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Tattersall's Cup Tour of the Murray River - NE
Australia, August 31-September 4, 2005
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Stage 9 - September 4: Cardross Kermesse, 57.6 km
Lapthorne boosts young career with a win
By Rod Morris in Mildura
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oung Victorian rider Darren Lapthorne has given his young career a huge boost with victory in stage 9 of the Tour of the Murray River. Lapthorne won after a breach of race regulations almost cost Victorian cyclist Simon Clarke overall victory in the Tattersall's Cup - Tour of the Murray River in Mildura earlier today. Clarke suffered a puncture in the penultimate stage in nearby Cardross and instead of waiting for the neutral spares van, he swapped from wheels with his Victorian Institute of Sport teammate, Patrick Shaw. Nothing unusual about that in most multi-stage tours, but the Tour of the Murray River was an individual event and race commissaires gave Clarke, his VIS teammates and coach Dave Sanders a lunchtime dressing down, before handing out penalties of $300 for Clarke and a $50 slap for Shaw. The tyre change was one of the most controversial aspects of this year's Tattersall's Cup series, which has included five-day tours in Gippsland, Tasmania and the Murray River.
Clarke led this week's tour from start to finish, in a similar pattern to Shaun Higgerson in the Jayco Tour of Tasmania three weeks ago. "I had some great riders around me and everything went to a plan for the whole week," Clarke said. "We (VIS) weren't the only ones riding as a team and whilst we may have breached the rules slightly, I don't think too much damage was done." Second placed Bernard Sulzberger agreed. "I'm not going to make waves, it's no big deal to me, I would much prefer to beat Simon on his merits, there's nothing really wrong with what he did," he said. "I'm happy where I finished and I'm looking forward to the next few months of racing."
Sulzberger finished 25 seconds behind Clarke after the 10 stage tour, in which he finished in the top 10 riders seven times, including victory in Stage 2 from Swan Hill to Manangatang last Wednesday. Today's two stages saw riders at opposite ends of their careers claim victory. The Cardross Kermesse was won by 22-year-old Coburg rider Darren Lapthorne and the afternoon's Mildura Criterium went to Shepparton veteran David McKenzie. The Cardross event was staged on an interesting, flat and fast, 4.8 km circuit where riders were asked to sprint for 12 laps.
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Lapthorne, little known Queenslander Brendan O'Connell and Sydney international Trent Wilson made the play early in the race, jumping away from the peloton to control the intermediate sprints. None of the trio were a threat to Clarke, Sulzberger and the other GC leaders, so they were allowed their time in the sun out in front. In stark contrast to Saturday's deplorable weather, the Cardross event was bathed in mild sunshine and Lapthorne, O'Connell and Wilson opened up a gap of almost a minute at one point.
That advantage had been slashed to 17 seconds at the bell lap, while news of Clarke's puncture and subsequent wheel change with Patrick Shaw had already reached officials at the start/finish line. The leading trio concentrated on the task at hand, and with head down and backside up, they sprinted to the line with just 11 seconds to spare from the chasing bunch. "I couldn't be happier with this win," beamed Lapthorne. "This is my style of racing and it gives me the impetus to take my cycling a bit further."
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Lapthorne has only been racing seriously for two years after spending some time living in China when his father was transferred there for work. "I basically have only done some club road racing, but I get serious around this time of the year after watching the Tour de France on television," he said. "I am competing in New Caledonia in a couple of weeks and would then like to get a start in the Herald Sun Tour next month if possible."
Lapthorne said he had not expected to do as well as he did in the Tattersall's Cup series, but had enjoyed the experience immensely. After 28 races in the series, Lapthorne finished 12th overall, including one stage victory and fourth other top 10 placings. Wilson, who conceded third place behind Lapthorne and O'Connell admitted he did not know much about his two fellow breakaway riders and perhaps underestimated their sprinting abilities. "I'm not known as a sprinter and I've been marked all week, which is fair enough, but I thought I could have won this stage," he said. "But full credit to Darren and Brendan, they rode like true professionals."
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Shane Goss/www.licoricegallery.com
- CBD Cycles from Melbourne on the Tour of the Murray River.
- Richard Moffatt looking to hold on to a top-10 placing.
- Peter McDonald on the start line in Cardross for stage nine.
- Katie Mactier preparing for an assault on the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.
- Stephen Cunningham from South Australia in the top five going in to the penultimate stage.
- Cameron Wise from Victoria finished second on stage seven in Euston.
- David McKenzie from Victoria on the start line in Cardross.
- Tommy Nankervis is going bananas on the Tour of the Murray River!
- Riders await the start to stage nine in Cardross.
- Tour leader Simon Clarke gets a head start on the start line.
- Unlike the sign says, these leaders won't be coming back!
- Watch out, here comes the Tour of the Murray River.
- The peloton roll through Cardross.
- Trent Wilson from New South Wales in the lead group on stage nine.
- The peloton approach Cardross and the Tattersall's banner.
- Darren Lapthorne from Victoria swings round a bend near Cardross.
- The main field in pursuit of the leading group.
- At the back of the field approaching Cardross.
- Beneath the banner of the 2005 Tattersall's Cup.
- The peloton in Cardross.
- Brendan O'Connell leads Darren Lapthorne and Trent Wilson in the lead group.
- Darren Lapthorne takes out stage nine in Cardross.
- Stage winner Darren Lapthorne with tour commentator Lyndsay Hill.
- The podium - (L-R) Trent Wilson (3rd), Darren Lapthorne (1st) and Brendan O'Connell (3rd).
- Trent Wilson was judged the Subaru Most Aggressive rider on stage nine.
- Tour leader Simon Clarke with Tattersall's representative Amanda Newton.
- Stuart Shaw in the RoadSafe Mildura Sprint Points leader's jersey.
- Simon Clarke from Victoria holding on to his lead in the Tour of the Murray River after stage nine.
- Tour Director John Craven (L) with chief commissaire Bill McMahon (centre) and technical manager Frank McCaig after stage nine.
- VIS cycling coach Dave Sanders (R) with chief commissaire Bill McMahon discussing Simon Clarke's puncture on stage nine.
Results
1 Darren Lapthorne 1.17.54 2 Brendan O'Connell 3 Trent Wilson 4 Bernard Sulzberger 0.11 5 Simon Clarke 6 Grant Irwin 7 Scott McGrory 8 Aaron Salisbury 9 Ben Kersten 10 Tommy Nankervis 11 David McKenzie 12 Mathew Rex 13 Robert McLachlan 14 Cameron Wise 15 Wesley Sulzberger 16 Andrew Naylor 17 John Walker 18 Casey Munro 19 Stuart Shaw 20 Robert Cater 21 Warren Scott 22 Andrew Graham 23 Cameron Bowden 24 David Salton 25 Chris Jongewaard 26 Steven Robb 27 Tim Hucker 28 Daniel Burtt 29 Jeremy Davis 30 Nash Kent 31 Damien Turner 32 James Maebus 33 Joe McDonnell 34 Matt Haydock 35 Kyle Marwood 36 Brendan Hill 37 Nicholas Wood 38 Luke Bettany 39 Russell Van Hout 40 Adrian Hanson 41 Peter Mueller 42 Matthew Jensen 43 Bradley Norton 44 Peter Dawson 45 David Hiley 46 Simon Pearson 47 Jason Hegert 48 Stephen Cunningham 49 Stephen Rossendell 50 Charles Howlett 51 Troy Glennan 52 Adrian Salter 53 Trent Stevenson 54 Timothy Decker 55 Richard Moffatt 56 Matthew Delahunty 57 Luke Pledger 58 David Tozer 59 Peter McDonald 60 Samuel Rix 61 Brad Glennan 62 Greg Rossiter 63 Robert Booker 64 Christopher Jenkins 65 Vaughan Bowman 66 Bradley Payne 67 Scott Jensen 68 Robert Lyte 69 George Bunt 70 Ben Isaksen 71 Brendan Brooks 72 Peter Herzig 73 Scott Brown 74 Michael Hardy 75 Andrew Roe 0.22 76 Gordon McCauley 0.33 77 Josh Smith 0.51 78 William Murray 1.01 79 Alexander Smyth 1.27 80 Patrick Shaw 3.23 81 Scott Peoples 82 Steven Pilson 6.30 83 Daniel Furmston 13.00 Sprints Lap 2 1 Joe McDonnell 3 pts 2 David Salton 2 3 Chris Jongewaard 1 Lap 3 1 Bradley Norton 3 pts 2 Stuart Shaw 2 3 Gordon McCauley 1 Lap 4 1 Trent Wilson 3 pts 2 Brendan O'Connell 2 3 Darren Lapthorne 1 Lap 5 1 Brendan O'Connell 3 pts 2 Darren Lapthorne 2 3 Trent Wilson 1 Lap 6 1 Trent Wilson 3 pts 2 Brendan O'Connell 2 3 Darren Lapthorne 1 Lap 7 1 Brendan O'Connell 3 pts 2 Darren Lapthorne 2 3 Trent Wilson 1 Lap 8 1 Brendan O'Connell 3 pts 2 Darren Lapthorne 2 3 Trent Wilson 1 Lap 9 1 Darren Lapthorne 3 pts 2 Trent Wilson 2 3 Brendan O'Connell 1 Lap 10 1 Trent Wilson 3 pts 2 Brendan O'Connell 2 3 Darren Lapthorne 1 General Classification after stage 9 1 Simon Clarke 12.22.31 2 Bernard Sulzberger 0.26 3 Chris Jongewaard 0.38 4 Mathew Rex 0.40 5 Stephen Cunningham 0.58 6 Troy Glennan 1.00 7 Luke Bettany 1.03 8 Richard Moffatt 1.12 9 Stuart Shaw 1.17 10 Joe McDonnell 1.21 11 Robert McLachlan 1.29 12 Cameron Wise 1.44 13 Bradley Norton 1.49 14 Andrew Naylor 1.53 15 Tommy Nankervis 2.04 16 Russell Van Hout 2.22 17 Daniel Burtt 2.23 18 Ben Kersten 2.26 19 David Hiley 2.30 20 Aaron Salisbury 2.34 21 Adrian Salter 2.38 22 Peter Mueller 23 Nash Kent 2.42 24 Tim Hucker 2.58 25 Peter Herzig 3.01 26 Scott McGrory 3.09 27 George Bunt 3.11 28 Darren Lapthorne 3.18 29 Andrew Graham 3.25 30 Peter Dawson 3.35 31 Adrian Hanson 3.41 32 David Tozer 3.42 33 John Walker 34 Timothy Decker 3.54 35 Brendan Brooks 3.55 36 Brendan O'Connell 4.02 37 David McKenzie 4.05 38 James Maebus 4.08 39 Bradley Payne 4.29 40 Vaughan Bowman 41 Patrick Shaw 4.59 42 Trent Stevenson 5.07 43 Nicholas Wood 6.48 44 Brendan Hill 8.40 45 Scott Peoples 9.06 46 David Salton 9.28 47 Greg Rossiter 9.49 48 Kyle Marwood 10.30 49 Peter McDonald 50 Steven Robb 12.28 51 Casey Munro 17.41 52 Matt Haydock 17.42 53 Robert Cater 17.49 54 Damien Turner 19.35 55 Christopher Jenkins 19.43 56 Luke Pledger 20.18 57 Charles Howlett 23.32 58 Trent Wilson 24.19 59 Samuel Rix 29.28 60 Scott Brown 30.16 61 Grant Irwin 31.03 62 Michael Hardy 31.19 63 Cameron Bowden 31.42 64 Gordon McCauley 31.51 65 Scott Jensen 32.08 66 Matthew Delahunty 33.13 67 Jeremy Davis 36.19 68 Josh Smith 36.57 69 Wesley Sulzberger 38.57 70 Matthew Jensen 39.28 71 Daniel Furmston 41.54 72 Steven Pilson 43.13 73 Brad Glennan 43.44 74 Robert Lyte 47.18 75 Warren Scott 47.29 76 Jason Hegert 48.34 77 Alexander Smyth 54.10 78 William Murray 55.27 79 Andrew Roe 57.16 80 Ben Isaksen 1.00.46 81 Stephen Rossendell 1.01.01 82 Simon Pearson 1.03.45 83 Robert Booker 1.03.50 Subaru Aggressive Rider Awards 1 Gordon McCauley 7 pts 2 Chris Jongewaard 4 3 Peter McDonald 2 4 Trent Wilson 2 5 Stuart Shaw 2 6 Robert McLachlan 1 7 Matthew Goss 1 Sprint Classification 1 Stuart Shaw 41 pts 2 Gordon McCauley 40 3 Peter McDonald 33 4 Simon Clarke 29 5 Patrick Shaw 29 6 Andrew Naylor 27 7 Robert McLachlan 26 8 Peter Herzig 25 9 Chris Jongewaard 23 10 Bradley Norton 19 11 Darren Lapthorne 19 12 Brendan O'Connell 18 13 Peter Dawson 17 14 Bernard Sulzberger 16 15 Trent Wilson 14 16 Wesley Sulzberger 13 17 Troy Glennan 9 18 Joe McDonnell 8 19 Russell Van Hout 8 20 Casey Munro 7 21 Daniel Burtt 7 22 Cameron Wise 6 23 Greg Rossiter 6 24 Mathew Rex 6 25 John Walker 6 26 David Salton 4 27 Luke Bettany 3 28 David McKenzie 3 29 Richard Moffatt 2 30 Scott McGrory 2 31 Stephen Rossendell 2 32 Matt Haydock 2 33 Jason Hegert 2 34 Kyle Marwood 2 35 Steven Pilson 1 36 Peter Mueller 1 37 Bradley Payne 1 38 Andrew Graham 1 39 Brendan Hill 1 40 Stephen Cunningham 1 Mountains Classification 1 Gordon McCauley 15 pts 2 Robert McLachlan 13 3 Bradley Payne 5 4 Simon Clarke 5 5 Stephen Cunningham 3 6 Chris Jongewaard 2 7 Bernard Sulzberger 1 Criterium Championship 1 Robert McLachlan 28 pts 2 Tommy Nankervis 26 3 Ben Kersten 22 4 Simon Clarke 22 5 Stuart Shaw 18 6 Bernard Sulzberger 17 7 Patrick Shaw 13 8 Cameron Wise 13 9 Mathew Rex 12 10 Gordon McCauley 11 11 Bradley Norton 10 12 John Walker 9 13 David McKenzie 8 14 Peter McDonald 8 15 Daniel Burtt 7 16 Darren Lapthorne 7 17 Jason Hegert 6 18 Wesley Sulzberger 5 19 Grant Irwin 5 20 Andrew Naylor 5 21 Chris Jongewaard 5 22 Peter Dawson 4 23 Peter Herzig 4 24 Scott Peoples 4 25 Casey Munro 3 26 Nash Kent 2 27 Adrian Salter 1
