.26.00 133 Allen Davis 134 Mark Barends 6.28.00 135 Michael Heyburn 6.29.00 136 Jeremy Allen 6.39.00 137 Andrew Hearne 6.42.00 138 Doug Standish 139 Ron Whitehead 6.43.00 140 Andrew Pettitt 6.49.00 141 Jane Ollerenshaw 6.53.00 142 Alison Whitehead 143 Ashley Paterson 6.55.00 144 Rob Skinner 6.56.00 145 Christopher Watt 7.00.00 146 Kim Hearne 147 Trevor Buchanan 148 Andrew Koop 7.08.00 149 P'An-Tau Jiricek-Scott 7.09.00 150 Mark Meyers 7.12.00 151 Nicole Burton 7.14.00 152 Annalisa McKay 7.19.00 153 Andrew Brown 7.20.00 154 Mark McKay 7.21.00 155 Celia Thompson 7.22.00 156 David Slater 7.25.00 157 Rob Marlow 7.32.00 158 Martin Jacobsen 7.33.00 159 Jonathan Sutcliffe 7.42.00 160 Matt Madin 7.51.00 161 Ashleigh Smith 7.56.00 162 James Fordyce 8.03.00 163 David Owen 8.04.00 164 Jane Kingston 8.10.00 165 Liam Doherty 8.15.00 166 Mark Brayshaw 8.18.00 167 Ian (Buck) Johnson 168 Leon Nardella 8.20.00 169 Michael Griffiths 8.22.00 170 Bruce McEllister 8.27.00 171 Norman Clark 8.37.00 172 Malcolm Barrett 8.38.00 173 Andy Kelsey 8.39.00 174 Anna Sutton 8.42.00 175 David Sutton 8.43.00 176 Duncan McEwan 8.44.00 177 Cynthia Trevallion 8.51.00 178 Luke Colla 8.53.00 179 Kent Blight 8.59.00 180 Georgann McEwan 9.08.00 181 Lex Holcombe 9.19.00 182 Daniel Thompson 9.35.00 183 Donna Sibley 184 David Lacey 10.21.00 185 Susan Williams 10.34.00 186 Neil Kinder 10.46.00 187 Ross Lawson 10.53.00 188 Rachel Storey 10.59.00 189 Bruce Northway 11.37.00 190 Stuart Wills 12.10.00 191 Stephen Brady 12.18.00
