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By Renae Woodhams
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The final race in the 2001 Be Active Cycle Instead Criterium Series came down to a spectacular finish between champion Henk Vogels Jnr and local rider Hilton McMurdo. Vogels Jnr had not been a Series star in the three previous races, crashing twice and struggling with the fast pace of the Subiaco race. But the former Aussie Champion pulled out something a little extra to please his home crowd and create an exciting finish to a spectacular cycling Series.
The Cheers Criterium Classic began in quite sedate terms with many of the riders feeling the effect of riding four nights in a row. The ferocity of chasing the Sprint King points had taken its toll and many of the riders were again to retire in the early stages of the race.
Hilton Clarke Jnr and Graham Brown went into the race with only two Sprint King points separating them and this forced the sprints for the Green Jersey to be extremely fast paced and aggressive. But Brown was determined not to let the Green Jersey go. In the first sprint round he showed his experience as an aggressive sprinter and took out the points.
The race was on to see if Clarke Jnr would retaliate but it was Victorian Cameron Carlyle who made his move. His attack saw him break away from the main bunch and ride solo for a number of laps. The move gave seed to an escape from the bunch by nine riders. They soon chased Carlyle down, bringing him into their lead group which had a strong lead over the bunch.
The breakaway riders fought hard to maintain their lead but with the second Sprint King round called, Brown once again showed his strength and powered ahead to take the points. This move put him in an excellent position to take the Series Sprint King Title.
Shortly after this fast paced sprint, the bunch reformed with many riders feeling the pressure. Leon Vogels took the opportunity to make his break and built a lead that he held for ten laps. His lead was not to last. The bunch was not letting this rider stay away and soon swallowed him back into the group.
Local rider Hilton McMurdo signalled a break and took Henk Vogels Jnr with him. The two were intent on taking a high paying Prime and this sprint launched them ahead of the main bunch. This was to be the winning move. Vogels and McMurdo powered ahead, leaving the bunch out of sight. In the race countdown it was going to be between these two riders.
McMurdo gave his all but Vogels showed his winning style and raced across the line two lengths in front of 39 year old McMurdo.
With the rest of the bunch racing to the finish, it looked like Hilton Clarke was set to take third place. In a last minute dash, Graham Brown dashed across the line to take third place. In the overall series total, Hilton Clarke Jnr maintained the yellow jersey with Graham Brown taking the points to make him Sprint King.
McMurdo was content in taking his second placing, and share the podium with team mates Ed Hollands, Jarrod Poad and Rheinhart Van Speybroek to win the overall Team Placing.
The fourth race concludes the 2001 Be Active Cycle Instead Criterium Series. The next Perth Criterium Series will be held in 2003 when Perth plays host to the Australian Criterium Championships.
Stewart Stockdale and Steve Lack supplied the following snaps of the action.
1 Henk Vogels (WA) Healthway 15 pts 2 Hilton McMurdo (GBr) Glen Parker Cycles 14 3 Graham Brown (NSW) Trek Bikeforce 13 4 Hilton Clarke (Vic) McInerney Ford 12 5 Jarrod Poad (NZl) Glen Parker Cycles 11 6 Peter Dawson (WA) WAIS 10 7 Brett Lancaster (Vic) Healthway 9 8 Phil Rieman (WA) Bicycle Entrepeneur 8 9 Ed Hollands (WA) Glen Parker Cycles 7 10 Leon Vogels (WA) National Estate Builders 6 11 Jason Rigg (WA) Bicycle Entrepeneur 5 12 Mark Phillips (NZl) Apex 4 13 Wayne van Moorsel (WA) Bicycle Entrepeneu 3 14 Raymond Raadtgever (Ned) Apex 2 15 Jans Koerts (Ned) Moncrieff 1 Sprint King 1 Graham Brown (NSW) Trek Bikeforce 9 pts 2 Henk Vogels (WA) Healthway 6 3 Hilton McMurdo (GBr) Glen Parker Cycles 4 Final general classification 1 Hilton Clarke (Vic) McInerney Ford 56 pts 2 Jarrod Poad (NZl) Glen Parker Cycles 49 3 Peter Dawson (WA) WAIS 49 4 Graham Brown (NSW) Trek Bikeforce 45 5 Ed Hollands (WA) Glen Parker Cycles 39 6 Jason Rigg (WA) Bicycle Entrepeneur 29 7 Wayne van Morsel (WA) Bicycle Entrepeneur 28 8 Henk Vogels (WA) Healthway 27 9 Hilton McMurdo (GBr) Glen Parker Cycles 27 10 Mark Phillips (NZl) Apex 21 11 Phil Rieman (WA) Bicycle Entrepeneur 18 12 Leon Vogels (WA) National Estate Builders 18 13 Nic Brown (WA) 96 FM 18 14 Raymond Raadtgever (Ned) Apex 11 15 Danny Rutherford (NSW) Trek Bikeforce 10 Sprint King classification 1 Graham Brown (NSW) Trek Bikeforce 35 pts 2 Hilton Clarke (Vic) McInerney Ford 31 3 Jarrod Poad (NZl) Glen Parker Cycles 12 Team classification 1 Glen Parker Cycles 115 pts 2 Bicycle Entrepreneur 75 3 McInerney Ford 56 4 Bike Force 51 5 WAIS 49 6 Apex 30 7 96FM 29 Further results to follow