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Tour of the Southern Grampians - NE
Australia, March 27-28, 2004
Stage 1 - March 27: Coleraine, 36km
A-Grade
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The first stage was where the strongest riders marked out their territory. Within the first ten kilometres Andy Graham (Uno Clothing) and Will Walker (CBD Cycles) attempted to earmark themselves as the Alpha Males in the bunch, the two were able to establish and maintain a 200 to 300-metre gap on the rest of the field.
The two leaders were helped in the attempts by the fact that their team mates were happy to see the break succeed. Therefore, the task of bridging the gap was left to individuals such as Andrew Ward (Coburg) and Peter Pape (Geelong West). Unfortunately, for the peloton, there were not enough riders willing to work to apprehend the two attackers.
Meanwhile, Walker and Graham were happy to share the workload out in front, Walker gained the Five-second bonus at the top of the only KOM for the stage whilst Graham pocketed the three seconds for second over the top. All that remained for the two was to maintain the lead, which had grown to about 500 metres, over the final 15 kilometres of flat or downhill in order to entrench themselves at the top of the GC.
The peloton managed to organise itself once the KOM had been negotiated, more riders were willing to share the workload but the co-operation had come too late, the two leaders had way too much horsepower and were able to hold on to their margin. In the sprint for the win, Will Walker was able to just get over the top of Andy Graham to record the victory by about a quarter of a wheel width. The peloton came in 11 seconds behind.
B Grade
The undulating to hilly 21km's before the first KOM kept all riders on their
toes and the speed at a moderate pace. The bunch let an early 2 person break
go, which was wise given they lost there momentum after about 10kms. At the
18 km mark a short steep climb saw the bunch start to splinter as the speed
was maintained as the contenders tried to force the issue. This was just a prelude
to a Cat 2 KOM, which
although not steep, was long enough to place all the riders under pressure.
The KOM saw a close finish with Adrian Hanson taking 1st. Straight after the KOM the pace eased which allowed the bunch to reform leading towards a steep down hill back in to Coleraine. With 10km's to go another 2 man break jumped up the road and kept the bunch in two minds about chasing the leaders down.
Unfortunately for the break the downhill gave the bunch extra legs and reformed for a bunch sprint with Hanson taking 1st and a close 2nd and 3rd by John Mackenzie and John Claxton.
C Grade
26 riders set off for the first stage of the race. As there were riders from many parts of Victoria & SA, most riders were unsure of the climbing abilities and strengths of the other riders. We started out the first few KM under control until we hit the first climb at 2K. The pace was on immediately with a number of riders falling off the back. At the top of the climb the pace eased off and a number of riders were able to re-join the peleton. The next 10K were fairly tame with only a few undulations to test out the riders. There was one rider who broke away in this section and the peleton were not interested in chasing as there was still a fair way to the finish. As we turned back to the main road to Coleraine the breakaway rider was hauled in and there was a huge surge for the KOM. Josh Smith from Adelaide managed to take out the points.
At this stage the peleton broke up and there was only 16 riders left for the descent back into town. Josh Smith managed to stay away for about 10K after the climb. The peleton worked together to bridge the gap and Josh was finally caught just before the sprint. In the sprint we reached about 57KPH into a slight head wind with Matthew Opperman (Mt Gambier) 1st, William Huntington (Mt Gambier )2nd and Doug Reynolds (Blackburn) 3rd
D Grade
The selective move of the Tour happened after three kilometres when Dean Calloway (Coburg), Rick Reynolds (Blackburn), Ross Hamilton (Blackburn), Dan Evans and Nick Walker (both Brunswick) and Colin Angus (Mt Gambier) broke clear from the peloton and quickly opened a gap on the severe climb.
The leading bunch was chased by Glen Griffiths (Hawthorn), Chris Hitchen, John Nassialis and John Lehner (all Sunbury). With Kylie-Anne Richards (Coburg), Tom Probert (Sunbury) and Janelle Evans (Brunswick ) in pursuit. At 21.9km Nick Walker won the first KOM a Category 2 climb before the Tour descended into Coleraine. Evans took the stage and the leaders jersey with Walker closely on his wheel.
Photography
Images by Paul Logan/Coburg Cycling Club
- D Grade break on Stage 1
- C Grade bunch on KOM Stage 1
- C Grade rider Mick Burke
- Coburg C grader Paul Davine feels the pain
- C Grade bunch strung out on Stage 1
- Walker and Graham away on Stage 1
- A grade on Stage 1 out after the break
- A grade sprint for 3rd on Stage 1
- B grader Karen Hopkinson
Results
A grade 1 Will Walker 54.07 2 Andy Graham 0.07 3 Craig McCartney 0.24 4 George Vallins 0.27 5 Paul Richards 0.29 6 Casey Munro 0.30 7 Andrew Ward 0.31 8 Chris D’Amelio 9 Colin Thornton 10 Dylan Newell 11 Jake Sutherland 12 Alex James 13 Michael Tolhurst 14 Nathan Wise 15 Ryan Moody 16 Chris Fry 17 David Tozer 18 Brian McNamara 19 Johnnie Walker 20 Peter Pape 21 Chris Bradford 22 Shayne Kirby 6.45 23 Damian Forster 24 Yvor Bucek 25 Pete Knight B Grade 1 Adrian Hanson 59.41 2 John MacKenzie 0.07 3 John Claxton 0.13 4 Robert Mann 0.16 5 Matt Pope 0.18 6 Richard Knight 0.19 7 Jordan Sutherland 0.20 8 Simon Bristow 9 Garry Polak 10 Brendan Schultz 11 Paul Brooker 12 Glen Taylor 13 Michael Sneyd 14 Christine Foster 15 Ed Knowles 16 Peter Murphy 17 Matt Rice 18 Tom McDonough 4.42 19 Andre Pudebat 5.04 20 Karen Hopkinson 10.57 C Grade 1 Matthew Opperman 1.01.10 2 William Huntington 0.05 3 Doug Reynolds 0.06 4 Robert Gaggini 0.07 5 Josh Smith 0.12 6 Kym Howard 0.13 7 Michael Burke 0.15 8 Paul Davine 9 Paul Bosch 10 Daniel Smith 11 James Garriock 12 Chris Steffanoni 13 Luke Hanley 14 Craig Vandervalk 15 John Marcan 16 Fraser Short 17 Malcolm Tirrabisi 0.43 18 Russell Collins 3.20 19 Chris Mitrovski 3.59 20 Malcolm Clayton 4.10 21 Stephen Mutch 22 Alex Brewer 23 Morgan Barnes 24 Tim Clarke 6.07 25 Scott Magee 26 PJ Cushen D Grade 1 Dan Evans 1.05.14 2 Nick Walker 0.04 3 Dean Calloway 0.06 4 Rick Reynolds 5 Colin Angus 0.14 6 Ross Hamilton 0.16 7 Chris Hitchen 1.45 8 John Lehner 9 Glen Griffiths 2.02 10 Martin Barnes 4.15 11 John Nassialis 12 Kylie Richards 7.06 13 Janelle Evans 7.08 14 Ariel Grana 9.39 15 Tom Probert 9.43 16 Mark Kendt 9.51 17 Howard Bartlett 12.13
