Promoters wishing to submit results should send them to cyclingnews
Carnegie Caulfield Twilight Criterium
Eastern Suburbs CC Handicap
Gold Coast CATS CC Criterium
Randwick Botany CC
Carnegie Caulfield Criterium
Caesar's Illawarra Cycle Club
Southern Hemisphere Cup
Murwillumbah Amateur Cycle Club
Waratah Veterans CC
The Weather Gods weren't kind for the resumption of twilight racing at the testing AFL Park Circuit. Heavy rain and strong winds throughout the afternoon kept all but the most committed away. Although the rain stopped moments before the C Grade race was to get underway, much of the circuit was covered with large puddles and the road surface was bound to be extremely slippery.
13 riders took to the start line for a 30 minute plus lap race. After a couple of laps to get a feel for the conditions, they were quickly attacking and making a good race of it. Midway through the race, young Rob Doyle shook off the rest of the bunch and rode strongly to open a 20 second gap.
The bunch weren't able to bring him back, and he crossed the line still going away, and with a throw of the bike to boot! In a close sprint for the minor placings, Gary Trowell held off Michael Goldie and Jack Doviston.
The clouds were getting blacker as the small A and B Grade field set off. Again, the small numbers did not stop the attacks and counter attacks from the gun. The field remained intact throughout the initial 30 minutes, but the rains returned with a vengeance just after the 3 to go sign was displayed, and the bell was rung the next lap.
Chris Bradford lead out the sprint and never looked threatened, finishing ahead of Ray Turner and Thaddeus Roos. Michael Ford was the only B Grade rider to hang on in the wind up to the line, to take the win in his division.
Surely summer will start any day now?
A Grade (30 mins + 3 laps) - 4 starters 1 Chris Bradford (Melton CC) 2 Ray Turner (Bendigo CC) 3 Thaddeus Roos (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC) B Grade (30 mins + 3 laps) - 3 Starters 1 Michael Ford (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC) C Grade (30 minutes + 3 laps) - 13 starters 1 Rob Doyle (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC) 2 Gary Trowell (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC) 3 Michael Goldie (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC) 4 Jack Doviston (Noble Park Dandenong CC) Courtesy of Mal Sawford
Eastern Suburbs Club's Tuesday night summer racing got off to a warm and windy start tonight with a good turnout of over 50 riders lining up for the traditional 30km group handicap which is now in it's 18th year.
The calibre and number of riders will only improve over the coming weeks but that didn't deter a very enthusiastic C grade getting off to a flying start. C grade were able to prevent a completely disorganised B grade from making any impression in the first 5 laps.
A seven rider break from A grade finally put B grade out of their misery with 3 laps to go, but with none of the big hitters present the combined bunch of 15+ riders ran out of time to catch C grade who were clearly going to stay away for the top 5 placings.
On the bell lap proud new Dad, Liam Kelly (Easts) attacked into the headwind with Dr Bob Hampshire (St George) hoping for the last lap escape to claim 1st A & B grade placings, but they unfortunately timed their move a little to early getting caught just as the chasing riders turned for the big tailwind run around the back of the course. That presented the perfect opportunity for Big John Sunde to set sail in the 11 cog with only a very fit Warren Doyle staying on for the ride to finishing straight to claim the last 2 places.
1 Matt Lucas (Randwick Botany) 2 Clive Hammerson (Randwick Botany) 3 Frank Conceicao (Easts) 4 Tony Caruana (Randwick Botany) 5 Steve Bligh (Randwick Botany) 1st A Grade Warren Doyle (Penrith) 1st B Grade John Sunde (St George)
With still another month before the start of summer, temperatures were nudging 30 degrees Celsius at Burleigh on Sunday morning, and with only a gentle breeze it was close to perfect racing weather. "Stretch" Mildenhall decided that it was time to challenge the officials once again, so the format was B to E grades racing a 30k criterium handicap, followed by A Grade with a 40k pointscore.
The E grade bunch of Alan Hunt, Vince Nucifora, Bill Phillips and Reg Wilkinson had an 11 minute 30 second start on the B Grade scratchies, but with only four in their group they faced an uphill battle against the three other grades which all had close to 20 riders per bunch. They held their lead for 25k, until they were swallowed up by D Grade, who still had most of their bunch intact. Darren Alchin has been an enthusiastic new member this year, and in the sprint he showed too much speed for Frank Schirmer and Greg Aroney, to notch his first career win.
The B Grade scratch bunch put the pressure on right from the start, and despite the best efforts of Jim Burke to lead by example off the front, or to loudly berate his co-workers for their efforts, they were still a minute down at the finish. Fastest time went to Dean McMahon from Iain Russell, while Carrie Smith from D Grade was first lady home.
It was obvious after 10 minutes of the A Grade pointscore that Riki Lanyon was not going to be content to sit in the bunch and pick up sprint points. He set off alone and quickly built a 15 second gap, but when Jason Phillips bridged with Steve Rooney and Crackles Cahill, the first four places were decided. Phillips won three of the first five sprints, and showed the benefit of his tough year in Europe with Team Coast by easily closing down any attempts to split the group. Lanyon certainly tried, but his every effort was thwarted. At the finish it was Phillips first, two points clear of Lanyon with Rooney a point away in third.
Information on CATS Club racing is available on the CATS web site at www.geocities.com/goldcoastcats/
A Grade - 40km Pointscore 1 Jason Phillips 21 pts 2 Riki Lanyon 19 3 Steve Rooney 18 4 Crackles Cahill 13 B, C, D, E Grade Handicap - 30 km 1 Darren Alchin 2 Frank Schirmer 3 Greg Aroney 4 Robert Mockridge 5 Tom Allan Fastest Times 1 Dean McMahon 2 Iain Russell First Lady: Carrie Smith
Club racing returned to Heffron Park on Saturday 27 October 2001, after a successful Snowy Wilson Memorial Criterium open event last weekend. Seventy-eight riders registered to race in Senior and Junior events.
A Graders Shaun Higgerson, Stewart Campbell and Kirk Purchase had to complete an extra 2km lap in the combined A/B Grade 34km event. The threesome caught up with the 20-rider B Grade bunch with 6km to go. In an exciting final sprint, Eastern Suburbs rider Stewart Campbell crossed the line first in a time of 49min 43sec. Second was Randwick Botany junior rider Chris Jenkins, with Sydney Cycling Club rider Stan Genakis in third place. Fourth place went to Michael Cori.
Nineteen riders lined up for the C Grade 28kms race. The average speed was only 33kph due to some tactical racing, where the bunch slowed to allow back markers to lead out. The final sprint into a southerly breeze was hotly contested, with Craig Dempsey winning with a 10m margin in a time of 51min 33sec. Andrew Hudson lunged at the line to claim second place, only half a wheel ahead of Frank Conceicao. Tony Horneman finished fourth after drafting behind Hudson down the final straight.
The D Grade average speed of 33.2kph was actually higher than C grade over the 20km distance. Newcomer Dan O'Callaghan crossed the line first in a time of 36min 30sec. Second was Paul Baker followed by Jonathon Revett. The E Grade 14kms race was won by Ken Woodhouse in a time of 34min 10sec followed by Julia Guinan and Norman Jew.
Club Junior Development Officer Peter Zala conducted five events for the 17 junior riders. The best time in the Junior A Grade 18km Time Trail was Robert Cater, 29min 02sec, second was Chris Jenkins, 30min 03sec and third was Chris Young, 33min 00sec. The B Grade 8km Time Trail was taken out by Thom Richards, 15min 35sec followed by Mark Woodhouse, 15min 51sec and Andrew Young, 16min 05sec. The C Grade 4km Time Trail was won by Adriano Maradini, 9min 04sec followed by Taylor Aitchison, 9min 06sec and Tyrone Davies, 9min 19sec. The B Grade 4km Scratch Race was won by Mark Woodhouse followed by Luke Davison and Andrew Young. The final junior race of the day was the C Grade 4km Scratch Race which was won by Taylor Aitchison, with Adriano Maradini second and Tyrone Davies third.
Randwick Botany Cycling Club conducts club racing every Saturday at Heffron Park, Maroubra NSW. Juniors start at 1.30pm and Seniors 2.30pm. For more information please contact the club secretary Helen Vella on 02 9667 3307.
With the return of daylight saving, the Eastern Suburbs Cycling Club will commence the summer criterium series at Heffron Park each Tuesday evening starting at 6.00pm.
A/B Grade, 34kms 1 Stewart Campbell 49.43 2 Chris Jenkins 3 Stan Genakis 4 Michael Cori C Grade, 28kms 1 Craig Dempsey 51.33 2 Andrew Hudson 3 Frank Conceicao 4 Tony Horneman D Grade, 20kms 1 Dan O'Callaghan 36.30 2 Paul Baker 3 Jonathon Revett E Grade, 14kms 1 Ken Woodhouse 34.10 2 Julia Guinan 3 Norman Jew
A Grade 18km Time Trail 1 Robert Cater 29.02 2 Chris Jenkins 30.03 3 Chris Young 33.00 B Grade 8km Time Trail 1 Thom Richards 15.35 2 Mark Woodhouse 15.51 3 Andrew Young 16.05 C Grade 4km Time Trail 1 Adriano Maradini 9.04 2 Taylor Aitchison 9.06 3 Tyrone Davies 9.19 B Grade 4km Scratch Race 1 Mark Woodhouse 2 Luke Davison 3 Andrew Young C Grade 4km Scratch Race 1 Taylor Aitchison 2 Adriano Maradini 3 Tyrone Davies
Courtesy Tony Horneman
A fairly low key return for the start of the "Summer" Criteriums at the popular Glenvale Crescent circuit. With many of the top local riders racing in the Herald Sun Tour or todays support races, and a return to the wintery weather we had all hoped was past, numbers were down a little. Field sizes will grow over the next few weeks as the weather improves and the rumors about the demise of the circuit are put to bed!
Due to the small number of A Grade riders present, their race was combined with B Grade, how ever each Grade was racing for separate prize money. Early on it seemed that the A Graders would end up riding alone as they opened a gap to the B Grade field. Things soon came back together, and the race was characterized by lengthy breakaway efforts by small groups of riders. Ian Johnson and Steve Morrow were prominent in a number of early moves, but the blustery conditions made it tough off the front. With 15 minutes remaining, things seemed destined to finish with an all in sprint.
A Grade were given 3 to go first, and in a rare sign of obedience from the B Graders, were given some distance to fight out the finish. Simon Hurren found himself stuck on the front while behind him the fancied sprinters jostled for his wheel. Steve Dew lead out of the last corner in a huge gear, and as he struggled to get it going was quickly passed by Thaddeus Roos in his comeback race. Roos maintained his lead to the line, to finish ahead of Dew, Dean Johnstone and Richard England.
The B Grade finish tested the judges as Frank Cipriano, who had lead out from the last corner in a effort to record his first B Grade win tried his heart out to hold off the bunch. At the line, only inches separated the first 3, with Mark Bourjau just getting up ahead of Cipriano and Luke French. Andrew Shannon, who has been off the bike for months after breaking his arm in a training fall rode strongly today to claim 4th place.
The C and D Grade fields were content to ease back into close quarter racing. No attacks were given much chance of establishing a gap, and both races ended in bunch gallops. In C Grade, Andrew Steele took the win ahead of veteran Marcel Musco, Nathan Caso and David Pearce, while in D Grade Trevor Key won ahead of training partner Sally Robbins, Nick Arnold and Andrew Cameron.
In the Junior and Novice Race, after the completion of the controlled section of the race, Blackburn's Sean Bourke had too much leg speed for Amy Phillips, Danny Clarke and Michael Downing. Racing resumes at the testing AFL Park circuit at 6pm on Tuesday night. Many of the competitors from the Herald Sun Tour are expected to take to the start line to take advantage of their good form.
A Grade (1 hour + 3 laps) 8 starters 1 Thaddeus Roos (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC) 2 Steve Dew (SKCC) 3 Dean Johnstone (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC) 4 Richard England (Blackburn CC) B Grade (1 hour + 3 laps) 30 Starters 1 Mark Bourjau (SKCC) 2 Frank Cipriano (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC) 3 Luke French (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC) 4 Andrew Shannon (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC) C Grade (50 minutes + 3 laps) 15 starters 1 Andrew Steele (Blackburn CC) 2 Marcel Musco (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC) 3 Nathan Caso (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC) 4 David Pearce (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC) D Grade (45 minutes + 3 laps) 13 Starters 1 Trevor Key (Blackburn CC) 2 Sally Robbins (Broadford-Seymour CC) 3 Nick Arnold (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC) 4 RoAndrew Cameron (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC) E Grade (45 minutes + 3 laps) 6 Starters 1 Sean Bourke (Blackburn CC) 2 Amy Phillips (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC) 3 Danny Clarke (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC) 4 Michael Downing (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC)
Courtesy Malcolm Sawford
In a display of true enthusiasm and dedication to their sport thirty eight riders remembered to put their clocks forward and turned up at Huntley at 8am for the 27.5km scratch races last Sunday.
Being the shortest race since last summer it was anticipated that the pace would be high and the times low. The riders didn't disappoint with A grade averaging close on 40km/h and B grade 39km/h.
The A grade bunch set a blistering pace starting at speeds over 50kph . It started with an early attack by Adam Rourke. He was joined by Richard Lorenc and then by Graeme Rutter. The three stayed away until Marshall Mount when a small group joined them.
A long chase by riders such as Adam Crowther , Dylan Forbes and Rob Calladine saw the field come back together before the end of the first lap. Rourke kept attacking and successfully established a break with 5 km to go. He was joined by the ever green Rob Calladine.
Last minute desperate attacks by riders in the bunch saw Danny Hennessy launch a final assault. He caught Adam Rourke and the 2 stayed away for first and second respectively. Tim Morris came in to take third in a bunch of very tired chasers.
With a slight tail wind to start the race off the B grade riders started swapping off turns at over 45km/h. the early pace setters were Lionel Covington, Pat Delahunty, Jason Johnson, Garry Doughty and Paul Kean.
There were many small surges by riders but with seventeen riders in the bunch it was not going to be easy for anyone to get away. The first serious move came on the climb up Hooker hill when Mark Scott rode a very quick tempo half way up the hill and then exploded to put over a hundred meters into the main bunch.
Seeing that the move was a dangerous one, Ralf Moriana set off in pursuit. Grant Farr has been very astute in reading the winning moves over the past few weeks so he was the next to try and bridge the gap along with Mal Moss.
The bunch held the escapees steady until Adam Hotchkis decided it was time to bring them back into the fold, he powered along and caught all three. Moriana tried again with Marcus Arnold but to no avail.
At the turn on Hooker hill Moriana and Doughty got a small break on the field but Hotchkis again closed it down. Scott was close to being caught but the disrupted chase behind played into his hand and he pulled away again.
Doughty and Moriana again tried with 1km to go but were mowed down by the bunch.
In a very close finish Tony Pulo just edged Hotchkis out for second place. But the ride of the day belonged to the triumphant Scott, a very impressive solo ride.
The C grade bunch started with a brisk jump from Alan Wilson, soon followed by another burst courtesy of Paul DuBois. The pace then settled until the Marshall Mount hall hill where an attack was launched by Jeff Gray.
Peter Evans went with him and the two combined to get a good gap on the chasing group of DuBois, Wilson, Paul Kaye and Tony Clifford. With a lap and a half to go it seemed that the four would get the two but Gray urged his partner on and they worked well to keep the bunch at bay.
Evans led the sprint to the line but the in-form Gray proved stronger in the closing meters of the race. DuBois came home for third with Kaye and Clifford filling in the minor places.
Young rider, Derek Rosen, rode well to finish his first race. D grade was won in convincing fashion by club stalwart Eric Doughty.
Next week's race is a criterium at Warilla.
A Grade 1 Danny Hennessy 41.08 2 Adam Rourke 3 Tim Morris 4 Hardy Lohse 5 Graham Rutter 0.06 6 Dylan Forbes 7 Dave Russel 8 Richard Lorenc 9 Adam Crowther 10 Rob Calladine 11 Frank Soto 0.22 B Grade 1 Mark Scott 42.39 2 Tony Pulo 0.31 3 Adam Hotchkis 4 Mal Moss 5 Joe Pereira 6 Marcus Arnold 7 Raf Moriana 8 Grant Farr 9 Paul Kean 10 Pat Delahunty 11 Mark Davies 12 Jason Johnson 13 Kirk Brown 14 Lionel Covington 15 Phil Ciufo 16 Garry Doughty 17 Mick Kejda C Grade 1 Jeff Gray 47.56 2 Peter Evans 3 Paul Dubois 1.03 4 Paul Kaye 5 Tony Clifford 6 Andy Shannon 3.32 7 Derek Rosen 8 Alan Wilson 4.15 D Grade 1 Eric Doughty 51.28 2 Roger Phillips
A warm sunny afternoon greeted riders for the weekly road race conducted by the Murwillumbah Amateur Cycle Club over the shortened Crystal Creek course on Saturday 27 October 2001.
This route covers 46 kilometres and takes riders to Chillingham and back into Upper Crystal Creek before returning to finish at Dulguigan. Undulating and often rough narrow roads make up a good deal of this course and riders need to be on their mettle if they want to do well.
Just 4 riders started in A Grade. This group travelled along at a reasonably brisk pace and shared the work out and back from Crystal Creek. Things began to get serious some 10 kilometres from home when the pace lifted and riders began to make the most of the favourable tailwind. Ian Walker was unfortunate to suffer a puncture soon after this and sensing the changed circumstances of the race Ruben Roberts attacked a couple of kilometres later. His strong riding quickly opened up a gap which he maintained to be first home with the other riders trailing in shortly afterwards.
C Grade had the best numbers of the day with 10 riders starting in that group. The race was on from the start with a quick pace stretching the bunch out within the first few kilometres. Despite the pace lifting every time the road went upwards the bunch remained together until Dave Toyer suffered a puncture just before Chillingham. This group had a quick passage through Crystal Creek which saw several riders dropped and the pace pick up even further with the tailwind on the homeward journey. Stuart Ellick was unlucky to puncture just after Boat Harbour but none of the remaining riders would give in which brought the race down to a sprint finish to decide the outcome. A strong run by Ray Jackson saw him first home with Wilf Hubac second and a determined Frank Shirmer taking a well deserved third place.
The 6 riders in D Grade had a steady race out to Crystal Creek with most riders sharing the work. On the way into Upper Crystal Creek Carie Smith attacked and opened up a gap of some 150 metres. Unfortunately for Carie she missed the turn and by the time she got back the bunch had caught her. Not to be outdone Carie attacked again several kilometres later and again opened up a break which she maintained over the remaining 14 kilometres of the race. Her efforts netted Carie a well deserved first place whilst in the chasing bunch Dennis Burger used his strong sprint to take second spot ahead of the other riders.
Club members are reminded that the Annual General Meeting will be held at 7.30 pm on 21 November 2001 at the Round House Tavern, Murwillumbah. The club’s Presentation Night is set down for Saturday 10 November 2001 at the Murwillumbah Services Club. All members wishing to attend need to confirm with Club Secretary Dennis Burger by 6 November 2001.
Racing next week will be over the same Crystal Creek course but the start time will be 3.00 pm for New South Wales riders and 2.00 pm for Queensland riders due to start of Daylight Saving.
A Grade 1 Ruben Roberts (CATS) 1.20 (34.5 km/hr) C Grade 1 Ray Jackson (CATS) 1.20 (34.5 km/hr) 2 Wilf Hubac (GoldStars) 3 Frank Shirmer (Murwillumbah) D Grade 1 Carie Smith (CATS) 1.29 (31 km/hr) 2 Dennis Burger (Murwillumbah) Results and report courtsey of Phil Ruge.
Over 150 masters cyclists spread over 5 grades enjoyed perfect weather conditions for the Waratah Veterans annual Southern Hemisphere road race classic held on flat roads adjacent to the Olympic precinct. First held at Thredbo in 1977 this UCI sanctioned race has been held at many different venues and has always attracted a quality field of riders. The traditional age based formula has been replaced in recent years with ability based gradings. Over $4000 of prizes were on offer from sponsors Stanmore Cycles, Italia Spring Tour and Rocky Point Road Cycles.
The A grade race was held over 13 laps of a 6.5km course with some early attacks from time trial specialist Michael Hickman (Waratah). Once legs got warmed up the race re-grouped for several laps before 8 riders surged away from the pack to establish the decisive break just after the halfway point. Laurent Vignes (North Sydney) and Robert Upton (Harlequin) were looking to repeat the battle they had at the Southern Hemisphere Criterium the day before but some other strong men were staying in strong contention. Liam Kelly (East Sydney) is no stranger to winning at Homebush Bay and Waratah Club Champion Roland Lang looked strong early on.
Making up the break were Geoff Butler (Sutherland), multiple masters champion Perry Hughes (Manly Warringah) together with Eric Dole (North Sydney) and Tom Brook (Parramatta). Vignes took out the intermediate sprint but despite the energy of the breakaway riders, the chasing bunch took some time back over the concluding laps finishing only a few hundred metres behind the break. After consulting the videotape Robert Upton's lunge at the line gave him victory by a tyre's width from Laurent Vignes closely followed by Kelly, Lang and Butler.
With 42 riders in the 77 km B grade race, there were plenty of places for the sprinters to hide with the flat track making it difficult for any escapees in the first few laps. Michael De Luca (Sutherland) showed that his lone break in Saturdays criterium had not dampened his enthusiasm when he took off in lap 4 and held a 200 metre advantage with Michael Sales (Penrith) for several laps. However the whistle for the intermediate sprint got the bunch moving and the break was quickly absorbed as track specialist Graham McClymont (Waratah) took the sprint. After that the increase in tempo kept the bunch intact with McClymont getting the final honours in a tight sprint from Sam Carroll (Lidcombe-Auburn) and 3 Waratah's Martin Russell, David South and Nick Tiffen.
The C grade race over 64kms did not set any speed records in the early laps as riders played something of a cat and mouse game with no-one prepared to test their heart rate monitors until the intermediate sprint. John Lysaght (Waratah) edged out team mate Phil Stanton for this one but it was still anyone's race as the bunch remained locked together over the final laps. Mark Tobin (Orange CTC) had the legs to outpace Graham Horn (Sutherland) and Greg Hall (Waratah) in the final dash for the line.
The D and E grade races were both over 51 kms with the riders a mixture of past champions and a large number of "younger" masters who are relatively new to the sport. Experience usually tells when there is some decent prize money at stake with today being no exception. Alec Lazich (Waratah) put his track training to good effect to take out D grade from intermediate sprint winner Stephen Burman (Penrith ) and an improving Jesus Bello (Waratah).
In E grade the wily Tony Rule took the intermediate sprint and final line honours to edge out Waratah teammates Andrew Phillips and Gino Turco.
Next years event is intended to co-incide with the World Masters Championships in Melbourne in a bid to attract some international competition in keeping with the race's UCI status.
A grade - 81 kms 1 Robert Upton (Harlequin) 2.05.44 2 Laurent Vignes (North Sydney) 3 Liam Kelly (East Sydney) 4 Roland Lang (Waratah) 5 Geoff Butler (Sutherland) 6 Perry Hughes (Manly Warringah) 7 Eric Dole (North Sydney) 8 Arthur Driver (Penrith) B grade - 77 kms 1 Graham McClymont (Waratah) 2.05.29 2 Sam Carroll (Lidcombe-Auburn) 3 Martin Russell (Waratah) 4 David South (Waratah) 5 Nick Tiffen (Waratah) 6 Phil Harrex (Dubbo) 7 Michael Jayne (Penrith) 8 Robert McNamara (St George) C grade - 64kms 1 Mark Tobin (Orange CTC) 1.53.15 2 Graham Horn (Sutherland) 3 Greg Hall (Waratah) 4 Murray Henwood (Waratah) 5 Felix Tucci (Waratah) 6 Graham Tierney (Bicisport) 7 Joseph Vucetic (Waratah) 8 Tony Wilkins (Waratah) D grade - 51kms 1 Alec Lazich (Waratah) 1.34.15 2 Stephen Burman (Penrith) 3 Jesus Bello (Waratah) 4 Max Tonkin (Waratah) 5 Maurice Moro (Marconi) 6 Ron Whitehead (Waratah) 7 Geoff Worthington (Waratah) 8 Mark Davies (Marconi) E grade - 51kms 1 Tony Rule (Waratah) 1.42.33 2 Andrew Phillips (Waratah) 3 Gino Turco (Waratah) 4 Russell McGurgan (Lidcombe - Auburn) 4 George Georgiou (Waratah) 6 Kevin Massard (Waratah) 7 Stan Georgiou (Waratah) 8 Miguel Sosa (Waratah)
This Waratah Veterans promotion was held in the shadow of the Dunc Gray Velodrome on the new purpose built 900 metre criterium circuit in mild but windy conditions. This was the first race of the Southern Hemiphere weekend of masters cycling with the road race scheduled for Sunday at Homebush Bay.
What the fields lacked in size they made up for in quality. For the past 2 years the Southern Hemiphere races are graded by ability rather than the customary age based format. The result has been a marked increase in entry numbers especially in the lower grades as they can now get a competitive race.
In A grade the pace was on as soon as the initial neutral lap was over and a group of 7 riders escaped convincingly after 6 laps. Strongman Laurent Vignes (North Sydney) stepped on the gas with Robert Upton (Harlequin) and Tom Brook (Parramatta) looking fairly commfortable. These three eased away and the key chasers were Perry Hughes (Manly Warringah), Keith Oliver (Parramatta), Tony Iannacito (Harlequin) and Roland Lang (Waratah). Before the half way mark the rest of the field had been lapped and it was just a question of how far the elastic would stretch. Vignes took the intermediate sprint and rode away from Upton and Brook who slipped back into the pack for a few laps. Vignes never looked in trouble as Upton and Brook attacked again and rode steadily to avoid being lapped by Vignes. A fate that befell the rest of the field.
Quadruple world masters track champion Keith Oliver showed that he can still mix it at close to 60 years of age and never looked like faltering. Vignes cruised home with Robert Upton just having the edge over Brook in the gallup for 2nd place. Keith Oliver edged out Roland Lang and Tony Iannacito in the minor placings.
B grade had the biggest field and while, the initial pace was high, the field remained in tact despite some driving from the front by David South, Hugh Gray (Waratah) and Incencio Romero (Marconi). Gregor Rennie (Waratah) came over the top of Hugh Gray to pick up the intermediate sprint but this was the side show as Michael De Luca (Sutherland) put the hammer down to open a gap that grew steadily over the remaining laps as he time trialed home an easy victor. Romero jumped away towards the end of the race to a very deserving 2nd spot leaving the Waratah's in David South, Nick Tiffen and Bruce Watkins to fill the remaining places.
The C and E Grade races saw little in the way of breakaways or major attacks with most riders taking a conservative approach, concentrating on holding the wheel in front and being there at the finish. Not so in D grade where James Tan (Waratah) kicked away with about a third of the race to go and settled into a good rythym to finish well clear of the bunch.
A Grade 1 Laurent Vignes (North Sydney) 2 Robert Upton (Harlequin) 3 Tom Brook (Parramatta) 4 Keith Oliver (Parramatta) 5 Roland Lang (Waratah) B Grade 1 Michael De Luca (Sutherland) 2 Incencio Romero (Marconi) 3 David South (Waratah) 4 Nick Tiffen (Waratah) 5 Bruce Watkins (Waratah) C Grade 1 Graham Horn (Sutherland) 2 Peter Feraud (Waratah) 3 Greg Hall (Waratah) D Grade 1 James Tan (Waratah) 2 Tim Murray (Waratah) 3 Maurice Moro (Hunter Dist) E Grade 1 Keith Lapthorne (Waratah) 2 Kevin Massard (Waratah) 3 Andrew Phillips (Waratah)