Day 5 - January 6: Crown Casino Complex. Start 9.30am, finish 12.30pmResults Preview and course profile Previous stage ReportSteele has a head for racing, Stevenson for the overallby Karen Forman in Melbourne Three months ago, Ric Steele didn't know whether he would ever be able to ride his beloved bike again - let alone race it. Such were the head injuries he received when he crashed in the second round of the Tatts Cup Series in regional Victoria last August, that the 19 year old from Perth was facing the fact that bike racing might be a thing of the past instead of a hope for the future. Today, on the fifth day of the 2002 Skilled Bay Geelong Bay Classic around Crown Casino, Melbourne today, the accident was but a distant memory. Not only did Steele ride his bike after almost three months off it. He raced it. And he won too, and in so doing beating the powerhouse of riders who had been battling it out during the previous four days - guys like Codie Stevenson and Brodie Cullin, who were leading the pointscore, and Ben Jackson who was riding so strongly to upset them. "I am pretty happy," he said after the race. "The concussion I had after the accident - when I crashed over the top of (Victorian Robert) Tighello - was pretty bad. There was a chance I might have ruptured a disc in my neck and I was feeling pretty bad. "But I had three months off and got back on the bike about four weeks ago. This is my first racing and I am pretty happy to be competing again." A member of the WA Institute of Sport, Steele's role was simply to help team mate Cullin, but today he had the opportunity for a stage win himself. Looking at his history, it's not surprising he did so well. Steele rode with the under 23 national squad in Italy last year and in 2000 was third at the national road time trial. This year he would like to go overseas and race with a team in Belgium. And he's serious about it. "I was working with my Dad but now I am putting it aside to ride full-time," he said. Despite the 37 degree heat today, he said he found the course "pretty cruisey", but conceded he was not ideally suited to its short straights and tight corners. Certainly, this B grade race was fast paced and full of attacks from start to finish. While Cullen led out from the gun, Adrian Hanson (Vic), Sanderson and Dane Cheers (South Australia) were on the attack from the first lap. With Sanderson setting the pace, the field singled out very quickly, with a number of riders lost off the back in the fray. Stevenson and Cullen formed a breakaway a third of the way into the race and headed off in a bid to lap the field, but were captured and a new break comprising Cullen, Bradley Dean Edmunds (Victoria) and Sanderson forming three laps before the first sprint. Simon Ross got away by himself before the bell for the first intermediate sprint, Saturday's Portartlington winner Sean Finning headed the main bunch and Cameron Streistermanis (Vic), Sanderson and Steele moved ahead in the bunch. Ross took the sprint followed by Sanderson and Streistermanis and the field strung out, with nobody letting up on the pace. The fastest lap of the race was recorded - 1 minute 11 seconds and the field prepared for the second sprint, taken by Stevenson with Streistermanis second and Cullen third. Four riders crashed on the bottom bend but got back on their bikes and rejoined the field. Meanwhile the leading bunch comprising Finning, Bradley Dean Edmunds, Cullen, William Walker, Sanderson and Brendan Higgins slowed a tad. This provided the perfect opportunity for an attack out of a corner by Vollebregt with Cheers and Cullen hot on his heels, but the bunch latched on quickly. With three laps to go, Steele was up front and looking strong, working hard with Finning, looking for a second win, on his wheel. Half a lap to go and Steele and Cullen attacked strongly, but it was Steele who had the legs today to take the win. Stevenson finished series leader with 47, Cullan was second with 32 and Edmunds third with 27. Photography
ResultsB Grade Men 1 Ric Steele 2 Brodie Cullen 3 Bradley Dean Edmunds 4 Alexander Stewart James 5 Nicholas Sanderson 6 Cody Stevenson 7 Dane Cheers 8 Leigh Scott De Luca 9 Julian Blackwell 10 Benjamin Jackson Sprint 1 1 Simon Ross 2 Nicholas Sanderson 3 Ric Steele Sprint 2 1 Nicholas Sanderson 2 Cameron Streistermanis 3 Brodie Cullen Overall Final Series Pointscore 1 Codie Stevenson 47 2 Brodie Cullan 32 3 Brad Edmunds 27 4 Alex James 23 5 Nicholas Sanderson 21 6 Ben Jackson 20 7 Chris Pascoe 16 8 Dane Sheers 15 9 Sean Finning 12 10 Ric Steel 12
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