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Central Australia Bike Challenge - NE
Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia, March 14-20, 2003
Main Page Results Previous Stage Next Stage
Stage 3 - March 17: Telegraph Station - Telegraph Station, 48 km
The Dutchman Flying Again
By Joe Ward
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With a hint of chill in the desert air, riders massed for the start next to a important piece of Australia's history. Alice Springs gives its very existence to the telegraph station that was built to relay telegraphs from London in the 1900's.
With no time for the guided tour, the pack rolled out into the hills surrounding Alice for a stage that was only 48km long but loaded with slippery climbs and dangerous descents. Today would be happier for most after yesterday's death march though N'Dhala gorge.
Out in front Holland, Switzerland and Australia were all represented and working hard. While Jaap Viergever is resigned to the fact that he won't catch Jongewaard in the GC, he's still out grab the stage victories, and after Jongewarrd flatted early in the race his job became considerably easier. Jongewaard didn't lose much time however, as he was running Slime in his tubes and it sealed after simply pumping up the offending tyre. At the next check point he was 2 minutes down on Amtutz and Viergever.
Viergever couldn's shake the Swiss champ and they were still wheel to wheel 4km from the end, by this point Jongewaard had pulled back 1 minute in the technically demanding terrain. In 4th place Adrian Lang was just plain having fun, tweaking his bike off the slightest jump.
At the line the flying Dutchman and the Swiss still locked together for an enthralling sprint finish. Viergever showing he's the man for all occasions, winning by a wheel after over two hours of racing.
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Chris Jongewaard worked hard over the last part of the course and only lost 33 seconds from his GC lead, keeping him 9:53 ahead of Amtutz and a further 10 minutes to Viergever. Viergever said he enjoyed today's ride despite his lack of training in technical descents, claiming the absence of hills in his homeland is to blame.
Polaris guru Huw Kingston rolled over the line raving about the great trail and scenery, "The variety each day is amazing!"
Jill Burston, did it again for the women riding a particularly nasty downhill that some of the men were walking and adding another 15 minutes to her GC lead.
Tomorrow the tour heads west at dawn in the shadows of the awesome MacDonnell ranges, finishing at Undoolya cattle station.
Photography
Images by Joe Ward
- Fixing a flat is a common occurrence in the outback
- Adrian Lang pops some air
- Chris Jongewaard and Marcus Amstutz ride together during stage 3
- Stage 3 leaders Jaap Viergever and Marcus Amstutz riding together in the Australian desert
- Jaap Viergever (R) outsprints Marcus Amstutz for stage 3
Results
Open Men 1 Jaap Viergever 2.06.15 2 Marcus Amstutz 3 Chris Jongewaard 0.33 4 Adrian Laing 24.17 5 Chris Ravenhall 34.51 6 Ben Hodgson 34.56 7 Damian Wells 40.05 8 Ken Wilyman 40.58 9 Tommy Velthuyzen 44.08 10 Mark Harris 44.30 11 Aaron Caden 47.03 12 Gwyn Tavener-Smith 47.44 13 Chris Waring 51.15 14 Benjamin Gooley 51.29 15 Graham Rankin 51.53 16 Mark Mannering 52.00 17 Andre Voegeli 52.43 18 Michael Tobler 59.08 19 Joe Schifano 1.00.12 20 Julian Fox 1.01.39 21 Kyle Bawden 1.02.03 22 Michael Greig 1.04.28 23 Corey Gerdsen 1.06.49 23 Jack Dermody 25 Damian Mcgrath 1.07.32 26 Sean Keeney 1.11.06 27 Huw Kingston 1.17.02 28 Steve Bryan 1.18.43 29 Paul Guerin 1.22.28 29 Jason Hewerdine 29 Gordon Mcconnachie 32 Calem Glover 1.26.05 33 Tony Roberts 1.30.13 34 Daniel Davis 1.34.46 35 Miguel Blanco Embun 1.35.32 36 Brian Sandercock 1.36.57 37 Alex Mcnee 1.41.20 38 Adrian Hart 1.49.50 39 Bruce Mcellister 1.57.06 40 Cameron Gray 2.10.43 41 James Bateman 2.27.45 42 Marc Carney 43 Tim Vidler 44 Scott Kenneally DNS Michael Kerr Open Women 1 Jill Burston 3.18.51 2 Melissa Curry 14.24 3 Alison Culpin 41.09 4 Nadine Kelly 51.07 5 Jennifer Caldwell 1.04.53 6 Sue Mcconnachie 1.12.17 DNS Stacey Connor DNS Kate Norstrom DNS Kelli Hersey Veteran Men 1 Robert Watson 2.57.13 2 John Dermody 3.59 3 Peter O'Callaghan 22.24 4 Garry Lyon 1.15.47 5 Jon Presswell 1.19.45 6 Graham Butt 1.25.03 7 Peter Haarsma 1.29.38 8 Lawrie Nicholas 2.20.22 DNS Gary Laver General classification after stage 3 Open Men 1 Chris Jongewaard 7.24.14 2 Marcus Amstutz 9.53 3 Jaap Viergever 20.13 4 Adrian Laing 1.20.58 5 Ben Hodgson 1.29.06 6 Chris Ravenhall 1.40.30 7 Ken Wilyman 1.54.52 8 Damian Wells 1.55.12 9 Gwyn Tavener-Smith 2.03.40 10 Mark Harris 2.08.01 11 Aaron Caden 2.29.32 12 Tommy Velthuyzen 2.33.10 13 Chris Waring 2.34.28 14 Andre Voegeli 2.35.06 15 Graham Rankin 2.46.00 16 Mark Mannering 2.48.40 17 Michael Tobler 2.51.48 18 Damian Mcgrath 2.57.00 19 Julian Fox 2.57.07 20 Joe Schifano 3.00.50 21 Sean Keeney 3.10.18 22 Michael Greig 3.12.10 23 Kyle Bawden 3.15.29 24 Huw Kingston 3.25.51 25 Corey Gerdsen 3.28.32 26 Benjamin Gooley 3.39.56 27 Jack Dermody 3.40.32 28 Miguel Blanco Embun 4.10.11 29 Steve Bryan 4.14.04 30 Paul Guerin 4.14.06 31 Jason Hewerdine 4.15.00 32 Daniel Davis 4.16.11 33 Brian Sandercock 4.35.59 34 Gordon Mcconnachie 4.37.21 35 Tony Roberts 4.49.38 36 Calem Glover 5.15.32 37 Alex Mcnee 5.17.14 38 Cameron Gray 6.08.15 39 Bruce Mcellister 6.21.15 40 Tim Vidler 8.19.02 41 Marc Carney 8.44.41 Open Women 1 Jill Burston 10.26.39 2 Melissa Curry 48.10 3 Alison Culpin 1.53.44 4 Nadine Kelly 2.53.02 5 Sue Mcconnachie 3.24.45 6 Jennifer Caldwell 3.46.09 Veteran Men 1 John Dermody 9.54.30 2 Robert Watson 6.02 3 Peter O'Callaghan 47.27 4 Garry Lyon 2.43.12 5 Peter Haarsma 3.54.18 6 Jon Presswell 3.58.11 7 Graham Butt 4.03.29 8 Lawrie Nicholas 5.55.28
