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Tour of the Ballarat Goldfields - Tattersall's Cup #1 - NE
Australia, July 31, 2002
Thuaux kicks off series with Goldfields win
By Matt Conn
New South Wales rider, Phil Thuaux has opened the 2002 Tattersall's Cup series with a solo win in yesterday's Tour of the Ballarat Goldfields. Thuaux was also the winner of the final round of last year's series, when he won the Tour of the Tamar in Launceston.
Thuaux showed his that he is in top form for the five race series, breaking away after 50km with fellow NSW riders Nathan Russell and Peter Milostic. Together the three built up a solid lead, sharing the KOM and sprint points along the route.
When the race encountered strong cross winds after 80km, the main group was split into three smaller bunches following a crash. The front group of riders reeled in the breakaways and at 10 km to go, the remnants of the second group also rejoined the front of the race.
Attacks were the order of the final kilometres, with many riders trying their hand at moving clear of the sprinters. Despite the efforts expended earlier in the race, Thuaux broke clear of the bunch to finish alone.
Victorians Ashley Baines and Christopher Carr finished 12 seconds behind Thuaux after breaking clear themselves. Tasmania's Gareth Atkins lead home more than 20 riders and just failed to catch Carr on the line.
Peter Milostic, a former National Series winner, finished on the tail of the front group in 26th place and will wear the King of the Mountains jersey in round two.
Milostic paid tribute to Thuaux and the honest way he rode the race, saying that the NSWIS rider didn't miss a turn in the breakaway and showed his class by still having the strength to win the event.
Thuaux is now the leader of the series, as well as gaining enough points on his breakaway to lead the sprint competition.
Round two of the Tattersall's Cup will be the Tour of the Goulburn Valley on Wednesday August 7.
Provisional results
1 Phillip Thuaux 3.10.40 2 Ashley Baines 0.12 3 Christopher Carr 0.13 4 Gareth Atkins 5 Leigh Egan 6 Matthew Goold 7 Christopher Tymms 8 Eddie Salas 9 Nathan Russell 10 Andy Stewart 11 Jonathon Cantwell 12 Andrew Torney 13 Tim Decker 14 Garry Parsons 15 Andrew Graham 16 Peter Cottam 17 Jai Crawford 18 Glenn Stojanow 19 Simon Walker 20 Nicholas Wood 21 Anthony Challinor 22 Karl Menzies 23 John Flood 24 Bernard Sulzberger 25 Joel Pearson 26 Peter Milostic 27 Tim Buchanan 0.29 28 Jon Townsend 0.35 29 James Taylor 0.39 30 Peter Trigar 31 Christopher Fry 0.44 32 Daniel Nelms 0.52 33 Bradley Bullock 34 Herbert Donovan 35 Graham Rootes 0.59 36 Bradley Edmunds 3.19 37 Nathan Jones 38 Brent Skippen 39 Shayne Kirby 40 Guy Green 41 Carl Cubitt 42 Steve Aitken 43 Matthew Conn 44 Aaron Dalton 45 Trent Stevenson 3.41 46 Peter OÕCallaghan 8.06 47 Lee Godfrey 8.10 48 Bruce McIntosh 49 Benjamin Jackson 9.57 50 Anthony Comino 12.20 51 Patrick Varas 12.29 52 Christopher Newman 12.46 53 Ashley Hyat 54 Michael Johnson 55 Samuel Rix 56 Heath Jackson 13.43 57 Garry Polack 13.48 58 Matt Miller 14.54 59 Aaron Wilson 60 Christopher DÕAmelio 61 Paul Kenny 62 Cameron Carlyle 63 Anthony Di Battista 64 Rodney Mason 65 Todd Wilksch 66 Richard England 67 Shaun Boschert 68 Warren Nelson 69 Rhys Smith 70 Mikkeli Godfree 71 Robert Young 72 Steve Martin 73 Damien Ladd 74 Simon Bone 75 Ian Chandler 76 William Murray 77 Mark Roach 78 Craig McCartney 79 Julian Blackwell 80 Bradley Simpson 81 Kristjan Snorrason 82 Michael Kennedy 23.54 DNF Robert Bell DNF Domenic Gatto DNF James Hannam DNF Heath Riley DNF Joseph Schibeci DNF Dean Smith DNF Andrew Steele DNF Ben Vanderkamp Sprint Leader: Phillip Thuaux King Of The Mountains Leader: Peter Milostic Sid Patterson Rider Of The Future Leader: Ashley Baines Courtesy of Caribou Publications
Past winners
2001 Caleb Manion (Tasmania) 2000 Leigh Egan (Shepparton)
