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De Bortoli Tour - NE
Victoria, Australia, July 17-19, 2004
Stage 1 - July 17: Toolangi, 102km
Gatto & Fraser take opening stage
By Mal Sawford
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Domenic Gatto and Caitlin Fraser (Moroni's Bikes) took out the opening stage of the De Bortoli Tour, and earned the prestigious leader's yellow jerseys heading into the afternoon Time Trial. Gatto returned from a successful US trip only last week, and shook off jet lag to sprint to the win from a lead group whittled down to five riders. Fraser, a former international rower, proved the strongest rider in the Women's field, riding the field off her wheel to win alone with a huge margin; approaching three minutes.
How it unfolded
Heavy overnight rain and a forecast of snow in the outer suburban hills didn't dissuade the majority of the record field taking to the start line for the second edition of the De Bortoli Tour. The most notable absence was the scratching of pre-race favourite Matt Goold (Team MG-ZT), who had been laid low with a gastric upset overnight.
The A Grade men's field faced two laps of a tough 51km circuit, featuring a 10km climb up the twisting road to Toolangi, and a series of leg breaking step pinches on the run into the finish at the Yarra Glen racecourse. The Women's field tackled the same opening lap, but omitted the Toolangi climb on their second circuit, for a total distance of 72km.
Men
The opening lap saw Sean Finning (VIS) and Tasmanian Stephen Rossendell attack early, and approaching the summit at Toolangi, the pair was ten seconds clear of a small chase group led by Gatto and Colin Thornton. The bunch were a further twenty seconds behind, but on the twisting, wet and slippery down hill, were brought back into contention behind the descending skills of Ash Hayat (The Freedom Machine).
The undulating leg to Yarra Glen saw the bunch shed tiring riders, with South Australian Stephen Cunningham setting the pace and claiming the opening KOM points. Heading back to the Toolangi climb, fifteen riders forced a split, with a similar number only ten seconds behind. The steady climb saw the leaders pull further ahead, and the chasers were unable to close the gap on the descent.
Matt Lloyd (Kathy Watt's Personal Training) took the points at the KOM sprint up 'the wall', to take the overall lead in the KOM competition, but the effort clearly hurt him, as he lost contact with the lead bunch shortly after. Approaching the left turn into town, the survivors were Gatto, Trent Perry (Team MG-ZT), Klayten Smith (Clarence Street Cyclery), Chris Tymms (Pro-Motion Bicycles) and Uruguayan star Hector Morales.
Gatto attacked with Perry with one thousand metres to race, but the move was countered by Morales. Smith jumped before the final turn, but wasn't able to hold on, with Gatto emerging from the group to take the win ahead of Perry and Tymms.
Gatto played down his sprinting abilities after the win, but admitted "I've been working on it a lot this year, and after racing in the States the speed at the end there is about 20kmh quicker than that, and that sort of helps a bit!"
Gatto nominated Smith as the one to watch for the overall, feeling that the after affects of jet lag, the lack of a time trial bike, and a hard week of training in preparation for the Tattersall's Cup races would hurt his own overall chances.
Women
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Caitlin Fraser showed her strength very early on, riding clear with another former rower, Jenny Macpherson (Fitzroy Cycles), on the long climb to Toolangi. At the summit, the pair was 45 seconds clear of a chase group led by Barcelona Olympic Gold Medallist Kathy Watt (Kathy Watt's Personal Training). The treacherous descent saw the lead pair extend their lead, before Fraser's strength saw her pull away from Macpherson at the QOM sprint.
The chase group saw New South Wales rider Zoe Southwell (Raceline) out sprint Watt for the third place points, with Claire Baxter (Mascot Cycles), Briana James (Drapac Property Group), Kerryn Charman, and Christine Foster (Richmond Cyclery) still working well, but Watt turned the tables soon after, riding away from the chase group and setting off after the leaders.
Fraser proved uncatchable, eventually crossing the line 2:39 clear of Watt, who had caught and dropped Macpherson just before the second QOM sprint. Macpherson held on for a comfortable third a further 46 seconds in arrears, with the chase group led home by Charman.
The stage win was 31 year old Fraser's first win (at her first attempt) at open level, having only started racing in October. Cycling is a "stress management strategy that's gotten right out of control" said the delighted winner. "I know I've got reasonable form, but I've only ridden local races before so my strategy was to try to stay with the front girls. Then Jenny lost contact in the hills, so I just kept going!"
Despite her 2:50 General Classification advantage on Watt, Fraser was not overly confident of holding on to the Tour lead, expecting the time trial specialist to "blow my doors off, and I'm pretty tired now. Bu I'll have a crack at it."
Support Races
Chris Jenkins (Randwick Botany) led a four man group home to claim the B Grade stage win, with the minor places going to Darren Lapthorne, Murray Spink (Jones Cycles) and Mark Howard (O'Mara Cycles). Spink leads the KOM competition from Jenkins and Dylan Newell. Jenkins goes into the afternoon time trial in the Yellow Jersey, only 4 seconds clear of Spink.
Under 19 rider Johnny Walker (CBD Cycles) looks set to emulate the feats of older brother Will, after his dominant ride in the C Grade race, held over the same 72km circuit as the Women. Walker rode most of the race solo, winning both KOM sprints to lead that competition, before being caught by veteran rider David Moreland in the closing stages. Walker was still good enough to take the two-up sprint, with Kyle Marwood finishing 12 seconds adrift. After time bonuses, Walker holds a 13 second GC advantage over Moreland.
Doug Reynolds, one of the oldest riders in the field, outclimbed the D Grade field, and rode all except Cameron Winton off his wheel. Fittingly, Reynolds took the win and the yellow jersey ahead of a frustrated Winton, with Andrew Verducci leading the bunch home.
Photography
Images by Mal Sawford
- The field rolls out from the De Bortoli Winery
- Domenic Gatto takes the opening stage
- Gatto during his post race interview
- The Women receive pre-race instructions
- Kathy Watt leads the chase on the Toolangi climb
- Jenny Macpherson flies down the slippery descent
- Zoe Southwell gaps Watt for the QOM points
- Caitlin Fraser powers to a convincing win
- Watt made a late charge to claim second on the stage
- Macpherson rode strongly all day
- Chris Jenkins wins the B Grade race
- Johnny Walker was the stand out rider in C Grade
- The D Grade leaders tackle the Toolangi climb
Results
1 Domenic Gatto (Brunswick Cycling Club Inc) 2.48.16 2 Trent Perry (Albury-Wodonga CC) 3 Christoph Tymms (Carnegie Caulfield CC) 4 Hector Morales 5 Klayten Smith (Clarence St CCC) 6 Matthew Lloyd (St Kilda Cycling Club Inc) 1.05 7 George Bunt (Caravello Joinery CC) 2.04 8 Scott Peoples (Shepparton Cycling Club Inc) 9 Stephen Cunningham (Norwood C.C.) 10 John Mackenzie (Warragul Cycling Club Inc) 11 Jarrod Clark (Brunswick Cycling Club Inc) 2.19 12 Peter Trigar (Brunswick Cycling Club Inc) 13 Anthony Smith (Carnegie Caulfield CC) 14 Jason Hegert (Ballarat/Sebastopol C C) 15 Colin Thornton (Broadford Seymour Cycling Club) 16 Peter McDonald (Randwick Botany CC) 17 David Pell (Bendigo & District CC) 18 Peter Mueller (Adelaide CC) 19 Sam Bach (Coburg Cycling Club Inc) 20 Damien Turner (Ballarat/Sebastopol C C) 2.47 21 Marc Williams (Canberra Cycling Club) 2.58 22 Daniel McConnell (Bairnsdale & Riviera C C) 23 Sean Finning (Castlemaine Cycling Club Inc) 3.34 24 Nathan Wise (Carnegie Caulfield CC) 25 Ashley Hayat (St Kilda Cycling Club Inc) 4.28 26 Casey Munro (Brunswick Cycling Club Inc) 16.52 27 Craig Johnson (St Kilda Cycling Club Inc) 17.05 28 Samuel Rix (St Kilda Cycling Club Inc) 29 Christoph D'Amelio (Bairnsdale & Riviera C C) 30 Ben Edwards (St Kilda Cycling Club Inc) 19.44 31 Garry Clively (Coburg Cycling Club Inc) 22.59 32 Mark O'Brien (Horsham Cycling Club Inc) 33 Matthew Jones (Echuca/Moama Cycling Club) 23.40 34 David Stewart (Eastern Suburbs CC) 25.23 35 Owen Macphillamy (Bathurst CC) 26.35 36 Graham Rutter (Hinchinbrook Cycling Club) 32.21 DNF Robert Lyte DNF Carl Cubitt (Coburg Cycling Club Inc) DNF Nick Kiraly (Carnegie Caulfield CC) DNF Stephen Rossendell (Hobart Wheelers) DNF Nigel Dunstone (Caravello Joinery CC) DNF Brent Skippen (Parramatta CC) DNF Grant Webster (Echuca/Moama Cycling Club) DNF Michael Tolhurst (Carnegie Caulfield CC) DNF Michael Teggelove (Echuca/Moama Cycling Club) DNF Alexander James (Brunswick Cycling Club Inc) DNF Luke Weir (Carnegie Caulfield CC) DNF Ryan Moody (Geelong West Cycling Club Inc) DNF Adam Murchie (Footscray Cycling Club Inc) DNS Christoph Bradford (Carnegie Caulfield CC) DNS Matthew Goold (Carnegie Caulfield CC) DNS Garry Parsons (Camperdown Cycling Club Inc) DNS Bradley Norton (Shepparton Cycling Club Inc) KOM Sprint 1 1 Stephen Cunningham (Norwood C.C.) 2 Robert Lyte 3 Michael Tolhurst (Carnegie Caulfield CC) KOM Sprint 2 1 Matthew Lloyd (St Kilda Cycling Club Inc) 2 Klayten Smith (Clarence St CCC) 3 Domenic Gatto (Brunswick Cycling Club Inc) B Grade, 102 km 1 Christoph Jenkins (Randwick Botany CC) 2.56.43 2 Darren Lapthorne (Coburg Cycling Club Inc) 3 Murray Spink (Dirt Riders) 4 Mark Howard (Carnegie Caulfield CC) 5 Peter Ladd (Bendigo & District CC) 6 Daniel Bellis (Footscray Cycling Club Inc) 0.53 7 Gerard Murphy (Leongatha Cycling Club Inc) 6.10 8 Cameron Wise (Carnegie Caulfield CC) 9 Joshua Marden (Randwick Botany CC) 10 Guy Green (Blackburn Cycling Club Inc) 11 Wayne Nichols (Lavington Panthers Sports) 6.17 12 Brendan Washington (Lavington Panthers Sports) 6.18 13 Warren Nelson (Carnegie Caulfield CC) 14 Dylan Newell (Brunswick Cycling Club Inc) 9.59 15 Julian Paynter (St Kilda Cycling Club Inc) 11.02 16 William Murray (Chelsea & Peninsula C C) 17 Ross Edwards (Carnegie Caulfield CC) 18 Lee Robinson (Carnegie Caulfield CC) 19 Paul Clancy (Griffith CC) 13.23 20 Josef Stoltz (Bendigo & District CC) 15.24 21 Daniel Furmston (Hobart Wheelers) 15.42 22 Ben Darlington (Canberra Cycling Club) 16.00 23 Andrew Smith (Blackburn Cycling Club Inc) 24 Jamie Goddard (Blackburn Cycling Club Inc) 16.08 25 James Maebus (Dirt Riders) 16.13 26 Jeffrey Shaw (Blackburn Cycling Club Inc) 27 Alistair Farley (Castlemaine Cycling Club Inc) 28 Cameron Hunter (Blackburn Cycling Club Inc) 29 Stephen Blair (Canberra Cycling Club) 30 Christoph Lee (St Kilda Cycling Club Inc) 31 Garron Buckland (Dirt Riders) 32 Peter O'Callaghan (Brunswick Cycling Club Inc) 18.20 33 Adam Pyke (Mornington Cycling Club) 24.27 34 Danny Cohen (St Kilda Cycling Club Inc) DNF Anthony Comino (St Kilda Cycling Club Inc) DNF Stuart Hill (St Kilda Cycling Club Inc) DNF Christoph Wilson (Kangaroo Point C C) DNF Heath Keenan (Shepparton Cycling Club Inc) DNF James Bradshaw (Brunswick Cycling Club Inc) DNF Ken Ford (Carnegie Caulfield CC) DNF Steven Cunneen (Bendigo & District CC) DNF Justin Hogan (Carnegie Caulfield CC) DNF Greg Nicolson (Carnegie Caulfield CC) DNF Aaron Wilson (Brunswick Cycling Club Inc) DNF Brenton Dunne (Albury-Wodonga CC) DNS Raymond Jarratt (Cobram Barooga C C) DNS Alex Randall (St Kilda Cycling Club Inc) DNS Chris Winn (Dirt Riders) DNS Jan Willhoeft (Carnegie Caulfield CC) DNS Daniel Burtt (Geelong West Cycling Club Inc) KOM Sprint 1 1 Murray Spink (Dirt Riders) 2 Dylan Newell (Brunswick Cycling Club Inc) 3 Christoph Jenkins (Randwick Botany CC) KOM Sprint 2 1 Christoph Jenkins (Randwick Botany CC) 2 Murray Spink (Dirt Riders) 3 Darren Lapthorne (Coburg Cycling Club Inc) C Grade, 72 km 1 Johnny Walker (Brunswick Cycling Club Inc) 2.05.54 2 David Moreland (Bendigo & District CC) 3 Kyle Marwood (Bendigo & District CC) 0.12 4 Danny Kah (Carnegie Caulfield CC) 5 Bradley Clark (Albury-Wodonga CC) 6 Josh Akarsu 7 Adrian Hanson (Coburg Cycling Club Inc) 2.40 8 James Stewart (Geelong West Cycling Club Inc) 9 Brett Buckland (Dirt Riders) 10 Daryl Burns (Geelong West Cycling Club Inc) 11 John Claxton (Fat Tyre Flyers) 12 Jordan Sutherland (Brunswick Cycling Club Inc) 3.01 13 Thor Navntoft (Carnegie Caulfield CC) 14 Jeffrey Gray (Illawarra CC) 4.55 15 Chris Hunt (Warragul Cycling Club Inc) 16 Kain Nunn (Blackburn Cycling Club Inc) 5.17 17 Michael Forbes (St Kilda Cycling Club Inc) 6.02 18 Nathaniel Brown (St Kilda Cycling Club Inc) 19 Harry Fricke (Hawthorn Citizens Youth Club) 6.27 20 Pete Knight (St Kilda Cycling Club Inc) 6.39 21 Jason Jackson (Fat Tyre Flyers) 22 Andrew McKellar (Footscray Cycling Club Inc) 23 Jordan James (St Kilda Cycling Club Inc) 9.31 24 John Marcan (Sunbury & Hume Districts C C) 25 Kurt Jensen (Carnegie Caulfield CC) 26 Kel Macculloch (St Kilda Cycling Club Inc) 27 Bruce Will (Carnegie Caulfield CC) 28 Chris Rohrmeier (Carnegie Caulfield CC) 29 Ian Van Driel (Carnegie Caulfield CC) 30 Joel Watson (Geelong West Cycling Club Inc) 12.20 31 Jason Johnson (Hobart Wheelers) 12.49 32 Paul Brewer (Blackburn Cycling Club Inc) 13.02 33 Trevor Cameron (Blackburn Cycling Club Inc) 14.19 34 Tony Mason (Carnegie Caulfield CC) 15.45 35 James Giannakakis (Carnegie Caulfield CC) 18.05 36 Ross Jones (Carnegie Caulfield CC) 18.49 37 Peter Sullivan 18.54 38 Matt Rice (Colac Cycling Club Inc) 18.58 39 Konstanti Kakris (St Kilda Cycling Club Inc) 40 Brett Curren (Blackburn Cycling Club Inc) 19.27 41 Scott Jensen (Carnegie Caulfield CC) 23.20 42 Jared Dwyer (Dirt Riders) 25.04 43 Kok-Boon Chia (Carnegie Caulfield CC) 27.08 44 Brendan Murphy (Leongatha Cycling Club Inc) 28.47 45 Jeffrey Williams (Fat Tyre Flyers) 29.53 46 Scott Setford (Blackburn Cycling Club Inc) 30.30 DNF Andrew Cochrane (Ballarat/Sebastopol C C) DNF Chris Degenaar (St Kilda Cycling Club Inc) DNF Timothy Clarke (Blackburn Cycling Club Inc) DNF Peter McWeeney (Carnegie Caulfield CC) DNF Vaughan Mudge (Wangaratta Cycling Club Inc) DNS Daniel Strangio (Carnegie Caulfield CC) DNS John Cipriano (Carnegie Caulfield CC) DNS Richard Knight (Blackburn Cycling Club Inc) KOM Sprint 1 1 Johnny Walker (Brunswick Cycling Club Inc) 2 Josh Akarsu 3 Bradley Clark (Albury-Wodonga CC) KOM Sprint 2 1 Johnny Walker (Brunswick Cycling Club Inc) 2 Josh Akarsu 3 Bradley Clark (Albury-Wodonga CC) D Grade, 72 km 1 Douglas Reynolds (Blackburn Cycling Club Inc) 2.12.08 2 Cameron Winton (Carnegie Caulfield CC) 3 Andrew Verduci (St Kilda Cycling Club Inc) 0.26 4 Richard Reynolds (Blackburn Cycling Club Inc) 0.28 5 Chris Truskett (St Kilda Cycling Club Inc) 6 Stuart Hastings (St Kilda Cycling Club Inc) 7 Andrew Hall (Blackburn Cycling Club Inc) 8 David Ogilvie (Ballarat/Sebastopol C C) 1.37 9 Daniel Hynes (St Kilda Cycling Club Inc) 10 Robert Curtis (Carnegie Caulfield CC) 1.54 11 Scott Arnold (St Kilda Cycling Club Inc) 3.17 12 Michael Skerritt (Coburg Cycling Club Inc) 3.21 13 James Garriock (St Kilda Cycling Club Inc) 14 Eric Gord Shaw (Sunbury & Hume Districts C C) 15 Hamish Rodgers-Wilson (Brunswick Cycling Club Inc) 3.28 16 Ian Harper (Blackburn Cycling Club Inc) 6.49 17 Tony Retra (Wangaratta Cycling Club Inc) 18 Mark Higginbotham (Brunswick Cycling Club Inc) 7.07 19 Gregory Poynter (Hawthorn Citizens Youth Club) 7.56 20 Matthew Sherwin (Carnegie Caulfield CC) 10.22 21 Andrew Hutcheson (Sunbury & Hume Districts C C) 10.24 22 Paul Simpson (Coburg Cycling Club Inc) 23 Sam Patterson (Coburg Cycling Club Inc) 24 Russell Hunt (Carnegie Caulfield CC) 11.46 25 Stuart Sanders (Ballarat/Sebastopol C C) 26 Michael Sneyd (St Kilda Cycling Club Inc) 27 Timothy Campbell (Bendigo & District CC) 12.36 28 Max Fish (Blackburn Cycling Club Inc) 15.42 29 Christoph Ott (St Kilda Cycling Club Inc) 15.51 30 Allan O'Neil (Hawthorn Citizens Youth Club) 18.17 31 Grant McDonough (Blackburn Cycling Club Inc) 20.01 32 Glenn Tournier (Blackburn Cycling Club Inc) 33 Craig Van Der Valk (Hawthorn Citizens Youth Club) 21.08 34 Malcolm Wyatt (Footscray Cycling Club Inc) 35 James O'Keefe (Coburg Cycling Club Inc) 24.05 36 Bradley Pletsch (Albury-Wodonga CC) 25.10 37 George Greenall (Mornington Cycling Club) 25.38 38 Shane Fernando (Carnegie Caulfield CC) 39 Dainel Oldfield (Blackburn Cycling Club Inc) 26.00 40 Peter Benda (Coburg Cycling Club Inc) 26.23 41 Simon Florentine (St Kilda Cycling Club Inc) 29.54 42 Mark Steidle (Footscray Cycling Club Inc) 30.01 43 Kevin Delaney (Footscray Cycling Club Inc) 36.55 44 David Axford (Warragul Cycling Club Inc) 48.54 DNF Malcolm Hart (Carnegie Caulfield CC) DNF Barry Woods (Blackburn Cycling Club Inc) DNF Anthony Peacock (Blackburn Cycling Club Inc) DNS Neale Adams (Carnegie Caulfield CC) DNS Mark Cleary (Carnegie Caulfield CC) DNS Rob Monk (Warragul Cycling Club Inc) DNS Christian McDonald (Cobram Barooga C C) DNS Nicholas Florentine (St Kilda Cycling Club Inc) KOM Sprint 1 1 Robert Curtis (Carnegie Caulfield CC) 2 Chris Truskett (St Kilda Cycling Club Inc) 3 Andrew Verduci (St Kilda Cycling Club Inc) KOM Sprint 2 1 Douglas Reynolds (Blackburn Cycling Club Inc) 2 Stuart Hastings (St Kilda Cycling Club Inc) 3 Robert Curtis (Carnegie Caulfield CC) Women 1 Lap Toolangi, 1 Death Valley 72 km 1 Caitlin Fraser (Bendigo & District CC) 2.14.23 2 Kathryn Watt (Blackburn Cycling Club Inc) 2.39 3 Jenny Macpherson (Carnegie Caulfield CC) 3.24 4 Claire Baxter (Hawthorn Citizens Youth Club) 6.50 5 Zoe Southwell (Parramatta CC) 33.10 6 Briana James (St Kilda Cycling Club Inc) 6.50 7 Kerryn Charman (Geelong West Cycling Club Inc) 8 Cristine Foster (St Kilda Cycling Club Inc) 6.53 9 Peta Maher (Warrnambool Cycling Club Inc) 11.24 10 Audrey Quick (Blackburn Cycling Club Inc) 11 Judith May (Canberra Cycling Club) 12 Linda Cappello (Canberra Cycling Club) 12.04 13 Apryl Eppinger (Carnegie Caulfield CC) 14 Emma Mackie (Albury-Wodonga CC) 13.34 15 Michelle Murrell (Mornington Cycling Club) 24.23 16 Birthe Hansen (Blackburn Cycling Club Inc) 17 Kym Petersen (Carnegie Caulfield CC) 27.30 18 Virginia Hamilton (Hawthorn Citizens Youth Club) 19 Emily Phillips (Blackburn Cycling Club Inc) 28.05 20 Adrienne Lang (Blackburn Cycling Club Inc) 31.20 21 Elizabeth Randall (St Kilda Cycling Club Inc) 36.29 DNF Carmen Gould (Carnegie Caulfield CC) DNS Gemma Goyne (Carnegie Caulfield CC) QOM Sprint 1 1 Caitlin Fraser (Bendigo & District CC) 2 Jenny Macpherson (Carnegie Caulfield CC) 3 Zoe Southwell (Parramatta CC) QOM Sprint 2 1 Caitlin Fraser (Bendigo & District CC) 2 Kathryn Watt (Blackburn Cycling Club Inc) 3 Jenny Macpherson (Carnegie Caulfield CC)
