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Central Australian Bike Challenge - NE
Alice Springs, NT, Australia, May 13-19, 2006
Main Page Results Overall standings Previous Race
Stage 6 - May 19: THE Neata Glass Time Trial, 18 km
Final strength test in last day TT
While the standings are all but wrapped up, the only individual time trial stage of the Central Australian Bike Challenge would be an opportunity for the leaders and place-getters to assert who really is the strongest rider of the tour.
The course is unique in that it is on a completely sealed bike path (if a little loose on some corners) starting 8 Kms west of Alice Springs at John Flynn’s grave, the founder of the Royal Australian Flying Doctor Service that provides health care to remote properties and communities across the country’s barren inland expanse. The trip to Simpson’s gap, as the crow flies, has to be less than 12 km but the grader driver who worked on this path must have had a heavy night beforehand and it now takes a meandering 18km. Cornering speed and the ability to punch out of the seemingly hundreds of turns would be paramount today.
The riders departed in reverse order to the general classification at 30 second intervals, making it feasible to go out hard at the start and hope to grab a lift (yes, drafting is allowable) for some, or all, of the way. Unfortunately for some (er, yes me…) it was more viable to wait to get passed by the rider behind and grab a lift… if you could catch it.
Veterans
The Vet men as been a hard fought affair all week and today was a final opportunity for glory as the GC had been all but wrapped up by NSW’s Gordon Garradd. Off the podium all week was local roady Kym Hansen, he didn’t quite have the skills on the rocky dirt stages but blacktop he gets along with very nicely, plus he would have had every corner of that path dialed so it was little surprise to see Hansen take the stage by 21 secs over Hans Dielacher with Gordon Garradd in 3rd, who had built a 3 minute advantage overall to take the Veteran Mens title.
Veteran Women
While the mature gents put on a great show, the Vet Womens was an almost carbon copy each day with Janine Ridsdale taking every stage including today’s ITT and of course the overall title after 7 days of hard racing. She also managed an overall result that would have put her into 2nd place in the open women’s category. Carolyn Jackson did manage to upset the status quo by beating kiwi Sharon Prutton into 2nd spot but overall it was Prutton over Jackson.
Open Women
All week, the raw speed and handling skills of the young Imogen Smith has been doing battle with the endurance and experience of Katrin Van der Speigel. After a run of flats, Smith’s GC hopes were dashed despite 4 stage wins. Today would be a final opportunity for them to square off; youth verses experience.
And the truth was what we had pretty much figured out earlier in the week that they’re very closely matched, as only 1 second separated the two riders after 18kms of punching through lactate and pain thresholds. Van der Speigel the final stage victor, to add to her overall win of the event for the second year in a row. Race Leader Matt Fleming’s wife Kimberly kept it consistent all week to take 2nd overall.
Open Men
Race leader Matt Fleming didn’t need to take today very seriously, he had over 10 mins overall up his sleeve, so unlike his competitors he didn’t change his tyres to skinny slicks or add aero clip-ons and he hadn’t even shaved his legs. Yes people, he was keeping it real and gaining a lot of respect because of it. On the start line it was a different story as he quickly made the 30 second gap to Scott’s Shaun Lewis but as he had been working with Aiden Lefman of Cannondale/Maxxis all week he was mindful not to assist Lewis to a better time that wouldn't help Lefman’s chances of getting back into 2nd overall. Fleming said, “I had a problem in that I caught Shaun Lewis but I couldn’t shake him and I didn’t want to drag him to the line since he was duking it out with Aiden [Lefman] for second overall. So I just sat behind him… and I just snuck in for the win.” Surprisingly, he won by a convincing 10 secs to Scott’s Nick Both despite not working hard for the last few Km.
An elated Fleming was very happy with his week in the desert, “its awesome, great organization, prize money… I’ll be back to defend my title for sure!” With a stage win and 3rd overall Aiden Lefman is also keen to come back, “fantasic overall and the vibe between all the riders was really cool, I’ll be bringing the whole team next year.”
Next year?
At the event dinner race director Jack Oldfield wouldn’t commit to running the CABC in 2007 much to the disappointment of the 158 riders and dozens of race volunteers in attandance who have had nothing but positive comments for this unique event. You are advised to keep an eye on www.cabc.info or contact Oldfield via the website to express your interest in entering the event next year. It could be a lean year for Australian mountain bikers with a thirst for adventure without CABC and Wildside on a hiatus as well in 2007.
Results
Open Women 1 Katrin Van Der Spiegel (NSW) 30.38 2 Imogen Smith (QLD) 0.01 3 Belinda Allison (NSW) 0.26 4 Kimberley Fleming (NSW) 0.39 5 Meg Chalker (ACT) 1.59 6 Nicole James (NT) 2.14 7 Gayle Connell (NT) 2.26 8 Nicole Burton (NT) 3.19 9 Tania Churchill (ACT) 3.52 10 Merridy Pearce (SA) 5.13 11 Stacey Bitz (NT) 5.18 12 Lyndall Smythe (NT) 5.32 13 Dior Loveridge (NSW) 5.43 14 Justine Gerdsen (NT) 7.15 15 Rosanne Kwan (NSW) 9.37 Veteran Women 1 Janine Ridsdale (NSW) 31.25 2 Carolyn Jackson (VIC) 2.06 3 Sharon Prutton (NZ) 2.10 4 Katrina Roper (NT) 6.07 5 Kathy Hays (NT) 7.20 6 Jane Ollerenshaw (VIC) 8.27 7 Debra Eason (VIC) 8.53 8 Jenny Anderson (NT) 9.16 DNS Kim Kelleher (QLD) Open Men 1 Matthew Fleming (NSW) 26.04 2 Nick Both (NSW) 0.10 3 Shaun Lewis (ACT) 0.29 4 Aiden Lefmann (NSW) 0.33 5 Mark Frendo (QLD) 0.43 6 Alex Randall (VIC) 0.56 7 Adrian Jackson (VIC) 1.00 8 Graham Rankin (NT) 1.04 9 Andrew Crawley (NSW) 1.16 10 Ashley Wass (SA) 1.27 11 Straun Lamont (QLD) 1.34 12 Jason Chalker (ACT) 1.58 13 Matt Jones (NT) 2.03 14 Liam O'Dea (NSW) 2.04 15 Vince O'Brien (NT) 2.21 16 Jason Mansbridge (HongK) 2.27 17 Craig Cross (NT) 2.29 18 Mick Café (NT) 2.35 19 Chris Lander (NSW) 2.50 20 John Waddell (WA) 2.58 21 David Clark (SA) 3.04 22 Stuart Grimm (HongK) 3.29 23 Paul Darvodelsky (NSW) 3.41 24 Kane Chandler (VIC) 3.59 25 Tim Hay (QLD) 26 Anthony Darr (NSW) 4.04 27 Neville Bailey (HongK) 4.05 28 Cosmo Richards (HongK) 4.08 29 Ray Giddins (NSW) 4.23 30 Ron Schroeder (NSW) 4.26 31 Sam Latz (NT) 4.30 32 Mark Hardy (NSW) 4.40 33 Jonathan Cowan (VIC) 4.44 34 Richard Mountstephens 4.47 35 Todd Stafford (NSW) 4.50 36 James Gardner (ACT) 4.57 37 Philip Blum (NT) 5.15 38 Jimmy Goode (NSW) 39 Bryan Connell (NT) 5.17 40 Tavis Johannsen (NT) 5.34 41 Ramon Gregory (NT) 5.49 42 Kristian Bitz (NT) 5.50 43 Jaime Burton (NT) 5.56 44 Jason Sprague (QLD) 5.59 45 Paul Witzerman (QLD) 6.07 46 Jack Dermody (WA) 6.19 47 Paul Guerin (NT) 6.21 48 Neil Prosser (NSW) 6.34 49 Mike Heyburn (NT) 50 Bert Heathwood (SA) 51 Peter Nott (HongK) 6.40 52 Tony Hawke (NSW) 6.45 53 Steve Sauerwald (NT) 6.48 54 Peter Svara (NT) 6.51 55 Andrew Pettitt (NT) 7.04 56 Steve Munyard (VIC) 7.05 57 Martin Pritchard (NT) 7.07 58 Ben Scott (NSW) 7.09 59 Dean Chandler (QLD) 7.11 60 Vladimir Todorovski (VIC) 7.19 61 Joe Ward (NSW) 7.24 62 Chris Jackson (QLD) 7.29 63 Peter McGann (NT) 7.54 64 Helge Suhr (NT) 8.06 65 Craig Armour (NSW) 8.15 66 Rob Parbery (NSW) 8.29 67 Rick Swanwick-Howarth (NT) 8.33 68 Aaron Caden (NT) 8.56 69 Dan Harris (NT) 9.09 70 Matthew Barr (NSW) 9.10 71 Craig Wilzen (NT) 9.35 72 Greg Lander (QLD) 9.41 73 Euan Buchanan (VIC) 9.47 74 Bruce McEllister (NT) 9.59 75 Justin Dabner (QLD) 10.12 76 Manuel Silva 10.19 77 Kyle Bawden (NT) 10.53 78 Tony McLellan (NT) 11.17 79 Iain Blair (VIC) 11.42 80 Malcolm Barrett (QLD) 13.30 81 Russell Goodwin (QLD) 13.41 82 Malcolm Neville (NT) 21.52 DNS Corey Gerdsen (NT) DNS Dan Johnston Veteran Men 1 Kym Hansen (NT) 27.39 2 Hans Dielacher (NSW) 0.21 3 Gordon Garradd (NSW) 0.58 4 Chris Waring (NSW) 2.00 5 Laurie Berryman (NT) 2.30 6 Finlay Luff (VIC) 2.38 7 Graant Benett (NSW) 2.46 8 Ken Wilyman (NSW) 2.58 9 Craig Peacock (VIC) 2.59 10 Gwyn Tavener-Smith (NSW) 3.55 11 John Nutter (NT) 4.00 12 Lew Marshall (QLD) 4.14 13 Leon Fisher (SA) 4.22 14 Mark Mannering (NT) 4.23 15 Mark Meyers (QLD) 4.39 16 Andrew Koop (NT) 4.53 17 Steve Bryan (NT) 5.07 18 Trevor Kloeden (NSW) 5.26 19 Paul Verheijden (VIC) 5.30 20 Adam Korab (NT) 5.41 21 Robert Watson (NSW) 5.42 22 David Wells (NT) 5.51 23 Alan Brockman (NT) 5.58 24 Pat Black (NT) 7.29 25 Jungle Bateman (NT) 7.55 26 Leon Malzinskas (VIC) 8.05 27 Ian Johnson (NT) 9.00 28 Col Smith (NT) 9.18 29 Jeff Hays (NT) 9.21 DNS Andre Gavlik (TAS) Teams 1 Damian McGrath (NT)/Michael Vroom (NT) 30.53 2 Nigel Blake (NSW)/Ben Goscombe (NT) 0.32 3 Matthew Guggisberg (NT)/Simon Murphy (NT) 0.37 4 Craig Trevallion (NSW)/Matt Ogilvie (ACT) 3.00 5 Malcolm Johnston (NT)/Mathew Pirani (NT) 4.38 6 Drew Robertson (NSW)/Ian Robinson (NSW) 10.22 Mixed Teams 1 Alison Whitehead (QLD)/Ron Whitehead (QLD) 37.33 2 Hamish Fitzhardinge (NSW)/Kylie Henry (NSW ) 0.35 3 Virginia Ffitch (NSW)/Andrew Lloyd (NSW) 1.00 Final general classification Open Women 1 Katrin Van Der Spiegel (NSW) 12.55.42 2 Kimberley Fleming (NSW) 9.41 3 Imogen Smith (QLD) 17.02 4 Belinda Allison (NSW) 35.12 5 Nicole James (NT) 1.01.32 6 Meg Chalker (ACT) 1.26.23 7 Gayle Connell (NT) 2.26.44 8 Tania Churchill (ACT) 2.44.26 9 Justine Gerdsen (NT) 2.49.49 10 Dior Loveridge (NSW) 2.51.36 11 Lyndall Smythe (NT) 3.23.35 12 Nicole Burton (NT) 4.08.22 13 Stacey Bitz (NT) 5.01.20 14 Merridy Pearce (SA) 6.12.30 15 Rosanne Kwan (NSW) 6.57.23 Veteran Women 1 Janine Ridsdale (NSW) 13.02.29 2 Sharon Prutton (NZ) 37.11 3 Carolyn Jackson (VIC) 1.33.20 4 Jane Ollerenshaw (VIC) 3.09.37 5 Katrina Roper (NT) 4.45.31 6 Kathy Hays (NT) 5.11.47 7 Debra Eason (VIC) 6.10.27 8 Jenny Anderson (NT) 7.38.18 Open Men 1 Matthew Fleming (NSW) 10.08.28 2 Shaun Lewis (ACT) 16.41 3 Aiden Lefmann (NSW) 17.04 4 Adrian Jackson (VIC) 18.06 5 Alex Randall (VIC) 20.11 6 Mark Frendo (QLD) 24.45 7 Nick Both (NSW) 36.41 8 Andrew Crawley (NSW) 47.44 9 Graham Rankin (NT) 55.05 10 Mick Café (NT) 59.01 11 Straun Lamont (QLD) 1.05.22 12 Liam O'Dea (NSW) 1.06.57 13 Ashley Wass (SA) 1.09.40 14 Jason Chalker (ACT) 1.14.24 15 David Clark (SA) 1.22.17 16 Vince O'Brien (NT) 1.25.30 17 Jason Mansbridge (HongK) 1.41.43 18 Chris Lander (NSW) 1.42.13 19 Paul Darvodelsky (NSW) 1.44.42 20 Sam Latz (NT) 1.59.10 21 Craig Cross (NT) 2.04.54 22 Neville Bailey (HongK) 2.05.31 23 James Gardner (ACT) 2.17.20 24 Jaime Burton (NT) 2.24.38 25 Mark Hardy (NSW) 2.28.48 26 Cosmo Richards (HongK) 2.28.58 27 Stuart Grimm (HongK) 2.29.37 28 Ron Schroeder (NSW) 2.33.25 29 Tim Hay (QLD) 2.33.52 30 Tavis Johannsen (NT) 2.33.54 31 Aaron Caden (NT) 2.35.14 32 Peter Nott (HongK) 2.45.01 33 Matt Jones (NT) 2.45.20 34 Jimmy Goode (NSW) 2.47.21 35 Tony Hawke (NSW) 3.12.50 36 Anthony Darr (NSW) 3.14.44 37 Kristian Bitz (NT) 3.16.47 38 Jonathan Cowan (VIC) 3.18.19 39 Peter Svara (NT) 3.18.47 40 Ray Giddins (NSW) 3.19.03 41 Jack Dermody (WA) 3.19.49 42 John Waddell (WA) 3.22.40 43 Joe Ward (NSW) 3.25.34 44 Jason Sprague (QLD) 3.28.15 45 Kane Chandler (VIC) 3.28.45 46 Bert Heathwood (SA) 3.34.48 47 Paul Witzerman (QLD) 3.42.33 48 Ramon Gregory (NT) 3.50.36 49 Martin Pritchard (NT) 3.55.03 50 Steve Sauerwald (NT) 3.56.15 51 Mike Heyburn (NT) 3.58.59 52 Peter McGann (NT) 4.11.37 53 Malcolm Neville (NT) 4.14.13 54 Kyle Bawden (NT) 4.19.49 55 Craig Armour (NSW) 4.26.45 56 Steve Munyard (VIC) 4.29.32 57 Neil Prosser (NSW) 4.39.08 58 Philip Blum (NT) 4.41.02 59 Todd Stafford (NSW) 4.45.57 60 Ben Scott (NSW) 5.05.17 61 Paul Guerin (NT) 5.05.22 62 Rob Parbery (NSW) 5.11.55 63 Helge Suhr (NT) 5.18.13 64 Chris Jackson (QLD) 5.19.10 65 Greg Lander (QLD) 5.22.24 66 Bryan Connell (NT) 5.23.19 67 Matthew Barr (NSW) 5.35.29 68 Rick Swanwick-Howarth (NT) 5.36.17 69 Tony McLellan (NT) 5.50.45 70 Vladimir Todorovski (VIC) 6.02.39 71 Andrew Pettitt (NT) 6.14.08 72 Craig Wilzen (NT) 6.15.03 73 Manuel Silva 6.17.22 74 Justin Dabner (QLD) 6.45.11 75 Dan Harris (NT) 6.46.19 76 Malcolm Barrett (QLD) 7.06.05 77 Bruce McEllister (NT) 7.10.25 78 Euan Buchanan (VIC) 7.36.32 79 Iain Blair (VIC) 8.02.31 80 Russell Goodwin (QLD) 9.42.50 Veteran Men 1 Gordon Garradd (NSW) 11.42.38 2 Hans Dielacher (NSW) 2.58 3 Craig Peacock (VIC) 13.01 4 Kym Hansen (NT) 32.09 5 Gwyn Tavener-Smith (NSW) 35.58 6 Laurie Berryman (NT) 49.58 7 Ken Wilyman (NSW) 56.05 8 Robert Watson (NSW) 57.45 9 Chris Waring (NSW) 1.07.54 10 Graant Benett (NSW) 1.39.20 11 Finlay Luff (VIC) 1.51.42 12 Mark Mannering (NT) 2.12.35 13 Steve Bryan (NT) 2.22.36 14 Paul Verheijden (VIC) 2.32.29 15 John Nutter (NT) 2.33.04 16 David Wells (NT) 2.33.56 17 Trevor Kloeden (NSW) 2.40.35 18 Mark Meyers (QLD) 2.42.34 19 Adam Korab (NT) 3.00.08 20 Lew Marshall (QLD) 3.01.03 21 Leon Fisher (SA) 3.03.43 22 Alan Brockman (NT) 3.06.32 23 Pat Black (NT) 3.27.24 24 Andrew Koop (NT) 4.25.57 25 Jeff Hays (NT) 5.02.19 26 Jungle Bateman (NT) 5.11.55 27 Col Smith (NT) 5.28.38 28 Leon Malzinskas (VIC) 8.07.12 29 Ian Johnson (NT) 8.50.24 Teams 1 Damian McGrath (NT)/Michael Vroom (NT) 13.21.45 2 Drew Robertson (NSW)/Ian Robinson (NSW) 12.32 3 Matthew Guggisberg (NT)/Simon Murphy (NT) 23.06 4 Craig Trevallion (NSW)/Matt Ogilvie (ACT) 1.55.43 5 Nigel Blake (NSW)/Ben Goscombe (NT) 2.14.54 Mixed Teams 1 Alison Whitehead (QLD)/Ron Whitehead (QLD) 17.30.46
