Results and Reports for December 5-6AustraliaPromoters wishing to submit results should send them to cyclingnews Canberra CC Summer Criterium Series
- #7 Cycle Instead Criterium Series - Round 2Leederville, WA, December 6, 2000 By Annabelle Drew, cyclingnews.com correspondent
Tonight's criterium was held in Leederville, an inner suburb of Perth frequented by lovers of coffee, nightclubbers and fabulous clothes/accessories to wear to said coffee shops and nightclubs. Not to mention a good variety of restaurants as well. The atmosphere was buzzing tonight. The Leederville venue always brings a hip young support crowd, and with the pleasant Perth summer weather, tonight brought about 3500 enthusiasts out to watch. After a couple of false starts due to the riders, who were asked to complete a neutral lap, preferring to keep their good position on the start line, the race got underway at 7:40pm. With narrow streets, U-turns and 400m straights, it was imperative to gain good position early in the race which was conducted at a cracking pace. For 10 minutes the field was lined out, travelling fast, but no significant moves occurred. Then Nic Brown attacked and quickly made a decent gap. Soon after, Hilton McMurdo and Ryan Suckling were attempting to bridge across to Brown and made it in about a lap. With three Perth lads out front, the crowd was very enthusiastic for this break to succeed. Meanwhile, Baden Cooke chased at the front of the bunch, which was now very strung out and had reduced to about 40 riders. Several laps later, Suckling disappeared from the leading group. At the 25 minute mark, Steve Williams (Caravello) got away from the main bunch and established a small lead. This grew steadily with each lap until Williams was 30 seconds ahead of the main field. At this stage he was 25 seconds behind the lead duo. Other riders tried to get across to Williams, including Daniel Mackey, but the bunch swallowed them up on the long straights. The surges brought the bunch within 10 seconds of Williams, but he drove on, unperturbed by the approaching swarm. Then an exciting move was made after 35 minutes up the back straight as O'Grady decided to attack super-powerfully with Dave McPartland and Eddy Hollands interested in accompanying. Within a lap these 3 had reached Williams and the 4 were working well together. Williams, by his own admission with the 'form of his life', driving the group immediately following capture and extending their lead over the bunch to 20 seconds. McMurdo and Brown were still in the lead, quietly and gradually taking more time. Cooke, Jamie Drew and Hilton Clark were heading the chase, keeping the pace constantly high with 45 minutes down, as McMurdo and Brown took a lap and joined the back of the main field. It was clear that O'Grady, Hollands, McPartland and Williams wouldn't be caught when the bunch was given 3 laps to go. Drew, who later remarked it was much easier and safer to be on the front (if you can!), led the riders through on the bell lap. Clark then led on the back straight and home straight, just holding off Cooke on the line for 7th place. Next was the interesting finish for 3rd. McPartland took full advantage of having his Caravello teammate Williams in this group. After some effective cat-and-mouse tactics, he took the sprint easily from Hollands then O'Grady which meant that Eddy would keep the series leader's jersey. Finally, the lead duo were the only ones left on the course for the grand finale. The crowd was egging the locals on. Hilton led out up the back straight, keeping a very close eye on his young companion. Down the home straight, he led out the sprint once again displaying the strong-man sprint that has given him much success of late. With 100 metres to go, Brown started to move up alongside McMurdo, but the more mature gent's experience and form showed as he took victory, arms raised in the air. When asked what energy-packed lunch he ate that day to aid his performance, Hilton said he'd eaten nothing as he's had a stomach bug. The next Cycle Instead criterium will be held at Fremantle on Saturday 9th. Results 1 Hilton McMurdo (Glen Parker Cycles) 2 Nic Brown (Kirke) 3 David McPartland (Caravello Joinery Cycling Club) 4 Eddie Hollands (Glen Parker Cycles) 5 Stuart O'Grady (Skilled) 6 Steve Williams (Caravello Joinery Cycling Club) 7 Baden Cooke (Colli & Sones) 8 Josh Hudson (The Bicycle Entrepreneur) 9 Wayne van Morsel (The Bicycle Entrepreneur) 10 Daniel Mackey (Colli & Sones) 11 Scott Suckling (Bikeforce Morley) 12 Bryan Evans (Mclnereny Ford) Canberra CC Summer Criterium Series - #7The Causeway, Kingston, ACT, December 6, 2000 Report By Mark Carter The warm afternoon suddenly turned blustery and cool as the easterly change swept through just as racing commenced in the lower grades. In the A grade race, it was a show of strength from the riders with International experience which dictated the outcome. The tacticians realised the numbers were amassing at the front and some had to chase hard to make the cut. The initial move came from Baden Burke who attacked from the outset. When big Al Sieper joined him they were looking strong, then with Denis Mungoven, Rob McLachlan, Stuart Bardsley and eventually Matt Hayman the lead group looked strong. A small chase group which consisted of Mark Harris, Mick Tolhurst, Steve Blackburn and John Forrest held the gap at about 100m, but midway through the race the Euros stepped on the gas which left McLachlan and Bardsley in trouble and the remaining four pulled away. It was a classic race on the new Kingston circuit, where breakaways and strung bunches have been the norm, due to the narrower corners and slower surface. This was also exacerbated by the strong headwind on the back straight, which the fitter, stronger riders revelled in. With four laps to go Hayman looked in trouble as he dangled 40m off the back of the lead trio. With three to go Hayman had changed this to a 50m lead and the chase looked disorganised. It took two laps to reel Hayman back and he was weakened from his effort, losing ground on the back straight with half a lap to go. Concurrently, Mungoven slipped aft of the front two, suffering a puncture only 400m from home. The race was to be decided in a two up sprint, which Sieper led through the final corner, however was outclassed by Baden Burke in the dash for the line. Hayman made a sporting gesture by pushing Mungoven over the line, recognising his deserved third place. Results A Grade - 20 minutes + 3 laps (25 starters) 1. Baden Burke (Rideshop) 2. Allan Sieper (Catalyst) 3. Denis Mungoven (Lonsdale) 4. Mathew Hayman (Rabobank) 5. Mark Harris (Catalyst II) 6. Steve Blackburn (Catalyst) 7. John Forrest (Catalyst) 8. Stuart Bardsley (Hammer n Cycle A) 9. Simon Camroux (Rideshop II) 10. John Whittington (Rideshop II) B Grade - 15 minutes + 3 laps (29 starters) 1. Gareth Halveston (Rideshop Ragazzi) 2. Dave Osmond (Festina II) 3. Jeremy Kimpton 4. Mark Williams (Rideshop Ragazzi) 5. Not Claimed 6. Steve Jones (Festina) 7. Jim Thompson (Paxus) 8. Steve Hosking (Paxus) 9. Johannes Wahl 10. Simon Claringbold (Festina II) C Grade - 12 minutes + 3 laps (34 starters) 1. Rob Aughey 2. Joel Donney (Hammer n Cycle C) 3. Terry Danaher (Hammer n Cycle C) 4. Luke Carroll 5. Peter McLennan 6. Jamie Taylor 7. Not Claimed 8. Joel Roberts 9. Mal Nicol (Bike Shed C) Women's Grade - 12 minutes + 3 laps (10 starters) 1. Jessie Maclean (Hammer n Cycle W) 2. Lauren Carrol 3. Georgie Howell 4. Leesa Carson 5. Helen Barclay (Hammer n Cycle W) 6. Lucy Stewart (Hammer n Cycle W) 7. Kylie Webb 8. Sian McDonald (Supermodels) 9. Kerry Henderson 10. Kelly Linaker Junior's Grade - 20 minutes + 3 laps (7 starters) 1. Danny Ellis 2. Steven Phelan 3. Keegan Carrol 4. Jessie Ellis 5. Adam Phelan 6. Fabio Calabria 7. Lewis Gough Teams Pointscore after Round 7 1 Rideshop Ragazzi 60 pts 2 Catalyst 39 3 Paxus 27 4 Rideshop 24 5 Hammer 'n' Cycle C 23 6 Festina 21 7 ACTAS 14 8 Lonsdale 14 9 Pointless 10 10 Hammer 'n' Cycle B 9 11 Festina II 9 12 Polar 8 13 Gungahlin I.S. 8 14 Hammer 'n' Cycle A 6 15 Bike Shed 6 16 Mal Adjusted/Stegbar 4 17 Catalyst II 3 18 Supermodels 2 19 Lonsdale II 0 20 Rideshop II 0 21 Goanna's 0 22 CBS 0 23 Bikeshed B A 0 24 Bikeshed B B 0 25 Bikeshed B C 0 26 Hammer 'n' Cycle W 0 Eastern Suburbs CC CriteriumHeffron Park, Sydney, NSW, December 5, 2000 Another hot summer Sydney evening with a blustery north easterly wind meant another night grovelling over the Heffron 'hills' and staying out of the gutter down the straight. A grade numbers were down (18) with many of the big motors racing the crit series in Perth, so this gave B grade (29 starters) and C grade (17 starters) a better than usual chance for overall victory. After a slow and slightly disorganised start, B grade eventually got it together and with 3 laps to go caught a brave C grade with still no danger of being caught be a depleted A grade. The strong wind kept negated any dangerous attacks, until John Sunde decided to make what looked like the race winning move on the last 'hill' only to be caught on the line by Chris Sutton who timed his finish perfectly. Results - 30km Handicap 1 Chris Sutton (St George) 2 Ben Isaksen (Lidcombe) 3 John Sunde (St George) 4 Todd Sinclair (Northern Suburbs) 5 Bob Hampshire (St George) A Grade Andrew Curro (Bici Sport) C Grade Mark Stoneham (Bici Sport) Carnegie-Caulfield CC CriteriumWaverley Park, Mulgrave, Vic, December 5, 2000
A welcome change in weather around lunchtime brought cooler South Westerly breezes after days of warm, humid conditions. 117 in the field tonight, again the top women making a showing before joining the VIS camp next week. A grade's race witnessed the value of experience and strength as six went away and gained nearly half a 2km lap over the remaining riders. As well as the placegetters, wily Sun Tour veteran David Sturt made the break as did Chris Carr who made his debut in this year's edition of Victoria's main stage race. Jason Benney, a massage therapist for the Melbourne Football Club, made it two in a row in the sprint defeating reigning All States and Victorian Road Champ, Robert Tighello (Peugeot) from Victorian Criterium Champion James Taylor (Ashburton Cycles). Brendan Gilholme (Gran Prix Cycles) was fourth after working hard throughout (or at least any time a camera was nearby). The 39 starters in B grade found themselves chasing the diminutive figure of Anna Milward (Saturn) who joined one of the guys to lift the level of lactic acid early on in the race. After a brief period away the bunch drew them back thanks largely to the work of Grant "The Brickie" Mathews. The quick tempo held attacking in check until late surges from the likes of Quentin Frayne started to go off the front. As the 3 to go board was held out Ray Turner launched what was held to be a suicide bid for victory. Never more than twenty metres in advance of the storming group, he managed to hold them off by a bare metre. SBR's Mikkeli Godfrey got the nod for second from Hayden Mead and Bruce Will. Nick Gibson took his last prize in C grade, his improved form earning his promotion to B grade from his next start. Colin Johnston, Eddie Perez and Simon Clarke filled the placings in a sprint that went unobserved as your correspondent dealt with the results of a spectacular crash in front of sign-on as the bunch got 3 to go. The bunch split into two early, the blustery conditions wreaking havoc on the second group. D grade's finish also goes unreported due to the same crash. After early escape attempts came to naught, David Croxford claimed the win from Gerard Healy. Veterans Eric Rudd and Ray Smith took the remaining placings. Tess Downing also rode her last E grade. After taking an insurmountable lead yet again to win by 30+ seconds, Tess gets to ride among the D graders from next week. Brother Mike Downing was second, Peter Johnstone third and Sean Bourke fourth. Results A GRADE - 20 Starters, 55 minutes + 3 laps 1 Jason Benney 2 Robert Tighello (Peugeot) 3 James Taylor (Ashburton Cycles) 4 Brendan Gilholme (Gran Prix Cycles) B GRADE - 39 Starters, 55 minutes + 3 laps 1 Ray Turner 2 Mikkeli Godfrey 3 Hayden Mead 4 Bruce Will C GRADE - 36 Starters, 40 minutes + 3 laps 1 Nick Gibson 2 Colin Johnston 3 Eddie Perez 4 Simon Clarke D GRADE - 18 Starters, 40 minutes + 3 laps 1 David Croxford 2 Gerard Healy 3 Eric Rudd 4 Ray Smith E GRADE - 4 Starters, 25 minutes + 3 laps 1 Tess Downing 2 Mick Downing 3 Peter Johnstone 4 Sean Bourke Courtesy of Mark Chadwick |
