Herald Sun Tour, 2.4Australia, October 14 - 24, 1999 |
Preview Start
List John Leiswyn's
race diary
Total number of sprints: 134 PreviewAustralia's VicHealth Herald Sun Tour is one of the country's premier stage races which gives Australian riders the chance to compete against European teams. A glance at this year's starting list reveals a strong international contingent alongside a number of Australia's top riders. Prominent are the Danish second division team, Home Jack & Jones, who have sent some of their top riders to try and snare some UCI points in one of the last events on the road calendar. The team, which suffered some sponsorship woes when one of its riders was caught over the hematocrit limit, is looking to gain enough points to move up into the first division next year. It is currently duelling with Italian team Ballan, to try and 'win' the second category division. Expect some aggressive racing from Bo Larsen and his cohorts. Members of the Linda McCartney pro team will be fronting up, including three Aussies (McKenzie, Iacuone and Brooks) and two English riders, Rob Reynolds-Jones and Chris Lillywhite. David McKenzie is a renowned sprinter who will be looking at taking out some of the criteriums as well as figuring in any road bunch sprints. He has a solid team behind him and should feature in the race. The primarily Belgian Sunsmart team also boasts a number of strong riders. They are headed by Bart Heirewegh, winner of many kermesses this year in addition to last year's Melbourne to Warrnambool classic. There are in addition, strong riders and teams from the Czech republic, Ireland, Switzerland and the United States. On the Australian side, there is recently crowned domestic national champion, Eddie Salas who is riding for the Echuca - Moama team. National road series leader, Peter Milostic is on the same team as is Credit Agricole rider Marcel Gono. Tour de France Champs Elysees stage winner, Robbie McEwen will be riding in the Jayco - VIS team alongside a very in-form Jamie Drew. Drew recently won the Melbourne to Warrnambool and the Grafton to Inverell and will certainly trying for a top place in the G.C. In the Southern Grampians - Hamilton team, Australia's Peter Rogers, Nick Gates (former Bank race winner) and Jason Phillips will form a strong unit with the Germans Wegman and Glasner. Rogers has had a solid season this year and would love to cap it off with a high place overall in this tour. We should not count out the Transhepp team either, containing Tatterstalls Cup race winners Ashley Sheard and Brent McCaig. They will be looking at top stage placings and could figure highly in these, especially with "trackie", Tim Decker who managed a 3rd in the 275 km "Warny" last weekend. On the eve of the race, he said he was pretty happy with his form and hoped to "do alright in a couple of stages". Looking forward to it, Tim. Complete Starting ListECHUCA - MOAMA JAYCO - V.I.S. 1. Jaaron Poad (Western Australia) 6. Robbie McEwen (Queensland) 2. Marcel Gono (Victoria) 7. Jamie Drew (Victoria) 3. Corey Sweet (South Australia) 8. Troy Clarke (Victoria) 4. Eddie Salas (New South Wales) 9. Brad Davidson (Victoria) 5. Peter Milostic (New South Wales) 10. Andrew Stalder (Victoria) AUSTRALIA POST TYREPOWER 11. Eric Wohlberg (Canada) 16. Jan Hruska (Czech Republic) 12. John Lieswyn (United States) 17. Richard Faltus (Czech Republic) 13. Antonio Cruz (United States) 18. Tomas Konecny (Czech Republic) 14. Ben Day (Queensland) 19. Daniel Loprais (Czech Republic) 15. David Pell (Victoria) 20. Milos Pejcha (Czech Republic) TATTERSALL'S SOUTHERN GRAMPIANS - HAMILTON 21. Adham Sbeih (United States) 26. Bjorn Glasner (Germany) 22. Robbie Ventura (United States) 27. Christian Wegman (Germany) 23. Matthew Anand (Canada) 28. Nick Gates (New South Wales 24. Robert Tighello (Victoria) 29. Peter Rogers (A.C.T.) 25. Nathan Clarke (Tasmania 30. Jason Phillips (Queensland) SEW EURODRIVE - AVANTI MALAYSIA AIRLINES 31. Glen Mitchell (New Zealand) 36. Christoph Goehring (Switzerland) 32. Brendon Vesty (New Zealand) 37. Christian Heule (Switzerland) 33. Graeme Miller (New Zealand) 38. Lukas Zumsteg (Switzerland) 34. David Lee (New Zealand) 39. Michael Themann (Switzerland) 35. Matthew Yates (New Zealand) 40. Rene Stadelmann (Switzerland) CITY OF MELBOURNE LATROBE - MOE 41. Rob Reynolds-Jones (England) 46. Morgan Fox (Ireland) 42. Chris Lillywhite (England) 47. Dermot Finnegan (Ireland) 43. David McKenzie (Victoria) 48. Michael McNena (Ireland 44. Allan Iacuone (Victoria) 49. Eugene Moriarty (Ireland) 45. Ben Brooks (New South Wales 50. Ciaran Power (Ireland) SUNSMART TEAM HOME JACK & JONES 51. Bart Heirewegh (Belgium) 56. Nicolai Bo Larsen (Denmark) 52. Jan Poppe (Belgium) 57. Mikael Kyneb (Denmark) 53. Tony Bracke (Belgium) 58. Michael Blaudzun (Denmark) 54. Eric De Clercq (Belgium) 59. Christian Andersen (Denmark) 55. Anthony Kellen (Queensland) 60. Arvis Piziks (Latvia) TRANSHEPP CARAVELLO 61. Ashley Sheard (Victoria) 66. Alessandro Pozzi (Italy) 62. Brent McCaig (Victoria) 67. Daniele Galli (Italy) 63. Tim Decker (Victoria) 68. Chris White (Victoria) 64. Gareth Atkins (Tasmania) 69. Kelvin Martin (A.C.T.) 65. Simon Gerrans (Victoria) 70. Wayne Anderson (New South Wales) A H PLANT - CAFFE PAESANO 71. Kristin Lewis (South Australia) 72. Russell Van Hout (South Australia 73. Daryl Beddome (South Australia) 74. Phil Bray (South Australia) 75. Jeff Wheeler (South Australia) |