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Tour of the Southern Grampians - NE
Australia, March 27-28, 2004
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Stage 2 - March 27: Coleraine, 75km
A Grade
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The second stage got underway approximately 90 minutes after the end of stage 1, apart from the two Category 1 climbs of Douglas Road at 14 kilometres and 60 kilometres, riders faced a gradual three kilometre grind out of the valley in which the Coleraine township is nestled.
With the two leaders content to mark each other a number of riders attempted to escape on the climb out of the valley, none were successful, due to the fact that members of the Uno clothing team were working hard on the front to close any attacks down.
Eventually a group of riders managed to make a break work, both of the leaders had team mates in the break and therefore the peloton was content to watch the break ride away.
The peloton was thrown into complete turmoil as it took on Douglas Road for the first time. At two kilometres in distance the road virtually went skyward. With in the space of 1500 metres what had been a tight group of 25 riders soon exploded into a number of smaller groups. The two G.C. leaders crested Douglas Road together in an elite group of five riders, the remnants of the initial break were with in sight, just behind the leaders another group of five riders were attempting to regroup with the leaders. The first three groups managed to reform about seven kilometres after the climb.
A steady tempo ensued, some of the members of the break were preparing to sprint for the cash prize that had been put on offer at the finish line as the riders went through town, other riders were saving energy for the second ascent of Douglas Road, it was clear that a rider or group of riders could maintain a break from the second climb to the finish, some 14 kilometres after the second K.O.M.
Clearly, Will Walker had this tactic in mind when he launched a heartbreaking attack in the first 500 metres of the climb. None of the Uno clothing team members were able or willing to match Walker's speed up the vicious climb and apart from securing vital bonus seconds, Walker managed to gap the peloton by about 200 metres.
However, Andy Graham and his team mates did not panic, a number of orange jerseys went to the front of the pack and lifted the tempo in order to pull the race leader back into the fold. Team Uno clothing were assisted by Peter Pape, Colin Thornton (Broadford-Seymour) and Craig McCartney (De Grandi Cycles) but it was a couple of monster turns on the front by George Vallins (Uno Clothing) that brought the race together again.
With less than ten kilometres to go to the finish, any one of the 15 riders remaining in the front group were possible stage winners. The build up for the finish line was flat and fast, riders coming from the Casterton side of Coleraine, were able to maintain high speeds as they powered up the highway and in to town. Jockeying for positions was left to the brave as the main street of Coleraine was coveted into a drag strip. At about the 500 metres to go mark, Will Walker's trusted team mate, Chris Bradford hit the gas and managed to time his sprint to perfection, apart from getting the stage win, Bradford had denied Andy Graham or any of the other G.C contenders the vital 15 seconds bonus for the win. Jake Sutherland and Ryan Moody managed to get 2nd and 3rd respectively.
B Grade
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The 75km stage had a 50km loop followed by a second 25km loop retracing the 1st part of the stage and Cat 1 KOM climb being repeated twice. The first 25km's was relatively quiet with small efforts off the front and reforming with jersey holder Hanson keeping a close eye on all proceedings. As the first KOM was looming, a breakaway from Glen Taylor closely followed by Mackenzie would see them take 2nd and 1st over the KOM respectively. This developed in to an eight person break with the yellow jersey Hanson and Knowles, Mackenzie, Taylor, Mann, Claxton, Knight and Sutherland working off the plateau, through the finish line and commence the 2nd loop. The bunch worked well together until Knowles attacked before the 2nd KOM. Mackenzie bridged the gap with them both going over the KOM together and ride away from the bunch as the chasers splintered on the steep difficult climb. Knowles won the stage followed by Mackenzie and Sutherland.
C Grade
The pressure was on again from the very start with the climbers attacking to try and shake off the sprinters early. The peleton soon broke up with only 12 riders getting to the top in the main group which then worked fairly hard to try and keep a lead. However, the 12 riders were finally caught by the rest of the riders before the left hand turn. The peleton then settled into a fairly constant rhythm with only a few riders trying to may breaks without any success.
Next was the steepest climb of the tour. It was a 1.9km climb with a gradient of 5.6% and the steepest part being 11%. KOM points were at stake so the pace was on again with 5 riders getting away and forming a good break. There were three riders next over the KOM (Paul Davine, James Garriock & John Marcan). There was no sign of Matthew Opperman (Yellow Jersey). Paul, James & John worked together to try and bridge the gap to the five riders who were away. After some gutsy riding they managed to get back with the first bunch and worked with them to maintain a good lead over the remaining riders and the Yellow Jersey.
The sprint into town was very fast (just over 50kph) with most riders not even getting out of the saddle due to the high speed and tired legs. Kym Howard (Adelaide) managed to win his very first road race by holding off his team mate Josh Smith (2nd) and John Marcan 3rd (Sunbury). At the end of stage two Josh Smith was in the yellow Jersey.
D Grade
The second stage got under way at 3pm and again the stage started with a 3km climb out of the valley. Calloway, Reynolds, Hamilton, Angus, and Walker again made the selective group to ride clear. The road flattened out for the next 30km allowing the remnants of D Grade to work in chasing down the leaders with only Janelle Evans and Howard Bartlett not making the second bunch. Angus found the going too tough at the front and dropped back to the pursuing bunch. When Reynolds punctured and had a slow wheel change it appeared that the chasing bunch would catch the four escapees. This thought quickly disappeared when the riders began the daunting and steep 2km climb to the top of Douglas Road. Walker again was first to the top of the climb with Evans leading over Hamilton. Walker rode out to an 18 second lead, and Hamilton was struggling to roll though in pursuit, even after a gentle push from the yellow jersey. Evans decided to head out in pursuits of Walker alone and with careful riding he brought Walker back 10km from the finish. The two worked turns to the finish with Walker edging out Evans for the Stage win and the yellow jersey. Hamilton rolled in third and Reynolds fourth.
Photography
Images by Paul Logan/Coburg Cycling Club
- Eventual D grade winner Nick Walker
- Eventual B grade winner John MacKenzie
- B grade leaders on the KOM on Stage 2
- Tozer and Bradford just away at the bottom of Douglas Road
- Walker puts the hammer down on Douglas Road
- Walker keeps the pressure on
- Walker destroys the bunch halfway up Douglas Road
- A grader Tozer chasing on Stage 2
- The police doing a sensational job on the road
Results
General classification after stage 2 A Grade 1 Will Walker 2.51.51 2 Andy Graham 0.14 3 Chris Bradford 0.20 4 Jake Sutherland 0.28 5 George Vallins 0.29 6 Ryan Moody 0.31 7 Craig McCartney 8 Colin Thornton 0.36 9 David Tozer 0.37 10 Alex James 0.38 11 Brian McNamara 12 Johnnie Walker 13 Peter Pape 14 Michael Tolhurst 2.44 15 Casey Munro 3.58 16 Chris D’Amelio 3.59 17 Nathan Wise 18 Chris Fry 19 Paul Richards 9.50 20 Dylan Newell 9.53 21 Damian Forster 10.13 22 Pete Knight 23 Andrew Ward 10.42 24 Yvor Bucek 19.03 B Grade 1 John MacKenzie 3.04.09 2 Ed Knowles 0.15 3 Jordan Sutherland 1.47 4 Glen Taylor 1.52 5 John Claxton 2.24 6 Robert Mann 2.29 7 Adrian Hanson 3.23 8 Richard Knight 3.43 9 Paul Brooker 9.46 10 Christine Foster 11 Matt Pope 12.20 12 Simon Bristow 12.22 13 Matt Rice 13.49 14 Michael Sneyd 15 Brendan Schultz 16 Karen Hopkinson 19.56 17 Tom McDonough 23.09 C Grade 1 Josh Smith 2.25.42 2 Kym Howard 0.01 3 Robert Gaggini 0.05 4 John Marcan 0.11 5 Daniel Smith 0.13 6 James Garriock 0.18 7 Paul Davine 8 Chris Steffanoni 9 Matthew Opperman 1.50 10 William Huntington 1.55 11 Craig Vandervalk 2.05 12 Michael Burke 2.59 13 Fraser Short 14 Malcolm Tirrabisi 4.55 15 Stephen Mutch 8.22 16 Russell Collins 8.24 17 Tim Clarke 8.51 18 Doug Reynolds 9.01 19 Chris Mitrovski 9.21 20 Alex Brewer 9.25 21 Morgan Barnes 10.15 22 PJ Cushen 17.16 23 Malcolm Clayton 45.53 D Grade 1 Nick Walker 2.31.32 2 Dan Evans 0.05 3 Ross Hamilton 1.58 4 Dean Calloway 2.22 5 Rick Reynolds 5.24 6 Colin Angus 8.51 7 Chris Hitchen 10.22 8 John Lehner 9 Glen Griffiths 10.39 10 Martin Barnes 12.52 11 John Nassialis 13.05 12 Kylie Richards 17.52 13 Tom Probert 20.29 14 Janelle Evans 26.43 15 Howard Bartlett 40.37
