Central Australia Bike Challenge - NE

Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia, March 14-20, 2003

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Stage 6 - March 20: Flynn's Grave - Simpson's Gap, 17 km

Jongewaard busts the gap

By Joe Ward

The final stage was looking to be a casual affair, with riders allowed a sleep-in followed by a leisurely roll out to Flynn's grave to the start of the final stage, an individual time trial out to Simpson's Gap in the MacDonnell ranges. The surface would be welcome relief as it was smooth bike path all the way, in stark contrast to the brutal, punishing conditions of the past 6 days.

The path is no doddle as the builders must have taken perverse pleasure in taking the windiest route possible between two points. Riders were on and off the gas constantly, hammering into blind corners with the occasional loose patch of gravel to trip up the unwary.

Jill Burston enjoyed the short but intense ride, cleaning up the women's category convincingly and winning every stage. She'll have to cut a deal with sponsor Qantas to transport all her trophies that, unsurprisingly for Alice Springs, are made from local rock.

Marcus Amstutz (Switzerland) was looking forward to today as the course would suit him, plus he wouldn't have to deal with the thorns that have made his last two stages misery. But the desert keeps heaping out its punishment, Amstutz sliding out on a corner and loosing a bucket load of skin. A souvenir he had probably not wanted to take home. The medical crew who only last night had thanked the riders for making their job easy by not destroying themselves finally had some work on their hands.

Had Amstutz not crashed he would have easily made it into 2nd for the stage. Jaap Viergever (Netherlands) exploded off the startline, but with no straights to build up a rhythm he suffered through, 15 seconds in front of Amstutz.

While Chris Jongewaard (Australia - ex Alice Springs) has been comfortable in the leader's jersey for the past five days, Viergever has been racking up the stage victories, the past three in a sprint finish. Without Viergever pulling his tactics, this final stage would be a real test. Jongewaard's BMX background showed though, at the start at he snapped off the line, hammering out of the saddle for the next 300 meters.

At 1 km to go, he could see Viergever in the distance and despite being 30 seconds up, already Jongewaard kept the power on to win by 44 seconds, covering the 18 km course in 23:58.35. A convincing victory and the perfect end for him to a great tour.

The Central Australian Bike Challenge is set to become a yearly institution as mountain bikers from around the globe pit themselves against the brutal but beautiful trails of Australia's red center.

See www.cabc.info for more details.

Photos

Images by Joe Ward

Amstutz is attended to by first-aid staff after his crash
Jaap begins the 17 km final stage
Jongewaard hammers the 17km ITT
Jongewaard powers through the last turn
Kyle Bawden on the winding ITT course
The final presentation, Jaap Viergever (2nd), Chris Jongewaard (1st) and Marcus Amstutz (3rd)

Results

Open Males
 
1 Chris Jongewaard                  23.58
2 Jaap Viergever                     0.48
3 Marcus Amstutz                     1.02
4 Tommy Velthuyzen                   2.09
5 Damian Wells                       3.25
6 Chris Ravenhall                    3.36
7 Gordon McConnachie                 3.41
8 Damian McGrath                     3.49
9 Graham Rankin                      4.21
10 Jason Hewerdine                   4.28
11 Chris Waring                      4.33
12 Ben Hodgson                       4.49
13 Julian Fox                        4.54
14 Adrian Laing                      4.55
15 Michael Tobler                    5.00
16 Adrian Hart                       5.06
17 Michael Kerr                      5.10
18 Ken Wilyman                       5.19
19 Aaron Caden                       5.28
20 Paul Guerin                       5.31
21 Mark Harris                       5.33
22 Joe Schifano                      5.39
23 Miguel Blanco Embun
24 Brian Sandercock                  5.51
25 Jack Dermody                      6.01
26 Andre Voegeli                     6.06
27 Corey Gerdsen                     6.15
28 Kyle Bawden                       6.16
29 Gwyn Tavener-Smith                6.28
30 Sean Keeney                       6.34
31 Daniel Davis                      6.38
32 Huw Kingston                      7.12
33 Calem Glover                      7.25
34 Mark Mannering                    7.34
35 Michael Greig                     7.39
36 Steve Bryan                       7.48
37 Tony Roberts                      8.17
38 Alex McNee                        8.33
39 Marc Carney                       9.13
40 Cameron Gray                      9.14
41 Tim Vidler                       10.48
42 Bruce McEllister                 11.01
43 James Bateman                    11.42
44 Benjamin Gooley                  11.53
 
Open Females
 
1 Jill Burston                      29.01
2 Melissa Curry                      0.53
3 Sue McConnachie                    1.35
4 Alison Culpin                      3.39
5 Nadine Kelly                       3.44
6 Jennifer Caldwell                  4.21
 
Veteran Males
 
1 Peter O'Callaghan                 29.26
2 Robert Watson                      1.29
3 John Dermody                       1.39
4 Graham Butt                        2.12
5 Jon Presswell                      4.33
6 Gary Laver                         4.40
7 Lawrie Nicholas                    4.59
8 Peter Haarsma                      7.56
9 Garry Lyon                         8.21
 
Final general classification
 
Open Males
 
1 Chris Jongewaard               11.40.33
2 Jaap Viergever                    20.52
3 Marcus Amstutz                  1.15.34
4 Adrian Laing                    1.56.46
5 Ben Hodgson                     2.10.18
6 Chris Ravenhall                 2.30.56
7 Ken Wilyman                     2.54.19
8 Damian Wells                    3.00.34
9 Gwyn Tavener-Smith              3.11.17
10 Tommy Velthuyzen               3.21.33
11 Mark Harris                    3.42.59
12 Andre Voegeli                  3.43.50
13 Aaron Caden                    3.46.00
14 Graham Rankin                  4.02.47
15 Julian Fox                     4.28.34
16 Damian McGrath                 4.29.02
17 Joe Schifano                   4.30.24
18 Mark Mannering                 4.39.06
19 Michael Tobler                 4.42.12
20 Kyle Bawden                    4.54.29
21 Sean Keeney                    4.54.48
22 Michael Greig                  4.55.15
23 Benjamin Gooley                5.02.03
24 Corey Gerdsen                  5.06.22
25 Huw Kingston                   5.12.24
26 Jack Dermody                   5.16.00
27 Paul Guerin                    5.45.53
28 Jason Hewerdine                6.00.48
29 Miguel Blanco Embun            6.18.58
30 Steve Bryan                    6.19.33
31 Daniel Davis                   6.22.12
32 Gordon McConnachie             6.31.21
33 Brian Sandercock               7.02.45
34 Calem Glover                   7.22.08
35 Alex McNee                     7.41.42
36 Tony Roberts                   8.05.54
37 Cameron Gray                   9.06.40
38 Bruce McEllister               9.21.50
39 Tim Vidler                    12.10.52
40 Marc Carney                   12.36.51
 
Open Females
 
1 Jill Burston                   16.08.33
2 Melissa Curry                   1.40.38
3 Alison Culpin                   4.14.46
4 Nadine Kelly                    4.22.58
5 Sue McConnachie                 5.24.25
6 Jennifer Caldwell               5.55.22
 
Veteran Males
 
1 John Dermody                   15.44.50
2 Robert Watson                     27.48
3 Peter O'Callaghan               1.05.17
4 Garry Lyon                      3.53.33
5 Jon Presswell                   5.18.56
6 Graham Butt                     5.30.23
7 Peter Haarsma                   5.49.57
8 Lawrie Nicholas                 8.20.52